The Foreign Service Journal, March 2017

36 MARCH 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL More widely represented across the globe than any other U.S. law enforcement agency, Diplomatic Security is uniquely placed to safeguard American diplomacy. LAW ENFORCEMENT AS AN INSTRUMENT OF NATIONAL POWER Ronnie S. Catipon, a Diplomatic Security special agent currently assigned to Washington, D.C., began his For- eign Service career in 1997 by serving on the Secretary of State’s security detail. His overseas assignments have included Manila, Tbilisi, Kyiv, Kabul (two tours) and The Hague; his next posting will be Baghdad. The author would like to thank his colleagues who graciously con- tributed to this article. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsi- bility of the author. The views expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of the U.S. government. O ver the last century, as the world changed so have the threats that challenge the United States’ enduring national interests: safe- guarding and promoting global security, economic prosperity and democracy. The United States uses dip- lomatic, information, military and economic (DIME) instruments of national power to counter threats to these interests. As new threats emerged, so have new instruments of national power. The Department of Defense has acknowledged three new instruments—financial, intelligence and law enforcement—and added them to the paradigm, now termed DIME-FIL. The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security FOCUS SECURING DIPLOMACY plays a considerable enabling role within the law enforcement instrument, particularly overseas. Indeed, it is arguably one of the most effective and important law enforcement agencies at the nation’s disposal. Each agency brings its own “comparative advantage” to support the law enforcement instrument of national power. For example, no federal law enforcement agency is better at inves- tigating threats to the homeland than the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while the U.S. Secret Service is the premier protec- tive agency in the world. And the U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminis- tration is a model for domestic and international counternarcotics operations. Individually and collectively, these and other U.S. law enforcement agencies make powerful contributions to protecting the United States’ enduring interests. Yet no other U.S. federal law enforcement agency is more widely represented across the globe than DS. With almost 1,000 federal agents deployed at U.S. embassies, consulates, missions, U.S. combatant commands and international organizations, the bureau’s ability to globally project its influence—either through its own means in support of other U.S. federal, state and local law enforcement agencies; or through its vast network of host govern- ment law enforcement and security partners—is unmatched in the U.S. law enforcement community. This is DS’s comparative advantage, and the value-added it brings to the law enforcement instrument of national power. Because many of the current and anticipated future threats BY RONN I E S . CAT I PON