David Cooper

David Cooper became Acting Director of Outreach for U.S. Africa Command in December 2007.  In this capacity he is responsible for managing the organization’s international, interagency, and non-governmental partnerships, strategic communication, and a Washington office.  He is a career member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) of the United States on detail from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Prior to his current assignment Dr. Cooper served as the Principal Director for Homeland Security Integration within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.   His duties included managing all aspects of strategic planning, interagency and intergovernmental coordination, international cooperation and capacity building, strategic communications, and capability assessment and budget advocacy activities related to Department of Defense (DOD) homeland defense and security missions. Before that he served as Director for Nonproliferation Policy from May 2003 to January 2007.  In this capacity he managed all aspects of the development and implementation of a broad range of Defense Department and United States Government policies to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery.  His specific responsibilities included: WMD-related interdiction including the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI); negotiation and implementation of multilateral nonproliferation treaties; international nuclear safeguards; export control regimes; regional WMD disarmament; and, nonproliferation sanctions.  He served as U.S. Head of Delegation to the PSI Operational Experts Group (OEG) process, as well as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Panel of Governmental Experts on Missiles. He also led CWC Host Country Agreement (HCA) negotiations and bilateral counter-proliferation talks with several key countries. He previously served as Director of the Office of Strategic Arms Control Policy, managing U.S.-Russian nuclear treaty issues including negotiation, ratification, and implementation of the “Moscow Treaty” and implementation of the START and INF treaties, and other bilateral nuclear initiatives. He joined the Defense Department in 1990 as a Presidential Management Intern (PMI) and has worked on a wide variety of nonproliferation, arms control, and regional security issues.  Prior to joining government he was an executive with a market research company in New York.

He holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from The Australian National University, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and is a graduate of Oberlin College.  He is the author of various articles and a book (Competing Western Strategies Against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Praeger: 2002) and has served as an Adjunct Associate Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University.