In partnership with Carahsoft, and along with the Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI), the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) is proud to present the South America in Competition Conference on July 16th and July 17th, 2025. Bringing together ~200 leaders from government, academia, private industry, and media, the event will feature keynote speakers and expert panels exploring the region’s role in strategic competition. Topics will include the influence of alliances and non-state actors, threats to the U.S. homeland and emerging technologies, the SOF–Space–Cyber triad, critical minerals and supply chain resilience, economic statecraft and democratic backsliding, and the evolving landscape of information operations and open-source intelligence.
This conference aims to foster interagency collaboration across the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, Commerce, Congress, and private sector leaders. Government and industry participants will have dedicated networking opportunities, and attendees will experience live demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies by sponsors.
The event will culminate in an invitation-only South America-focused crisis simulation, offering select participants a unique opportunity to model integrated responses to adversarial escalation and build cross-sector relationships critical to advancing U.S. objectives in the Western Hemisphere.
Who Should Attend:
- U.S. government officials and interagency professionals involved in national security and policy
- Senior military and defense leaders
- Industry stakeholders across defense, finance, and critical infrastructure sectors
- Academic researchers and scholars focused on security, strategy, and international affairs
- Journalists and media professionals covering defense, geopolitics, and economic statecraft
