Geographic bureaucracies and national security.

• Author: Puglisi, Matthew
• Position: Essay

Editor's Note:

Military officers and a State Department faculty member at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA, discuss the difficulties of interagency coordination in American foreign policy and national security operations and highlight the very basic problem of the differing regional frameworks and corresponding bureaucracies into which the State and Defense Departments and the CIA organize the world. They propose a common frame of reference based on geopolitical and other important factors, and steps for moving toward it, beginning with Sub-Saharan Africa.--Ed.

"The most urgent task of our government is getting interagency coordination & cooperation right. The interagency process was largely a failure prior to September 11, 2001, but has only marginally improved since that time in effecting successful planning and action for accomplishing specific U.S. policy objectives overseas." (1)--Ambassador William Bellamy, Senior Vice President, National Defense University

To enable increased interagency cooperation and synergy, U.S. governmental agencies must align regional areas of responsibility based on a common geopolitical, demographic, economic, infrastructural, and environmental frame of reference in order to enhance the flow of information and increase the unity of effort. Subsequent to the release of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense (DOD) Reorganization Act of 1986 and mission execution during Operation DESERT STORM, the U.S. government successfully addressed problems inherent in joint military operations. Unfortunately, September 11, 2001, highlighted the need for an interagency transformation of the same magnitude that the joint military world went through ten years earlier. Interagency initiatives, although founded on laudable principles, will remain ineffective unless the entire interagency community realigns its regions to one common operating picture. While the recommended realignment will not in itself solve the interagency problem set, it will provide a solid foundation, that first step, to support current and future improvement initiatives.

This essay will first provide a background on how different agencies, representing different aspects of the national instruments of power--Diplomacy, Information, Military, Economic (DIME)--currently divide the globe. The argument will then be built defending the need for common divisions, and finally, a methodology and recommended implementation plan will be proposed.

Background

Although United States' strategic interests dictate a coordinated global engagement plan, the U.S. government (USG) agencies most actively employing our instruments of power do not share a common global viewpoint. In an effort to maximize effectiveness, each USG agency responsible for projecting our national power on the international stage has developed a global regional framework to facilitate its ability to focus its powerbase, and coordinate its community's efforts to achieve objectives in each area of responsibility (AOR). For this paper we will discuss Department of State (diplomatic, economic), Central Intelligence Agency (information), and Department of Defense (military) regional alignments, as they are three of the most heavily engaged agencies in projecting our instruments of power abroad. While DIME is most effective when employed in whole, each of these agencies has established an autonomous regional framework, and subsequent regional engagement plan, to guide its organization's international efforts.

Within the executive branch, the Department of State (DOS) is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency responsible for advancing American objectives and interests by developing and implementing the administration's foreign policy. Since NSPD-44 created the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, DOS additionally has the primary role in establishing policy, priorities, and goals for post conflict efforts. (2) To accomplish its mission, DOS maintains diplomatic and consular posts around the world, with six regional bureaus to coordinate their efforts. The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) encompasses Europe and Russia. The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) is responsible for North Africa and the Middle East. The Bureau of African Affairs (AF) deals with sub-Saharan countries. The Bureau of South and Central Asia (SCA) includes the countries falling geographically between Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka to include India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) covers the Pacific Rim countries from China to New Zealand, and The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) is responsible for Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada (Map 1). The Assistant Secretaries of each geographic bureau advise the State Department's Under Secretary and guide the diplomatic efforts within their respective region. (3) DOS also has functional bureaus that effect transnational operations.

Map 1. DOS Regional Bureaus.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), now a member of the U.S. Directorate of National Intelligence, is a key provider of international information collection, analysis, and distribution. Within the CIA, the Directorate of Intelligence is responsible for studying the...