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Department of Social Sciences : SCUSA

SCUSA



SCUSA 64
 
November 7-10, 2012
 
Leading in Lean Times: Assuring Accountability and Assessing
 
 American Priorities in an Age of Austerity 
 
SCUSA is the largest and most prestigious conference of its kind in the world, held here at West Point every fall.


 
What is SCUSA?
 
The Student Conference on US Affairs is an annual four day conference hosted at The United States Military Academy at West Point. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate interaction and constructive discussion between student delegates in order for them better understand the intricacies of the challenges that the United States faces in a global society. SCUSA delegates attend panel discussions, keynotes speakers, and roundtable sessions. Roundtable sessions such as Strategic Asia, and Transnational Crime, and Human Security in the Developing World are designed to produce thought provoking conversations between participants. The result of discussions are policy proposal papers, the best of which are published in the Undergraduate Journal of Social Sciences.
 
SCUSA is used as a twelve-month leadership development for Cadets at West Point. Their goal is to solidify SCUSA’s standing as the best and oldest conference of its type in the nation. Cadet staff members balance the conference’s extensive planning, coordination, and execution with their normal duty positions and 19+ credit hours a semester. Cadet roundtable delegates are mentored by the West Point faculty to be subject matter experts in their roundtable areas and act as table leaders by facilitating roundtable discussions.
SCUSA 64 Roundtables
  • The Dollars and Sense of American Grand Strategy
  • Costless Wars? Drones, the All-Volunteer Force, and Challenges to Political Accountability
  • Long Live COIN? Dealing with Insurgencies and Internationalized Conflict on a Budget
  • Foreign Policy Challenges in 3D: Diplomacy, Democracy, and Development
  • Trade, Globalization, and the Intl. Economy
  • Responsibility to Protect? Norms, Interests, and Humanitarian Intervention
  • Consumption without Consequence? Energy, Climate Change, and National Security
  • American Security in a Networked World: Emerging Challenges in Cyberspace
  • Can’t Stop da Bomb? Arms Control & Proliferation
  • Tis the Season? US Democracy Promotion After the Arab Spring
  • Beyond 2014? US Priorities in South & Central Asia
  • Pivot or Pirouette? Challenges and Opportunities in Sino-American Relations
  • A Fate Worse than Debt? Accountability, Austerity, and the future of the Euro
  • The View from Alaska? Accountability in Russia
  • Africa: Failed States, Terrorism, and Security
  • Disorder at the Border? Federalism and the Challenge of Homeland Security
Papers
SCUSA Objectives
  • To examine and discuss of selected aspects of United States public policy. SCUSA seeks to highlight the interdependence of the foreign and domestic policy areas.
  • To facilitate an increased appreciation for the complex nature of the policy-making process among a group of outstanding college students.
  • To establish and enhance civil-military relationships and to broaden delegates' contact with their contemporaries in an academic endeavor.
    • Useful Links
    Sponsors
  • The Olmsted Foundation
  • The West Point Class of '71
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