At a December 2016 symposium, government officials, civil society experts, and military leaders discussed how women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution advances U.S. security interests, how efforts to counter violent extremism are strengthened by involving women, and how addressing conflict-related sexual violence helps secure peace. As Gen. John Allen argued, "No society has ever successfully transitioned from being a conflict-ridden society to a developing society unless women were a part of the mainstream.”