Since the early days of the COE CSW, which was established roughly 10 years ago, several agreements for cooperation with international partners have been signed, all of them dealing with different aspects of maritime issues. The youngest member in the circle is now the METIS Institute for Strategic Foresight, a new institute of the German Armed Forces University in Munich. In December of the year 2017 it has been inaugurated as a tool for German Security Policy development with a focus on an European solidarity in terms of strategic security policy challenges. METIS was the name of the goddess of wisdom and astuteness in Greek mythology. The cooperation between METIS and the COE CSW will include a wide variety of strategic aspects in the maritime domain.

The cooperation agreement was signed on 19 April 2018 in Kiel by Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala, the Director of the METIS Institute, and Rear Admiral Jan C. Kaack, the Director of the COE CSW. For Rear Admiral Kaack, this signature was his last official act as the Commander Flotilla 1 and Director COE CSW. Right after the signing, in an impressive military ceremony he handed over his command to his successor, Rear Admiral Christian Bock, who will now be the sixth Director COE CSW.