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On 8/6/2008 11:20:36 AM Public Affairs Office wrote
Partnership Between Departments of State and Defense is Vital to Africa Command
"What is the role of the military within foreign policy?" As U.S. Africa Command makes steady progress toward becoming the sixth U.S. regionally focused headquarters by October, 2008, this question has been widely discussed in the media, in online blogs, and in recent congressional testimonies.
At a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 31, 2008, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte expressed the need for increased staffing and resources within non-military agencies but also described a healthy relationship in Africa between diplomats and the military people who support them.
"Our civilian-military partnership is strong, beneficial, and appropriate," Negroponte testified.
"In Africa, where the State Department and USAID are deeply involved in administering a range of major foreign assistance programs, the Defense Department is working to ensure that its new regional command, AFRICOM, supports and complements our civilian-led initiatives," he testified. "We are pleased that DoD is giving senior leadership positions within AFRICOM to State Department officials, positioning them well to advise the command on appropriate courses of action. AFRICOM is already working with State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to coordinate counternarcotics strategies. We look forward to expanding State-DoD cooperation in this theater."
Voicing support for AFRICOM's integrated structure, Negroponte emphasized the need for strengthening capacities of civilian agencies so that both groups can function effectively and support one another.
"The closer State-DoD partnership is a key component of the seamless, government-wide approach to national security that we need today. We both need and welcome greater civilian-military cooperation and coordination in Washington and in the field," said Negroponte.
Within the U.S. Africa Command, civilian officials comprise a range of senior leadership positions. This integrated model of staff representation includes military staff and civilian staff from the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies.
The Africa Command benefits tremendously from having a diversified staff with a wide range of viewpoints, skill sets, and experience. This input by both military and non-military staff is invaluable to the command as it develops its security and humanitarian relief programs.
General Ward has reiterated in several speeches that the U.S. Department of State will continue to lead the nation's foreign policy, as it has always done, and the U.S. Africa Command will play a supporting role in achieving foreign policy objectives.
"Chief of mission authority remains an essential organizing principle for U.S. engagement overseas," said Negroponte. "As a five-time ambassador, I am a strong proponent of that authority, and I'm confident that it is adequate to ensuring the State Department retains lead responsibility for our foreign affairs and its execution on the field."
In a speech July 15, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned against the "creeping militarization of foreign policy" emphasizing the need for the United States government to balance between civilians and military members when conducting foreign policy initiatives.
Testifying alongside Negropone at the Jully 31 hearing, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman spoke on the role of the military in foreign policy, stressing that civilian agencies' inadequate resources and staffing hinders their capabilities to carry out responsibilities, thus prompting the need for military assistance.
"[Gates] believes, as I do, that the risk comes not from DoD doing too much but from civilian agencies being undermanned and underresourced," said Edelman. "In many ways, DoD has had to act by default because of the lack of civilian partners and the significant risks that presented to our troops on the ground and to civilian populations that we found to be in need of basic services."
Achieving this balanced integration is imperative for the U.S. Africa Command as it strengthens relationships with African nations and institutions.
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