This assessment of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program evaluates its role within the broader framework of U.S. national security strategy, which aims to expand market democracies while managing a range of threats to the nation, its allies, and its interests. The strategy, as articulated in President Clinton's A National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement, emphasizes three core objectives: enhancing security, promoting prosperity, and fostering democracy worldwide. IMET, overseen by the Department of State but managed by the Department of Defense, has traditionally been a small, cost-effective foreign assistance program. Despite limited congressional scrutiny and support, its significance has grown since the end of the Cold War, particularly in light of modern challenges such as fragile democracies and transnational threats. This report highlights IMET's increased importance to national security, far beyond its original expectations.