Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (left) and his British counterpart, Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon, sign a Declaration of Principles for Defense Equipment and Industrial Cooperation on Feb. 5, 2000, in Munich, Germany. The defense leaders are in Germany attending the 36th Munich Conference on Security Policy. The new pact mandates cooperation on such matters as coordination of military requirements and acquisition processes, export procedures, protection of national security and defense technology information, Trans-Atlantic industrial partnerships, research and development, and reciprocal defense trade.