Blog Posts tagged with "J9"
Words and Swords
“You have words and… swords. We, on the other hand, only have our words.” This was a poignant point made by Francois Bellon, the Head of Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross to both the EU and NATO. J9 invited Monsieur Bellon to visit the command earlier this month, the first senior ICRC visit to EUCOM in nearly two decades.
François Bellon, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Delegation to NATO, EU and the Kingdom of Belgium, addresses military and civilian officials from EUCOM.
Mr. Bellon and his colleague, Mr. Aleardo Ferretti, came to Stuttgart with a world-wide breadth of experience with the Red Cross. Between them they have been posted in Beijing, Moscow, Tblisi, Tel Aviv, Beirut and Washington, DC. They see the need for open communication with all parties; with strong superpower militaries like that of the US, but also with “the other side”; Taliban, Malian Toureg rebels, Al Shabab in Somalia etc. They are fiercely impartial, neutral, independent, never armed, and use this stance and their words to achieve their humanitarian objectives.
I liked the analogy that Mr. Bellon used during his presentation; "we are in the same river, but different boats." We tend to look at a crisis, in Syria for example, from our military perspective; the ICRC does so from their humanitarian perspective. Both boats have good intentions: defending the rights of the wounded and detainees, the protection of innocents, and the rights of a populace to select their own leadership. But it is essential that these two important boats be able to communicate with each other. Hence the invitation to the ICRC to visit, so that we can build bridges, know each other before a crisis, and better understand each other’s perspectives.
Mr Bellon indicated that the ICRC are also the protectors of the Geneva Conventions. They are in my mind, a bit like the Knights Templar guarding the Holy Grail in the movie, “Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth;" for me, the ICRC is today’s Knights Templar, guarding the nearly 150 year-old Geneva Conventions and fundamental human rights. They of course do so… without the sword.
Mike Anderson
Acting Director
J9-Interagency Partnering Directorate
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Final Four and Interagency
As I followed the Final Four I was reminded that there were four common requirements necessary both for this basketball tournament and for interagency partnering, my line of work at US European Command (EUCOM).
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Happy Birthday, Lithuania!
Lithuania is a steadfast ally and friend of the United States. Also, US European Command is a bilateral partner with Lithuania’s new national Energy Security Center
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Trojans, Malware and Botnets got you down…?
We know that cyber attacks are employed not just for cyber crime (i.e. to access your bank account), but also to discredit national agencies and governments (i.e. the cyber attacks against Estonia and Georgia). It is incumbent on all of us to “know our enemy” to best defend against such attacks. The best means for doing so is for governments to regularly partner with academia and the private sector (i.e. with IT safety enterprises) to form a sort of cyber coalition.
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“Black Gold, Texas Tea”
Cooperation on Energy Security issues is in Lithuania’s and the United State’s common interests. The MOU outlines ways in which both organizations, EUCOM and the Energy Security Center, can continue to work and coordinate together.
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Interagency Teams Meet in Berlin
This was an outreach effort meant to enhance understanding and facilitate future cooperation between two interagency organizations.
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Why Public-Private Collaboration?
A few weeks ago, I had the unique and exciting opportunity to address the 28-member NATO Military Committee regarding Public-Private Collaboration.
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The Importance of Collaboration and Cooperation in 1648 and Today
The Treaty of Westphalia, signed in 1648 in the Rathaus of Muenster, Germany, ended one of Europe’s bloodiest periods: the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) fought mostly on German soil, and 80 years of war between Spain and the Dutch Republic. Today two nations that benefitted from that peace treaty, Germany and the Netherlands (it achieved its independence as a result), are the framework nations for a multinational NATO High Readiness Corps headquartered in Muenster.
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Dutch Treat: Interagency Collaboration in The Hague
These days The Hague, the Netherlands' third largest city, is most often in the news as the home of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the body that has recently indicted Muammar Gadaffi for war crimes or for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which saw last week’s appearance of the former Bosnian Serb military general Ratko Mladic. Certainly both of these courts serve a valued purpose and The Hague -- with its history of hosting the first international peace conference in 1899 -- is a well-suited site for these courts.
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Discussing Turkey, Foreign Policy and what lies ahead
Dr. Soner Cagaptay, Senior Fellow and Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was a guest speaker for the EUCOM Forum for International Affairs Speaker Series Dec. 15.
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The Silk Road, Then and Now
The historic Silk Road traversed 3 present-day US geographic commands; European Command (EUCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and Pacific Command (PACOM), as it wound its way from Italy in the west to China in the east by way of Afghanistan pretty much right in the middle.
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Silly Bands, mood rings and… Interagency?
“Interagency…ah, that’s just a fad that will soon fade.” This was a comment overheard at a recent EUCOM meeting. The person seemed convinced that the pursuance of a “whole of government approach” and the continued emphasis on collaboration with interagency partners by EUCOM, a geographic military command, was just a fad. They also believed that this “fad” would soon fizzle once the novelty was gone or once there was new leadership in place. I beg to differ.
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An “ICEman Cometh” to EUCOM J9
Kevin works in the J9 Interagency Partnering Directorate and is one of a growing number of law enforcement/border protection-oriented interagency representatives now on the EUCOM J9 “interagency team”. Kevin, for example, is also joined by a Customs and Border Protection representative, Christina Bell, and will soon be joined by a Drug Enforcement Administration representative, Mr Nick Brooke.
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Time for a Paradigm Shift?
If you are a cable news junkie, then you’ve probably watched BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), one the largest, if not the largest, broadcasting organizations in the world. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Nik Gowing speak courtesy of ADM Stavridis’ 'Notable Film and Author Series’ and the EUCOM J9 Directorate. Nik presents the BBC's flagship news program, The Hub, which reports on global news for audiences across South Asia and the Middle East. He interviewed ADM Stavridis about operations in Marjah this past February and also recently wrote 'Skyful of Lies' and Black Swans, a study that addresses the role hand-held, multi-media technology plays in shaping public perceptions of government responses in crisis situations.
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