Expeditionary Diplomacy: A Security Challenge
Abstract
Providing an adequate level of security for diplomatic personnel operating within austere or dangerous environments is the responsibility of The Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. There exists, within this endeavor, a fine line between employing enough resources and personnel to mitigate casualties among Foreign Service Officers (FSO) and creating an environment wherein an FSO is no longer able to operate effectively. Recently, coined, the term expeditionary or transformational diplomacy describes the method by which diplomatic personnel deploy to increasingly unstable, hostile or austere environments to further US national objectives. The rapid pace of expeditionary style diplomacy often outpaces the fundamental security pasture that historically protected diplomatic personnel. The resulting seam between the needs of the mission and the ability to deploy and effective security halo, has been exploited to devastating effect, most recently with the attack on the special mission to Benghazi, Libya. This thesis first discusses the basic tenants of expeditionary/transformational diplomacy, the operational environment faced by the FSO of today. Secondly, it describes how the synthesis between facilities and both Department of State and Department of Defense personnel and programs protect diplomatic missions abroad. Finally, it analyzes current shortfalls between what FSOs do, how they function most effectively, and what the traditional security apparatus can support and how to shore up this gap to minimize casualties amongst diplomatic personnel in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 14, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA603158
Entities
People
- Benjamin D. Rathsack
Organizations
- National Defense University