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Student Conference on United States Affairs (SCUSA)
The Student Conference on US Affairs is an annual four day conference held annually 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 trained by West Point’s Department of Social Sciences to be subject matter experts in their roundtable areas and act as table leaders by facilitating roundtable discussions.

SCUSA Objectives
1. 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. 2. To facilitate an increased appreciation for the complex nature of the policy-making process among a group of outstanding college students. 3. To establish and enhance civil-military relationships and to broaden delegates' contact with their contemporaries in an academic endeavor.

History
The initial suggestion that a student conference be held at the United States Military Academy was made by cadets of the West Point Debate Council in the spring of 1949. The following autumn, their suggestion matured into the USMA Student Conference on United States Affairs. Today the conference is organized and administered by the faculty of the Department of Social Sciences. SCUSA has grown in size and in the scope of its geographical representation since its inception. In 1949, SCUSA had 126 delegates from 53 schools concentrated in the Northeast. This year, SCUSA will host 190 students from 131 schools throughout the United States and 20 Fulbright scholars representing 30 countries. 36 United States Military Academy cadets will participate as delegates and approximately 67 cadets will assist in organization, logistics, and administration.

Financial support for the first five conferences was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Support for subsequent conferences has been provided by private sources and by contributions from the Cadet Debate Council and Forum. The George and Carol Olmsted Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc., the Banbury Fund, the Ross Perot Fund, the Annenberg Foundation, and the West Point Fund have been among the major private donors to SCUSA. The Olmsted Foundation, with its mission of equipping outstanding young military leaders to serve in positions of great responsibility as senior leaders in the United States Armed forces, has provided generous funding for SCUSA for several decades. We are proud to say that SCUSA will be supported in perpetuity by USMA Class of 1971.

For a number of years, the conference organization has remained generally the same. A proven format has evolved which effectively accomplishes the following conference objectives: • To produce an informative examination and discussion of selected aspects of United States public policy. SCUSA has primarily been a conference on foreign relations. • To facilitate an increased appreciation for the complex nature of the policy-making process among a group of outstanding college students. • To broaden the student participants’ contact with their contemporaries in an academic endeavor. The Military Academy continues to sponsor the Student Conference on United States Affairs in the belief that it can foster the growth of mutual understanding among the potential civilian and military leaders of the country and broader, global civil cities and thus make a significant contribution towards the future security of the United States.

The official record of the conference, the Proceedings, was published annually by the Military Academy until 1992 and may be found in university and public libraries across the country. Beginning in 1993, the Round Table Reports replaced the Proceedings.

Past Conference Themes
1989 Contemporary Problems of U.S. Foreign Policy: A World in Transition 1990 Celebrating the Eisenhower Centennial - A Stratetgic Vision for the 1990s: Moving Beyond Containment 1991 After the Cold War: One World or Many? 1992 Forging the Future: Redefining Priorities and Policies 1993 Interests, Imperatives and Mechanisms: Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy 1994 Facing the Foreign Policy Future: Interests, Instruments, and Implementation 1995 US Foreign Policy for the Twenty-First Century: The Challenges of Global Integration and Fragmentation 1996 The United States on the World Stage: Themes, Actors, and Roles 1997 Plotting a Course for a New Century: Global Challenges, National Choices 1998 Learning from the Past, Leading to the Future 1999 Beyond 2000: Leadership in an Uncertain World 2000 U.S. Leadership into the New Century: Defining the Puzzle 2001 2001: A Global Odyssey—Charting a Path for the New Millenium 2002 U.S. Foreign Policy Post 9/11: Challenges, Concerns and Opportunities in a Changed World 2003 U.S. National Security: Balancing Self Interests with International Responsibilities 2004 Beyond Hegemony: The Goals and Consequences of American Action at Home and Abroad 2005 U.S. Responsibility and the Global Community: Interests, Opportunities, and Ethics 2006 Challenges to Security: Extremism, Resources, and Globalization 2007 Uncertain Future: Freedom, Security, and Responsibility'' 2008 '' Measuring Progress and Defining New Challenges 2009 Advancing as a Global Community: Scarcity, Instability, and Opportunity

Past Speakers
SCUSA 41 (1989) Keynote Address: Admiral William Crowe SCUSA 42 (1990) Keynote Address: Ambassador Paul H. Nitze SCUSA 43 (1991) Banquet Address: Mr. Richard L. Armitage SCUSA 44 (1992) Banquet Address: Mr. Theodore Sorensen SCUSA 45 (1993) Banquet Address: His Excellency Boutros Boutros-Ghali SCUSA 46 (1994) Banquet Address: The Honorable Strobe Talbott SCUSA 47 (1995) Banquet Address: The Honorable Lawrence S. Eagleburger SCUSA 48 (1996) Banquet Address: The Honorable Richard G. Lugar SCUSA 49 (1997) Banquet Address: General Barry R. McCaffrey (US Army Ret) SCUSA 50 (1998) Banquet Address: Professor John J. Mearsheimer SCUSA 51 (1999) Banquet Address: The Honorable Henry Kissinger SCUSA 52 (2000) Banquet Address: Dr. Fareed Zakaria SCUSA 53 (2001) Keynote Address: LTG Brent Scowcroft, USAF Retired SCUSA 54 (2002) Banquet Address: GEN (R) Wayne A. Downing SCUSA 55 (2003) Banquet Address: Mr. Brian Williams SCUSA 56 (2004) Banquet Address: Dr. Rohan Gutaratna SCUSA 57 (2005) Banquet Address: Dr. Bruce Hoffman SCUSA 58 (2006) Banquet Address: Senator Jack Reed SCUSA 59 (2007) Banquet Address: General (R) John P. Abizaid SCUSA 60 (2008) Keynote Address: Ambassador Zalmay Kahalizad