Mike Anderson Deputy Director J9 - Interagency Partnering Directorate

“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.

LCDR Taylor Clark's daughter wears and plays with some silly bands.

Silly bands of different shapes and colors that our 9 year old son currently exchanges in his elementary school, this is a fad. The wearing of these bracelets is presently popular among a large number of young people. Like all fads, this one will be collectively followed with enthusiasm for some period of time, just as long as it is perceived as novel. Once the novelty wears off, the wearing of silly bands will quickly fade like its predecessor fads, like mood rings, for example.

I remember mood rings as a 1970s fad when I was attending high school in New York. An inventor popularized the rings by touting that they changed color depending upon the mood of the wearer. Their popularity peaked and quickly faded.

So is “interagency collaboration” just a craze like these other examples? Will it be followed for only a short period with exaggerated zeal and then unceremoniously dismissed as EUCOM goes back to its old ways of doing business? I think not.

Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

Instead I believe that the power of a “whole of government approach” (or of a “comprehensive approach” as our NATO and EU partners refer to it) is not a fad, but instead a necessary trend. It is a decided inclination toward things to come; it is a veering in a new, unmistakable direction. It will be with us, all of us, not just EUCOM but also with DOD and the entire US Government, for some time … and rightly so.

The push for interagency collaboration stems from the realization that all elements of national power should be leveraged to best address today’s challenges in Europe and Eurasia. This is EUCOM’s future. Indeed an Interagency Partnering Directorate was established within the last year, the first new directorate at EUCOM since 1967, just because of this necessity. This is not a fad, not a “nice to have”, not a greedy “appetite” of those espousing interagency collaboration, instead this is a requirement born of today’s realities. Indeed, in today’s belt tightening environment it makes fiscal sense for EUCOM and DOD to collaborate with other agency partners…”many hands make light the work”.

Our Commander, Admiral Jim Stavridis, has rightly championed to the Secretary of Defense the importance he attaches to engaging the interagency. Likewise, Secretary Gates has called for improvements to the “interagency tool kit” and a reinforcement of the lead role of the Department of State in conducting US foreign policy and “building partner capacity”. Secretary of State Clinton has commented that the “3Ds”; “defense, diplomacy and development are not separate entities, either in substance or process, but that indeed they have to be viewed as part of an integrated whole and that the whole of government then has to be enlisted in their pursuit.”

Here I am (far right) collaborating with interagency and international partners.

Even the US Congress, in a bipartisan effort earlier this month, has focused on the importance of interagency collaboration, as legislation was introduced by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Congressman Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) to overhaul and improve interagency national security coordination.

Finally, President Obama has stated in the May 2010 National Security Strategy that in addition to the US military, “our security also depends on diplomats who can act in every corner of the world, from grand capitals to dangerous outposts; development experts who can strengthen governance and support human dignity; and intelligence and law enforcement that can unravel plots, strengthen justice systems and work seamlessly with other countries.”

No, a “whole of government” approach is not a fad at EUCOM. However, if interagency collaboration were to be a feeling detected by a mood ring, it would reveal a sense of optimism. And if cooperation with interagency partners were to take the form of a silly bands shape, it would simply be… the shape of things to come.

Mike Anderson
Deputy Director
Interagency Partnering Directorate