The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 The state of the world today, and for the foreseeable future, dictates much closer coopera- tion between the State and Defense Departments, particu- larly at overseas missions. This enhanced coordination lies at the heart of Secretary Rice’s transformational diplomacy initiative. Regrettably, the political-military function in the State Department has become marginalized over the past cou- ple of decades, its appeal as a specialty has waned, and the number of FSOs in the PM Bureau has shrunk markedly. At a time when DOD is playing a much larger role in both foreign affairs and the conduct of diplomacy, it is important that State both increase its understand- ing of the U.S. military’s values and cul- ture and try to impart to our military an understanding of what drives State Department approaches and why we see the world differently than they do. The reality remains that only the State Department sees the entire fabric of our relations with other nations, and only State is responsible for managing and maximizing the totality of these relationships. While the “long war” may dominate relations with some countries, it is not the only element in any of our bilateral relationships. The other aspects simply have to be factored in as well. One example of this is the signifi- cance of Iran and Iraq in terms of glob- al economic and energy interests. An obvious place for State to focus in order to prepare Foreign Service offi- cers for expanded cooperation with our military overseas is the existing State/DOD coop- eration programs. Particularly relevant are those offered at the National Defense Univer- sity, the premier professional military educational institution in the United States. Fortuitously, DOD is in the process of converting NDU into more of a National Security University to strengthen interagency collaboration and increase professional education to more civilians and military officers. The State Department has long par- ticipated in key NDU programs, includ- ing the highly valued, but limited, stu- dent and faculty slots at the National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. With the provi- sion of some modest resources and additional billets, NDU can play a sig- nificantly greater role in preparing State Department personnel to meet some of the new national security challenges. New initiatives worthy of considera- tion, according to senior State officials presently assigned to NDU, include: • Doubling the number of FSOs who attend the War College and ICAF; • Establishing a joint FSI-NDU pro- gram to train FS political advisers (“polads”) to military commanders before they go to their assignments; • Assigning State officers to the new 10-month Counterterrorism Fellows program, set up three years ago to bring senior military and civilian officials from around the world to the U.S. to cement contacts and to acquaint them with our interagency terrorism programs; • Setting up a working relationship between the State Department’s Office of Stabilization and Reconstruction and NDU’s Strategic Gaming Center. NDU’s widely acclaimed Gaming Cen- ter could prepare, facilitate, and host the strategic scenarios for this State entity; • Establishing a jointly-run FSI- NDU program to train civilian and mil- itary personnel to participate in Provin- cial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq, Afghanistan and other post-conflict situ- ations; • Creating closer contacts between NDU’s three affiliated regional centers and the State Department by assigning a senior FSO to serve as a deputy direc- tor at each; and •Extending current State Depart- ment faculty assignments at NDU to two years with an option for a third. While the ideas above are a mix of old and new, all of them would increase State/DOD understanding and cooperation. Admittedly, promot- ing a more productive engagement with the military will come with a price tag. But to advance transformational diplomacy and achieve the results Secretary Rice wants, that price will have to be paid. P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS Closer State-DOD Cooperation: Building on Existing Success B Y J. A NTHONY H OLMES J. Anthony Holmes is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. Promoting a more productive engagement with the military will come with a price tag. But it is one worth paying.