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The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy Convenes Inaugural La Jolla Dialogues on U.S.–French Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

Senior French military and diplomatic officials join U.S. Navy flag officer and leading scholars for landmark conversation at the University of San Diego

SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2026 — The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy convened the inaugural La Jolla Dialogues on March 30, 2026, at the University of San Diego, bringing together senior French military and diplomatic officials, a retired U.S. Navy flag officer, and international affairs scholars for a high-level conversation on U.S.–French security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The event featured opening remarks and a panel discussion from Major General Patrice Morand, French Defense Attaché to the United States, and Mr. Adrien Frier, Consul General of France in Los Angeles. The dialogue was moderated by Vice Admiral Robert L. Thomas, Jr., USN (Ret.), Distinguished Fellow of The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy, and included Professor Randy Willoughby of the University of San Diego's Department of Political Science and International Relations.

The event was held under the Chatham House Rule. Participants included retired and active duty U.S. military officers, international affairs scholars from San Diego and Tijuana, U.S. and French defense industry executives, members of the French community in Southern California, and Pacific policy researchers and regional security practitioners.

France as a Resident Pacific Power

Central to the evening's discussion was a reframing of France's role in the Indo-Pacific. France is America's oldest and most enduring ally and, less widely appreciated, a resident Pacific power with global interests. Through its overseas territories in French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and Clipperton Island, France holds the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world and maintains a permanent sovereign stake in Indo-Pacific stability.

France's 2025 National Strategic Review identifies countering Russian aggression, managing China's hardening posture, rebuilding European defense industrial capacity, and sustaining France's role as a credible security partner beyond Europe as its defining priorities through 2030.

Key Themes

Discussion surfaced six interconnected themes: the challenges of maritime security across France's Pacific overseas territories; the problem of countering hybrid threats and non-attributed attacks; the urgency of rebuilding European defense industrial capacity; the coordination challenges inherent in the multi-layered European security architecture; the strategic difficulty of balancing continental commitments with sustained Indo-Pacific presence; and the indispensable role of multilateralism as a force multiplier — anchored by the enduring partnership connecting the United States, France, and Europe.

A central insight threaded through all six themes is that European security and Indo-Pacific stability are not separate policy arenas. They are part of a single, globally linked deterrence ecosystem. What happens in one theater shapes credibility and risk calculations in the other.

A Platform for Pacific Strategy

"The La Jolla Dialogues represents exactly the kind of convening The La Jolla Center exists to do," said Blaine Worthington, Executive Director of The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy. "San Diego sits at the intersection of maritime defense, allied innovation, and Pacific systems thinking. This conversation made clear that our city has a vital role to play in connecting regional expertise to global alliance requirements."

The La Jolla Dialogues is the Center's inaugural executive-level conversation series. A full event summary, prepared in accordance with the Chatham House Rule, is available on The La Jolla Center's website.

Download the Summary

About The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy

The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy convenes leaders from across government, industry, and academia to address the Pacific's most pressing challenges. Based in San Diego, the Center advances dialogue, research, and leadership development in support of a secure, prosperous, and cooperative Pacific. The La Jolla Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

For media inquiries, interviews, or additional materials, contact press@thelajollacenter.org.

The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy reimagines the think tank model to promote security, prosperity, and cooperation in the Pacific Hemisphere

SAN DIEGO, CA – October 20, 2025

When two local veterans met as classmates at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, they shared a simple belief: that San Diego could be more than America’s Finest City — it could be America’s Strategic City leading in the Pacific.

The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy, founded by UCSD alumni and veterans Blaine Worthington and Christopher Capistron, aims to make San Diego the home for the ideas and leaders who will shape the Pacific’s future.

“San Diego has everything — the military presence, the universities, the innovation economy, and the Pacific orientation — but no place where those strengths come together,” said Worthington, a Marine Corps veteran and student at UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. “We started The La Jolla Center because we wanted to build that place — not just for policymakers, but for the whole community.”

The nonprofit is the world’s first social strategy institute, bringing together leaders, researchers, and innovators to design cooperative solutions for the Pacific’s toughest challenges — from maritime security and climate resilience to trade, technology, and public health.

“Traditional think tanks study strategy,” said Worthington. “We’re building it — through community, collaboration, and the belief that the Pacific’s future depends on all of us.”

A San Diego-Built Institution for a Pacific Future

The Center’s programs will focus on five areas: Defense & National Security; Biosecurity & Public Health; Climate, Ocean & Resource Security; Technology & Innovation; and Trade, Economy & Infrastructure.

While the Center will publish research and host policy discussions, its founders emphasize a hands-on approach that blends academic insight with practical collaboration. Through fellowships, working groups, and public forums, they aim to help San Diego’s institutions lead on Pacific policy — not just follow it.

“San Diego is America’s strategic city,” Worthington said. “Our mission is to make sure it plays a strategic role.”

A New Model for Strategy: Built with Stakeholders, Not for Them

At the heart of The La Jolla Center’s mission is a new method of strategy development called Social Strategy — a stakeholder-led process that brings together leaders from across sectors to shape shared strategic outcomes.

Rather than producing research in isolation, the Center facilitates collaborative strategy development that draws directly on the expertise, lived experience, and agency of the people and institutions closest to Pacific challenges. Each initiative begins by identifying key stakeholders — from industry, government, academia, and civil society — and then guiding them through a structured, facilitated process that turns collective insight into practical solutions.

“Social Strategy is about harnessing the wisdom and capability that already exist in our community,” said Christopher Capistron, Director of Programs, U.S. Air Force veteran and graduate of UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. “Our role isn’t to be the experts in every field — it’s to create the space, structure, and process that allow experts, stakeholders, and policymakers to build strategy together. San Diego’s strength lies in its people, its industries, and its institutions. Our strength is in helping them move in the same direction.”

By treating strategy as a social process — not a closed-door product — the Center aims to redefine how policy ideas are generated, tested, and implemented across the Pacific region.

Community-Driven Beginnings

Rather than seeking traditional think-tank funding, the founders have bootstrapped the effort and invited early supporters to help shape the Center’s direction. Every dollar raised goes directly to operations and programs, with plans to expand through community partnerships and philanthropic support in the year ahead.

“From day one, we wanted this to be built with the community — not just in it,” said Worthington. “The Center belongs to San Diego as much as it belongs to us.”

About The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy

The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy is where San Diego’s leaders come together to solve the Pacific’s toughest challenges. We do this by guiding ideas and people through our Social Strategy Development Cycle. Through our events, research, publications, and fellowships, we help develop the ideas that will shape the Pacific’s future and the leaders who will carry them forward.

Mission: To facilitate the development of ideas and leaders that will shape a secure, prosperous, and cooperative Pacific Hemisphere.

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Media Contact

Name: Blaine Worthington
Title: Executive Director
Email: press@thelajollacenter.org
Website: thelajollacenter.org