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1 1 (March 17, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govchxw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: F., ' riE SE-.$ri ,,,. i March 17, 2020 United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), headquartered in Miami, FL, was officially established in 1963. Prior to that, U.S. military elements in the Western hemisphere had been organized under the U.S. Caribbean Defense Command. SOUTHCOM's area of responsibility (AOR) begins at the southern Mexican border and contains the remaining elements of Central and South America, adjacent Atlantic and Pacific waters, as well as the Caribbean Sea, ultimately encompassing 31 countries and 16 dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. The region represents about one-sixth of the landmass of the world assigned to regional unified commands. SOUTHCOM is led by U.S. Navy Admiral Craig S. Faller. Figure I. U.S. Southern Command Source: Congressional Research Service. SC),UT,,-PC0 ak-dNati -. a During the Cold War, SOUTHCOM undertook a variety of missions intended to prevent the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from gaining a strategic foothold in the Western hemisphere. After the end of the Cold War, the command pivoted its focus to containing and/or countering narcotics trafficking and humanitarian assistance missions. Today, SOUTHCOM states that the command seeks to advance national strategic objectives in three primary ways: Strengthening partnerships with other countries and agencies in the region through activities including (but not limited to) building their respective security institutions and capacities, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and advancing human rights. * Countering threats by increasing cooperation and information sharing with allies and partners to understand and counter threats from transnational criminal organizations, violent extremist organizations, and malign actors. * Building SOUTHCOM capabilities by prioritizing a workforce that is trained, highly competent, educated in the history and cultures of the region, and capable of shifting from warfighting to security cooperation tasks. DOD is not the lead U.S. government agency for many of the activities that fall under this mission set. As a result, SOUTHCOM has designed its posture to support, rather than lead, other agencies and countries in the region. Security cooperation a term describing DOD engagements with other countries to improve their respective defense capabilities and capacities-is used by SOUTHCOM to advance U.S. objectives in the region. Despite its geographic proximity to the United States, and despite periodic incidents that have attracted the attention of U.S. leaders, the SOUTHCOM AOR has generally remained a lesser priority for DOD relative to other strategic challenges, particularly after World War II. Looking at recent trends, though, some observers contend that Latin American should factor more greatly into U.S. strategic plans. In the Trump Administration's view, effectively competing economically, diplomatically and militarily with Russia and China is the most pressing national security challenge the United States faces today. According to SOUTHCOM, both these actors appear to be gaining a greater foothold in the region particularly in Venezuela raising the question as to whether SOUTHCOM's AOR is, or will become, a key arena for strategic competition. Other observers, however, contend that Chinese and Russian activities in Latin America do not rise to the level of strategic concern given the extent and depth of U.S. engagement across the region. Regardless, contending with various manifestations of strategic competition has become a mission for the command that is in addition to other extant regional priorities, such as countering the trafficking of narcotics. On January 23, 2020, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper initiated a COCOM-by-COCOM review to determine whether the posture and resourcing in each are sufficient to meet extant and emerging challenges. The review of U.S. Southern Command is underway; a central question in this analysis is whether USSOUTHCOM has sufficient resources and capabilities to counter increasing Russian and K~:> p\w -- , gn'a', goo mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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