The United States is continually invaded by foreign agricultural pests of significant economic importance. For many pests, it is just a matter of time before they become established. Before such occurrences, classical biological control programs could be developed abroad for specific pests that display a high probability of establishment and potential for major economic losses. This strategy would benefit foreign countries because resources and expertise would be available to facilitate the development of successful classical biological control projects. For the United States, a benefit of lowered pest densities in other countries would be reduced chances of exotic pest invasion. An added advantage would be that valuable advance data on potential pests and their natural enemies would be acquired during the development and implementation of international programs. Cooperative international agreements to conduct classical biological control of selected, widely occurring pests would be advantageous, even after an exotic pest has become established in the United States, since resources and expertise could be combined for more efficient and productive foreign exploration, quarantine and rearing, and evaluation before and after release. Finally, international opportunities exist for combining classical biological control with other pest management suppression methods and strategies.