10 U.S.C. § 342 — Regional Centers for Security Studies

(a) In general. The Secretary of Defense administers the Department of Defense Regional Centers for Security Studies. They serve as international venues where military and civilian participants can research, communicate, exchange ideas, and train together, on a bilateral or multilateral basis. (b) Regional Centers specified. (1) A Department of Defense Regional Center for Security Studies is a Department of Defense institution that (A) the Secretary of Defense operates and designates for studying security issues in a specific region of the world, and (B) serves as a forum for the bilateral and multilateral research, communication, exchange of ideas, and training described above. (2) The named centers are: (A) the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, established in 1993 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; (B) the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, established in 1995 in Honolulu, Hawaii; (C) the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, established in 1997 in Washington, D.C.; (D) the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, established in 1999 in Washington, D.C.; (E) the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, established in 2000 in Washington, D.C.; and (F) the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, established in 2021 in Anchorage, Alaska. (3) No other Defense Department institution or element may be designated a Regional Center for Security Studies under this section. (c) Regulations. The Secretary must issue regulations for running the Regional Centers. Within each center's focus area, those regulations must prioritize territorial and maritime security, transnational and asymmetric threats, and defense-sector governance. (d) Participation. Regional Center activities may include U.S. and foreign military, civilian, and nongovernmental participants. (e) Employment and compensation of faculty. At each center, subject to available funding, the Secretary may (1) hire a Director, a Deputy Director, and as many civilian professors, instructors, and lecturers as needed, and (2) set their pay under federal guidelines. (f) Payment of costs. (1) Participants normally must reimburse the center for costs, or pay in advance, unless a waiver applies under paragraph (3). (2) A foreign participant's costs may be paid by the participant, that person's own government, a non-Defense federal agency, or a gift or donation accepted on the government's behalf under section 2611. (3)(A) The Secretary may waive reimbursement for foreign military officers and defense or security personnel if their unreimbursed attendance serves U.S. national security interests; waived costs come from the center's own appropriations. (B)(i) With the Secretary of State's concurrence, the Secretary may also waive reimbursement for nongovernmental- and international-organization personnel whose participation boosts cooperation with U.S. forces, if that serves national security interests. (ii) Waivers under this part can't exceed $1,000,000 in a fiscal year. (4) Funds accepted to pay costs are credited to the center's current appropriation and stay available for that center's normal purposes and time period. (5) Funds available for personnel expenses under section 312 may also pay for running the Regional Centers. (6) Funds for this section — including accepted funds and section 312 funds — can be used across a fiscal-year boundary, for programs that start in one year and end in the next, as appropriations laws allow. (g) Support to other agencies. A center's Director may agree with military department secretaries, Defense agency heads, and — with the Secretary of Defense's concurrence — other federal agency heads, to provide services from that center. Any agency getting those services must transfer funds to the center to cover the full cost. (h) Authorities specific to Marshall Center. (1) The Secretary may let a European or Eurasian country take part in Marshall Center programs, after consulting the Secretary of State, if it serves U.S. national interest. (2)(A) The Secretary may waive financial-disclosure requirements for an unpaid member of the Marshall Center Board of Visitors, if that requirement would apply only because of the person's Board service. (B) Board membership alone doesn't require registering as a foreign agent. (C) Despite section 219 of title 18, a non-U.S. citizen may serve on the Board even if registered as a foreign agent. (3)(A) The Secretary may waive reimbursement of costs for Marshall Center conferences, seminars, courses, or similar activities for military officers and civilian officials from states in Europe or the former Soviet Union, if unreimbursed attendance serves U.S. national security interests. (B) Waived costs are paid from the Center's own appropriations. (i) Authorities specific to Inouye Center. (1) The Secretary may waive reimbursement of costs for Inouye Center conferences, seminars, courses, or similar activities for foreign military officers and civilian officials, if unreimbursed attendance serves U.S. national security interests. (2) Waived costs are paid from the Center's own appropriations. (j) Annual review of program structure and programs of centers. (1) Each year, the Secretary must review each Regional Center's program and structure to check that it lines up with Defense Department strategic priorities and the relevant geographic combatant commands. (2) After that review, the Secretary may revise a center's program, structure, or both, to better align it with those priorities and commands.