bray foreign affairs portfolio

The

Foreign Area Officer Program at DLI

Joint FAO Course, International Relationsand Regional TopicsW. Patrick Bray, U.S. Army Public Affairs

[ 2 ]

Lt. Col. Landale on Special Operations Within a Country Team

FAO Program Guest Speaker Series

By W. Patrick Bray

LT. COL. GORDON LANDALE from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Insti-tute Foreign Language Center March 15 about U.S. Army Special Operations and how it can work within a country team to advance U.S. priorities.

A country team is the foundation of a U.S. Embassy and includes many inter-agency personnel to promote diplomacy abroad. Some country teams are further augmented by the National Guard’s State Partnership Program. Special operations, which include U.S. Army Special Forces, Psychological Operations and Civil Af-fairs, can bring even more capabilities to the team, according to Landale.

Landale, with special operations experience in various theaters and joint task force duties with NATO, began his 21-year career as an infantry officer before go-ing to Special Forces selection in 2001. During the qualification course he trained in a mock embassy, but it would take 15 years before he stepped foot into a real embassy in Tajikistan.

“Without the Defense Attaché, I would not have known what to expect,” said Landale, speaking about the importance of interoperability.

U.S. Government agencies along with the departments of State and Defense must collaborate to achieve U.S. priorities in a given country under the Integrated Country Strategy – the ambassador’s multi-year plan that articulates those priori-ties.

Peacetime engagements by special operations go hand-in-hand with the diplo-matic relationships built by FAOs. Special operations has a diverse portfolio and are used for a variety of purposes during peacetime to identify and resolve pending

W. PATRICK BRAY is a U.S. Army Civilian Public Affairs Specialist reporting on the Foreign Area Officer Program at the at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. He holds a Master of Science in International Relationswith a concentration in Asia Regional Affairs from Troy University, Alabama.

[ 3 ]

crises or conflicts. Many of the conflicts occur in parts of the world plagued by disease, starvation, poverty and civil strife.

Though they have regional respon-sibilities, special operations troops must notify the embassy before conducting missions in a foreign country unless there is a designated operation, such as Enduring Freedom. For Landale, FAOs helped close the gap in Tajikistan be-tween the country team and special op-erations.

Landale is a defense analysis gradu-ate at NPS and the director of the Com-mon Operational Research Environment Lab there. The CORE Lab research-es the irregular warfare environment, which integrates geospatial, cultural, relational and other data for use by field operatives. He spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development speaker series, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is an essential ad-dition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.

FAOs, who come from the four branches of the U.S. military, are region-ally focused and are considered experts on political-military issues. Once their FAO training is completed, they are expected to serve as defense attachés, security cooperation officers and polit-ical-military planners worldwide.

FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • March 15, 2017

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DR. GUY ZIV, an associate professor at the American University School of Inter-national Service in Washington, D.C., spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Feb. 15 about current Israeli policy and the role of the U.S.

Coincidentally, Ziv’s lecture took place on the same day Israeli President Ben-jamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump in Washington, in which they spoke about settlements, the Iran Deal, the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusa-lem from Tel Aviv, and the two state solution – two states for two groups of people. Trump has declared that he is not wedded to the two state solution, a change from U.S. policy, according to Ziv.

“U.S. support of Israel is one of the few bipartisan issues in Washington today and the reason is that the two nations are democratic and share common values such as self-determination, social justice, pluralism and multiculturalism,” said Ziv.

But the U.S. and Israel also have shared interests. Israel is considered a very dependable ally, from the Cold War to fighting radical regimes of today and in the prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially in Iran.

As the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel receives an annual aid pack-age from the U.S., receiving about $38 billion in 2016. In return, the U.S. receives Israeli technology, which is considered well advanced in areas such as airport se-curity and cyber security, along with intelligence sharing from the Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel. Intelligence sharing is considered one of the most valuable elements of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

Ziv’s statement is derived from Gen. George Keegan who once said that “The

Dr. Guy Ziv on U.S. – Israeli Policy


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 5 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • February 15, 2017

ability of the U.S. Air Force in particu-lar, and the Army in general, to defend whatever position it has in NATO owes more to the Israeli intelligence input than it does to any other single source of intelligence, be it satellite reconnais-sance, be it technology intercept, or what have you.” Keegan was the former head of U.S. Air Force Intelligence from 1972 to 1977 and has publicly declared that “Israel is worth five CIAs.”

Between 1974 and 1990, Israel pro-vided the U.S. with $50-80 billion in intelligence, research and development savings, and Soviet weapons systems captured and transferred to the U.S.

The biggest issue facing Israel today just may be the two state solution, said Ziv. A critical element of that is the two states will have to live side by side in peace. Israel and the U.S. both worry that Palestine could become a haven for jihadists.

“Whether Trump will pursue the two state solution is critical,” said Ziv. “The one state solution is not a solution. Different groups are incapable of living together.”

Ziv compares the pro-settlement lobby in Israel to the NRA in the U.S., meaning that both lobbies have no real opposition. Palestinians are wary of new settlements. According to some Zionist Jews, all of Israel belongs to them as a Jewish homeland, but Zionism comes in different forms. Some pragmatic settlers would simply like to be compensated for leaving.

As for the Iran Deal, Netanyahu lob-bied against it, but there has been no in-dication by the Trump administration of reneging on the deal, according to Ziv. As for now, we can only wait and see.

Ziv has a background in policy, hav-ing worked at the U.S. Department of State, on Capitol Hill, and for leading non-profit organizations that promote American involvement in Israeli-Pales-tinian peacemaking. He spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer pro-fessional development speaker series, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is an essential addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


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THE FOREIGN AREA OFFICER PROGRAM at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center hosted the Joint FAO Course Jan. 23-27 at the Wecker-ling Center on the Presidio of Monterey.

FAOs, who come from the four branches of the U.S. military, are regionally fo-cused and are considered experts on political-military issues. FAOs typically begin their careers at the one-week course. Once their FAO training is completed, which includes language training and graduate school in a regionally focused topic, they are expected to serve as defense attachés, security cooperation officers and politi-cal-military planners worldwide.

Col. Phil Deppert, DLIFLC commandant, welcomed all the new FAOs to the Institute and to their profession during his welcoming remarks Jan. 24. Though Deppert is a military intelligence officer, he spoke about the cooperation and the need for FAOs in the services.

The week consisted of training and guest lecturers who are experts in the field of foreign affairs, specializing in regional topics, global plans and operations, and security cooperation. The advice offered ranged cultural faux pas in a foreign coun-try, to how to navigate the diplomatic halls of the Embassies where they will be serving.

Welcome to the community

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Rear Adm. Todd Squire, director for international en-gagement, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon in Washington,

“Welcome to the Community”

January 2017 Joint FAO Course

By W. Patrick Bray


[ 7 ]

D.C., welcomed the young officers to the community of FAOs.

“I’ve always wanted to be a FAO, even before I joined the Navy,” said Squire, who is a two-time graduate of DLIFLC in German in 2002 and Turkish in 2010. He offered some career advice to the upcoming FAOs.

According to Squire, there are three things the FAOs must always keep in mind. FAOs are strategic enablers to the warfighters; FAOs must be able to com-municate complex ideas precisely and succinctly in both writing and verbally; and FAOs must always sustain superior performance.

“We need you there [foreign assign-ment] so relationships are already built,” said Squire.

Squire quoted Secretary of Defense James Mattis in “recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances.”

“And that’s you,” added Squire.However, not everything is just

work. Squire also wants FAOs to enjoy the experience of being a FAO as he relished all of his assignments abroad, which included Japan, Germany, Turkey and India.

“Don’t forget to take it all in,” said Squire.

The diplomatic enterprise

FORMER AMBASSADOR to the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Phillip Car-ter, spoke to the FAOs about embassy settings and country team assignments.

FAOs in the field will work with the U.S. Embassy’s Foreign Service Officers and other interagency personnel in a country team to promote diplomacy and solve problems before they become disputes.

“The foundation of an embassy is the country team and the team captain is the ambassador,” said Carter.

Ambassadors are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and are the personal representatives of the President in a foreign state. All U.S. personnel in a country are under the di-rection of the ambassador except in a situation where a geographic combatant commander has jurisdiction over De-fense personnel, such as U.S. Pacific or European Command.

Carter told the FAOs that “diploma-cy is a contact sport.” FAOs will be ex-pected to build relationships as part of their job.

“If you spend the bulk of your week in your office you are doing something wrong,” said Carter. “It’s about people and your relationship to them.”

The language enabled FAO

RETIRED U.S. ARMY Brig. Gen. Matthew Brand spoke about the lan-guage enabled FAO Jan. 26. He served as a defense attaché in the Republic of Georgia and is a Russian linguist. He also served as the former deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and policy at NATO, his final assignment.

As part of their training path, a FAO could spend anywhere between 26 weeks to 64 weeks in class, seven hours

Joint FAO Course • January 23-27, 2017

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per day at DLIFLC studying a foreign language.

“We are training you in this lan-guage so you can talk to people. You cannot get access to somebody if you can’t speak their language,” said Brand. “The most important tool in your kit is your language.”

Brand also spoke about empathy, understanding and perspective and how these can help them be better FAOs.

“We’re going to ask you to learn more than foreign language. Step out-side your culture. Learn something better and new,” said Brand. “Exploit things you’re good at and work on things you’re not.”

Brand’s final advice to the FAOs was to assimilate all the wisdom from the guest speakers at the Joint Foreign Area Officer Course and take it with them abroad, but if they ever find something that they do or learned does not work, “change it to something that does.”

Joint FAO Course • January 23-27, 2017

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DR. CHRISTOPHER DARNTON, an associate professor of national security af-fairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Jan. 18 about the U.S. role in Latin America.

“Latin America has become a zone of peace with an asterisk,” said Darnton, summarizing the geographic region. His asterisk implies that “Latin America has had very few wars, but does not mean the hemisphere is unified.”

The U.S. is concerned with instability among other regional problems.“We have not seen the last difficult regime change in Latin America,” said

Darnton.Darnton based his lecture on security issues defined in the U.S. Southern Com-

mand posture statement, which includes transnational organized crime; foreign terrorist fighters; Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah; regional stability; and Russia and China engagement.

The corner stone of U.S. foreign policy in Latin American, according to Darn-ton, is the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which in summary states that there will be no new European colonies allowed in the Caribbean and South America. For the U.S., is was all talk for a century, but more than willingly enforced by the British Navy as London and Washington were in agreement.

President Theodore Roosevelt later added a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904.

“If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and de-cency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it

Dr. Christopher Darnton on the U.S. and Latin America


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 10 ] FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • January 18, 2017

need fear no interference from the Unit-ed States,” according to the corollary.

Whereas the U.S. views its mod-ern foreign policy as globally strategic and beneficial to all, the southern per-spective is it is a reminder of past im-perialism connected with the Monroe Doctrine and the corollary, according to Darnton.

“Historical legacies run deep in Lat-in America,” said Darnton.

Considering countries such as Cuba, Panama and a few others, “They will not have forgotten that we have occupied their country for a number of years,” said Darnton.

Even references such as “America’s backyard” is offensive and implies im-perialism, Darnton also added.

U.S. policy in the region has changed from that of intervention such as the 1983 invasion of Grenada to one of security cooperation such as Opera-tions New Horizons, Tradewinds and PANAMAX.

The way forward, according to Darnton, is more sincere and consistent support for human rights and democra-cy. The lessons we have learned in Latin America will always remain important, but he also believes that external great power involvement should not be of such great concern to the U.S.

“We’re still having a hard time wrapping our heads around Latin Amer-ican sovereignty,” said Darnton. “If Lat-in America is not a massive strategic priority for us, why should it be for Iran or Russia?”

Darnton elaborated on angles in which Russian and Chinese involvement could be great for the U.S. in that eco-nomic growth leads to stability and thus fewer problems in the region. Further-more, he added that Russia and China expending resources in Latin America are resources they cannot divert some-where else. “And that’s good for us,” he said.

Darnton’s teaching interests include Latin American politics, Brazil in world affairs and International conflict resolu-tion among others. He spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer pro-fessional development speaker series, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is an essential addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 11 ]

RYAN GINGERAS, associate professor in the Department of National Security Af-fairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center about recent events in Turkey Oct. 19.

“Because of the July 15th failed coup attempt this year the Turkish military is weakened, demoralized and has lost a lot,” said Gingeras. “One of the worst sectors affected was the press with the purging and prosecuting of opponents, and anti-American sentiment postured by the government is now at its highest.”

The failed military-lead coup attempt only strengthened the power of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seen as a pillar of the state, according to Gingeras. There is now an increased drive to strengthen the position of the presi-dent and the central government leading to mass purges and arrests.

Erdogan’s government alleges the coup’s leader to be of the Gulen Movement, a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam that is designated a terrorist organiza-tion in Turkey. The movement’s founder, Fethullah Gulen, lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S., thus leading to anti-American sentiment associated with the coup.

“The actual details of the coup are not entirely clear. The full size of those who participated in it, who the ringleaders were, is not fully known,” said Gingeras, making it unclear if the Gulen Movement was behind the attempt. “But what is clear is that the government has feared and cracked down on this movement for nearly three years.”

The coup makes Turkey’s relationship with the West as a military ally in the NATO structure problematic, Gingeras continued to explain. Turkey is historically

Ryan Gingeras on Recent Developments in Turkey


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 12 ] FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • October 19, 2016

dependent upon NATO for deterrence from threats in the Middle East and the U.S. maintains a presence at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.

On the opposite end, questions of sovereignty and threat perceptions lead to patterns of disagreement between NATO and Turkey, something Russia has capitalized on as they both desire to selectively spite Western allies, accord-ing to Gingeras.

Turkey’s relationship with Russia, though, is also problematic. Histori-cally, Russia had been in conflict with the Ottoman Empire for centuries and those same sentiments have carried over between modern Turkey and Rus-sia to this day. They both have a clear disagreement about the future of Syria, for example, an area of high concern in foreign affairs with the ongoing Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIL.

Despite the hostility Turkey and Russia do share multiple interest in mat-ters of economics and concerns with NATO, according to Gingeras.

“The short answer is it’s hard to say about the relationships (Turkey, NATO and Russia). There are and will be con-flicting patterns of behavior in the short and long term,” said Gingeras.

Shifting his focus to Turkey as an ally against ISIL, Gingeras discussed Turkish affairs in Syria since 2011 as Ankara has taken a hardline stance on the removal of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and supports the Free Syrian Army. Numerous Turkish citizens have gone to Syria to fight on both sides of

the conflict. Many of them have also been found within the ranks of ISIL.

Furthermore, the presence of three million Syrian refugees will undoubted-ly affect Turkey’s domestic politics and foreign policy for some time to come. Gingeras compares the Syrian refugee situation in Turkey to that of refugees in the U.S. after the revolution in Cuba. They helped shape the U.S. hardline stance against Fidel Castro for decades, said Gingeras.

“Turkey is here to stay in Syria,” said Gingeras, and will likely shape post-war politics after the conflicts in Syria are over.

Gingeras specializes in issues re-lated to empire, organized crime, na-tionalism and inter-communal violence in the Balkans, Turkey and the North Caucasus. He spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development speaker series, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is an essential ad-dition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


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DR. SHARAD JOSHI, an assistant professor of nonproliferation and terrorism studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute For-eign Language Center Sept. 14 about relations between India and Pakistan.

In his presentation “Assessing the India-Pakistan Dyad,” Joshi spoke about why this issue is important within U.S. National Security Strategy. The U.S. identifies a plethora of problems in Asia as it continues its rebalance to Asia and the Pacific, ac-cording to the strategy. In South Asia, the U.S. works with both India and Pakistan to promote strategic stability, combat terrorism, and advance regional economic integration in South and Central Asia.

“In this partnership we always have to consider the other power,” said Joshi, referring to India and Pakistan as a hyphenated partnership. “For example, one can-not just go to Islamabad or just go to New Delhi without going to the other.”

The problem herein is that India and Pakistan have been at odds with each other since the British Partition of India of 1947, which created India and the Dominion of Pakistan, later splitting into Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since then, India and Pa-kistan fought wars with each other from 1947-1948, in 1965, and in 1999. Kashmir, the disputed northernmost province of India, is at the heart of the tensions between the two countries. The vastly-Muslim province has religious and cultural ties to Pakistan, but is geographically located in India.

Both states have developed nuclear weapons and want to be viewed as re-sponsible nuclear states, but neither has signed the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits states with nuclear weapons to pursue disarmament, while

Dr. Sharad Joshi on the India –Pakistan Dyad


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 14 ] FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • September 14, 2016

states without nuclear weapons agree to forgo developing or acquiring weapons of their own.

India has signed a nuclear deal with the U.S. known as the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement in which India sepa-rated its civil and military nuclear facili-ties and placed all its civil nuclear facil-ities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

India and the U.S. are the world’s largest democracies, who share inherent values and mutual interests. This forms the cornerstone of cooperation in the ar-eas of security, energy, and the environ-ment. The U.S. supports India’s role as a regional provider of security and its ex-panded participation in critical regional institutions.

“India wants to be one of the deci-sion makers regarded as one of the ma-jor world powers,” Joshi said about In-dian foreign policy.

Pakistan’s foreign policy is reactive to India and has sponsored terrorism in the past with the intent to “bleed the In-dian Army from within,” said Joshi.

South Asia is a hub of global jihad-ism and terrorism, according to Joshi. In November 2008 an Islamic militant organization based out of Pakistan con-ducted a series of attacks in Mumbai gaining the world’s attention.

Terrorists in the region have ac-quired their own financial structures and some have earned legitimacy, such as during the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake, when terrorist organiza-tions, labeled such by India, conducted relief efforts amongst the population.

But frequent bilateral meetings do take place between India and Pakistan.

“Every time there is a change of government in India there is the expec-tation that he or she is going to forge a new path with Pakistan,” said Joshi.

Joshi spoke as part of the FAO pro-gram’s monthly officer professional development speaker series, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is an essential ad-dition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 15 ]

FRANK ARCHIBALD, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency Na-tional Clandestine Service from May 2013 to January 2015, spoke to faculty, staff and Foreign Area Officers at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Aug. 18.

Archibald spoke about how language and culture has helped him throughout his national security career and offered encouragement to the teachers in getting their students to achieve higher proficiency levels.

“Individuals in relationship to the state are more powerful today than they ever were before and that is because of technology,” Archibald said, as he held out his cellphone. He talked about how people are more connected today than ever before. “Technology can be a power for good or a power for evil.”

Throughout his career Archibald’s work focused on international relations be-tween states such as that between the Soviet Union and the U.S. in the Cold War, but today individuals are becoming more powerful through the connectivity of technology. Therefore, he stressed, the importance of understanding relationships down to the individual, and with that comes the thorough understanding of lan-guage and culture.

“When I was in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo), once a month I would go places in the east where they haven’t had anybody from the Embassy in decades.” said Archibald, and then, following one particular trip, “one of the lin-guists said to me ‘Frank, you’re always so much better in French the day you come back from your trips to the east.’”

These trips are how Archibald dealt with language and culture understanding

Former CIA Agent on Language and Culture Knowledge


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 16 ] FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • August 18, 2016

in his career.Previous to his address to the staff

and faculty, DLIFLC commandant, Col. Phil Deppert, told Archibald that im-mersions are something instituted by DLIFLC to reach higher levels of pro-ficiency, with plans to continue and ex-pand the program.

Archibald already knows that “im-mersions are a win,” in his own words, because immersion teaches culture and language. He had previously been a CIA case officer who worked in a foreign language himself and also a case officer who worked through an interpreter.

“When speaking with someone of another culture, not only must linguists understand the foreign language but their body language and the context of what they are saying within that culture,” said Archibald. “These things often become lost through use of interpreters.”

Therefore, Archibald encouraged the faculty to motivate their students to strive for fluency, but he understands that fluency takes time and students must be committed.

“Tell them it is a lifelong journey. The ability to speak a foreign language and understand someone else’s culture is a gift that they take with them through-out their life. It will broaden their life experience, but it takes commitment,” said Archibald.

Later that afternoon, Archibald spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional develop-ment program focused on regional top-ics and political-military issues. The monthly program is as an essential addi-tion to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I.

[ 17 ]

KATHLEEN WALSH, associate professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, presented lectures on China at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center July 21.

Walsh spoke about two current topics of interest in international affairs in her presentation titled “21st Century China: U.S. partner, rival or adversary?” to stu-dents studying Mandarin Chinese and to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the institute.

“Western scholars don’t truly understand China. They try to predict where Chi-na might fail, but they are not doing a very good job of explaining why China has succeeded despite all the challenges and obstacles,” said Walsh.

The first topic covered the South China Sea and a recent ruling from the Perma-nent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands. On July 12, the court ruled in favor of the Philippines in the 2013 case Republic of Philippines v. People’s Repub-lic of China in the Spratly Islands dispute.

The Spratly Islands are a cluster of more than 100 reefs, sandbanks and islets in the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Taiwan all lay claim to some or all of the islands. The court’s ruling states that China’s claim of having historic rights to the islands is invalid under international law because China has artificially built up islands of interest, while technically no feature in the Spratly Islands meets the definition of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Additionally, it is not clear if China lays claim to only land territory or all the territorial waters surrounding the islands.

Kathleen Walsh on Current Topics on China


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 18 ] FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • July 21, 2016

Either way, China has stated that it will not abide by the court ruling.

“I think this issue is going to be a turning point in China-U.S. relations and global affairs. It will determine if China is a partner, rival or adversary,” said Walsh.

Under the U.N. definition an island must be self-sufficient, with an ability to sustain human life, to include producing fresh water. However, China claims that each islet is in fact an island and con-tains its own exclusive economic zone, or EEZ. This is where the South China Sea dispute is today.

Walsh further explained the signifi-cance of the Spratly’s. An EEZ is 200 nautical miles from the coast under U.N. law. If each reef or islet scattered throughout the sea were to theoretical-ly have an EEZ that belonged to China, no ships could transit the South China Sea without Chinese permission plac-ing Southeast Asian economies and the world economy under Chinese control, according to Walsh. Modern Chinese maps already show the Spratly’s as part of China.

China also interprets an EEZ to mean no presence of foreign military as-sets within the zone. The U.S. Navy and Air Force, along with other forces in the region, frequently enter the South China Sea which currently holds a “freedom of navigation” status.

“Why are the Chinese doing this? Are they going to continue and what does this mean?” Walsh asked the stu-dents in an open ended question refer-ring back to her opening statement that

scholars do not fully understand China.The second topic covered Chinese

globalization through China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, which is better known as the One Belt, One Road ini-tiative.

In this initiative China is establish-ing infrastructure across Central Asia, which closely follows the historic Silk Road, to better establish trade with Eu-rope. China is also building infrastruc-ture in Africa as part of the maritime Silk Road, which passes through the South China Sea and transits the Indian Ocean to Africa.

China is expanding its economic zones outside of its own borders as an alternative to the U.S. dominated inter-national order. According to Walsh, this is an effort to marginalize the U.S. by looking west and uniting Eurasia and Africa under the Chinese model of glo-balization. The initiative is going partic-ularly well in Africa as China is build-ing infrastructure that African countries otherwise could not afford, especially improvements to ports, highways and railroads.

Both China and the U.S. view these actions differently. Where the U.S. may perceive some things China does as a threat, China sees itself as only modern-izing under its own model of globaliza-tion.

“The Chinese are succeeding. They believe their model is the best,” said Walsh, which led her to ask another open ended question. “Is communism dead in China?”

[ 19 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • July 21, 2016

Socialism with Chinese characteris-tics was best described by Deng Xiaop-ing, the Chinese leader following Mao Zedong, in 1989 when he said, “You are in a room with two doors. One door says politics; one door says economics. If you open the economic door, you can go the full distance to basically whatever you want. If you open the political door, you are going to run right into walls, and eventually you are going to run into the State.”

Today, Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, is putting ideology (Maoism/Marxism) back on the table.

“We thought the Chinese were be-coming more like us – predictable if you will – but now it is going the other way,” said Walsh. “Is Xi the new China? To be determined – we’ll have to wait and see whether China is partner, rival or adver-sary.”

Walsh spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is as an essential addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 20 ]

DR. WADE HUNTLEY, academic director of the Regional Security Education Program at the Naval Postgraduate School, also in Monterey, spoke to Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center June 21 about North Korea and its nuclear weapons program.

Huntley’s teaching interests include nuclear, biological and chemical weapons proliferation and non-proliferation, and Northeast Asian security. He gave FAOs a detailed lecture on North Korea’s quest to obtain the bomb.

“Why does North Korea do anything it does?” asked Huntley, who explained that motives of the world’s most secretive and isolated regime are sometimes baf-fling.

Huntley began by discussing the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits states with nuclear weapons to pursue disarmament, while states without nuclear weapons agree to forgo developing or acquiring weapons of their own. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, pushed North Korea to sign the treaty.

Then, the world began to change dramatically. The Berlin Wall fell and the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing both took place in 1989, followed by the downfall and 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, North Korea’s main benefactor.

“The Soviet Union left North Korea out in the cold (after the collapse),” said Huntley. “In the early to mid-1990s North Korea was imploding. We didn’t realize it then because the problem was chronic rather than acute.”

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions may have begun as a way to ensure regime survival, Huntley also added, leading to the first nuclear crisis.

Dr. Wade Huntley on North Korean Nuclear Weapons


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 21 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • June 21, 2016

In 1994, North Korea expelled in-vestigators from the International Atom-ic Energy Agency prompting the Clinton Administration to try to deal with the situation. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter traveled to North Korea and was able to work out an agreement with Pres-ident Kim Il Sung. Known as the Agreed Framework, it allowed North Korea to replace nuclear reactors with light-water reactors, which is allowable under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Kim Il Sung died later in 1994 and was replaced by his son, Kim Jong Il.

In 2002, the Agreed Framework col-lapsed as a result of a dispute between the Bush Administration and the gov-ernment of Kim Jong Il. North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Nonprolifer-ation Treaty and restarted its nuclear program, leading to the second nuclear crisis.

The Bush Administration began a series of talks that included North and South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia – the Six Party Talks – be-cause the U.S. favored a broad, region-al discussion rather than bilateral ne-gotiations. The talks had some success throughout the remainder of the Bush Administration but have not occurred since 2008 when North Korea walked away.

Today, most experts on Northeast Asia are still trying to determine how Kim Jong Un, who took power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il in 2011, will shape the direction of North Korea.

“Most analysts come to a consensus that the primary focus of North Korea is regime survival,” said Huntley.

The way ahead for the U.S. is a policy of “strategic patience,” which is unlike the more confrontational Bush Administration approach of the early 2000s. The policy suggests that the U.S. can afford to wait for North Korea to make its own decision to denuclearize.

“The U.S. has left a chair at the table for North Korea in the Six Party Talks and has waited for eight years,” said Huntley. “North Korea still hasn’t come (around).”

Huntley spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development program, which is a crit-ical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is as an essential addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 22 ]

DANIEL EIZENGA, a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida and a re-searcher with Sahel Research Group, shared his understanding of Boko Haram with Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute For-eign Language Center May 19.

“The point I want to drive home is that some will argue this is a Nigeria specific problem, but Boko Haram is a regional phenomenon,” said Eizenga.

Eizenga began with the history and geography of the ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse region where Boko Haram has gained influence. The Fran-cophone Sahel, as it is referred to in the academic community, is the crossroads between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa and was previously colonized by the French.

According to Boko Haram, colonization brought Western systems to Africa and thus these things brought corruption, said Eizenga.

Boko Haram emerged in the 1990s as an extension of Al Qaeda to overthrow Western influence. It operates in northeastern Nigeria and parts of Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The U.S. State Department classifies Boko Haram as a terrorist organi-zation and Nigeria sees it as an insurgency and Jihadi organization. More recently, Boko Haram has pledged its allegiance to and adopted the black flag of ISIL, which has plagued parts of Iraq, Syria and even Libya.

Approximately 2.5 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram, which creates a huge humanitarian crisis. It has destroyed entire villages and massacred populations, said Eizenga.

“Despite all of this, Boko Haram gains a lot of support and recruitment because

Daniel Eizenga on the Threat of Boko Haram


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 23 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • May 19, 2016

it plays itself as the victim, someone who has been persecuted by the Nigeri-an government,” said Eizenga.

Boko Haram gained international at-tention in 2014 when it kidnapped more than 250 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria. Boko Haram is actually a nickname, which the organization has accepted, that is usually translated as “Western education is forbidden.” According to Boko Haram, they were saving the schoolgirls from non-Muslim education.

Today, Nigeria claims that Boko Haram is defeated but is still conduct-ing terrorist attacks in the region. Unlike ISIL, Boko Haram is not trying to set up a state and it holds no territory today. Instead it wants to purge the region of Western influence and disavow those whom it views as not true Muslims.

Eizenga’s recommendation for what the U.S. can do in the region is to contin-ue with humanitarian assistance because it counters the perception that U.S. sup-port is based solely on force. The U.S. currently conducts military-to-mili-tary cooperation with Nigeria in which U.S. troops help train Nigerian forces through the National Guard State Part-nership Program.

Eizenga spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development program, which is a crit-ical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is as an essential addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 24 ]

DR. CRAIG WHITESIDE, a professor at the Naval War College Monterey located on the campus of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, spoke about the most recent National Security Strategy with Foreign Area Officers in language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center April 21.

The National Security Strategy is a document prepared by the executive branch of the U.S. Government for the Congress, which outlines the major national securi-ty concerns of the U.S. and how to deal with them.

The Goldwater–Nichols Act of 1986 required that the President issue a National Security Strategy annually. However, according to Whiteside, though the strategy is “supposed to be done every year, it is not a strategy if you change it every year.”

“What is a strategy?” Whiteside asked as he began his discussion. “It’s really big picture stuff. How do we achieve our end state, what are the ways, and what are the means?”

Whiteside focused most of his discussion on the differences between the 2010 and 2015 National Security Strategy. The 2010 strategy was called a dramatic de-parture from its predecessor as it advocated increased engagement with Russia, China and India, and introduced the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. However, since then, the world has seen dramatic events occur such as the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War and the rise of the Islamic State, as well as a renewed fear in Europe of a resurgent Russia.

The 2015 strategy, to address these concerns, is “a vision and strategy for ad-vancing the nation’s interests, universal values, and a rules-based international or-der through strong and sustainable American leadership,” according to the docu-

Dr. Craig Whiteside on U.S. National Security Strategy


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 25 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • April 21, 2016

ment itself.Whiteside discussed with the FAOs

the ways and the means to achieve these goals.

“The ways are our campaigns. The means are our resources such as mili-tary units, diplomacy, money, unfettered access to markets, a secure homeland, and maintaining hegemony,” said Wh-iteside.

Whiteside further discussed in-struments of national power, known as DIME – diplomacy, information, mili-tary and economics – and how they play in the most recent strategy.

“Though our interests may change from administration to administration, the themes do not,” said Whiteside.

Whiteside said that some new issues that future strategies should address should be the reorganizing of the Uni-fied Combatant Commands, such as the forming of a U.S. Cyber Command and the combining U.S. Northern Command with U.S. Southern Command. The combatant commands reflect the Na-tional Security Strategy in their mission.

Whiteside is an Associate Profes-sor at the Naval War College Monterey where he teaches national security af-fairs to military officers as part of their professional military education. He is also a retired U.S. Army officer with counterinsurgency experience in Iraq from 2006 to 2007.

Whiteside spoke as part of the FAO program’s monthly officer professional development program, which is a crit-ical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is as an essential

addition to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 26 ]

RETIRED KOREAN MAJ. GEN. LEE SEO-YOUNG, now a professor at the Ko-rea National Defense University, spoke about the alliance between the U.S. and Ko-rea to students at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Feb. 10.

Lee gave his presentation, titled the Republic of Korea – U.S. Alliance: Past, Present and Future, to students at the institute’s Asian School II in Korean and then again later in English to the Foreign Area Officers.

Speaking to the FAOs, “You are the experts between the U.S. and the country in which you serve,” said Lee, who served as a Defense Attaché for Korea in Wash-ington, D.C., where he often worked on issues related to the alliance.

Korea and the U.S. have maintained a bilateral Alliance for more than 60 years. Born out of the Korean War, the alliance grew stronger, both during and after the Cold War. Today, both nations “go together,” as their slogan suggests, to meet the security challenges of Northeast Asia.

Beginning his presentation, Lee spoke about what he learned while researching alliances.

“Most alliances last no more than 10 years,” said Lee. “The Republic of Korea – U.S. Alliance has lasted for 60.”

In the first stage of the alliance during the 1950-1953 Korean War under the United Nations Command, Gen. Douglas MacArthur commanded all U.N. forces fighting in Korea. Afterwards, Seoul and Washington signed a mutual defense trea-ty authorizing further stationing of U.S. troops in Korea. In 1978, Korea and the U.S. established the Combined Forces Command taking over warfighting from the U.N. Command.

Maj. Gen. Lee Seo-young on the U.S. – Korea Alliance


By W. Patrick Bray


[ 27 ]FAO Program Guest Speaker Series • February 10, 2016

As part of mutual defense, Korea and the U.S. work together on East Asia security issues and the U.S. rebalance to the Asia/Pacific region. Korea, also supported the U.S. in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq. Lee served in Baghdad in 2004.

A major focus for the alliance is still North Korea as the alliance has faced thousands of North Korea armistice vio-lations in six decades.

The continuing U.S. relationship with Korea is vital to both nations, ac-cording to Lee. While the alliance is meeting the security challenges it faces today, it is evolving to ensure it can meet any potential challenge in the future.

Lee spoke as part of the FAO pro-gram’s monthly officer professional de-velopment program, which is a critical part of FAO training at DLIFLC. The monthly program is as an essential addi-tion to the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I, usually held in January and June.


[ 28 ]

IT TAKES COOPERATION to solve international problems such as Ebola in Libe-ria, the Syrian refugee crisis, island disputes in the South China Sea or how best to deal with ISIL, but Foreign Area Officers are up to the task.

Every FAO is an expert on political-military issues in a particular region of the world, is knowledgeable of security cooperation, highly trained in language skills and interpersonal skills, and is an experienced officer. As the largest FAO program, Army officers transition from their primary-career fields to a full-time FAO-career track. However, all four branches of the U.S. military contribute to the FAO pro-gram.

A portion of FAO training takes place in Monterey, California, at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center where FAOs study a foreign language. The institute hosts the Joint Foreign Area Officer Course biannually, an added bo-nus while the FAOs are studying at the Presidio of Monterey, for the purpose of bringing in seasoned experts on international affairs and career FAOs with numer-ous foreign assignments. The most recent course was held Jan. 25-29.

Political-military

RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE Maj. Gen. Randy Kee, a former political-military planner, as keynote speaker gave a presentation titled “Reflections … the arena of Political-Military” Jan. 26.

“As you serve, you are the dash between the political and the military,” said Kee.

Foreign Area Officers Learn From the Experts at DLI

January 2016 Joint FAO Course

By W. Patrick Bray


[ 29 ]Joint FAO Course • January 25-29, 2016

Kee drew upon experiences from his multiple assignments around the world. He spoke about a myriad of strategic challenges facing the U.S. in 2016, citing the Middle East and ISIL as an example. He also spoke about access to resources around the world and that competition for resources creates conflict.

“Being good at political-military may ultimately save us in our resources. We talk a lot about building partner ca-pacity. When we do, we can underinvest in that area and focus elsewhere,” said Kee.

“Nations we have invested in are much more resilient when bad things happen.”

In his final assignment, Kee served as U.S. European Command director of strategy, planning and coordination be-fore his retirement in December 2015.

“Nations will choose to make con-trary policies to us simply because they have grievances with us. As a FAO, you can help change that narrative,” said Kee, as he cited the current situation in Russia and Ukraine as an example.

During his time in Europe, Kee dealt with situations concerning Russia and the current security situation in the Ukraine. He was also faced with how some European countries dealt with the migration crisis emanating from Syria.

“This is just one example of dis-placement from one area to the next and it causes a security concern. Where some of you serve will be impacted by these immigrations. That’s going on in Europe right now,” said Kee.

Language-enabled FAOs

RETIRED U.S. ARMY Brig. Gen. Matthew Brand spoke about the lan-guage enabled FAO Jan. 28. He served as a defense attaché in the Republic of Georgia and is a Russian linguist. He also served as the former deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and policy at NATO, his final assignment.

“We are training you in this lan-guage so you can talk to people. You cannot get access to somebody if you can’t speak their language,” said Brand. “The most important tool in your kit is your language.”

As part of their training path, a FAO could spend anywhere between 26 weeks to 64 weeks in class, seven hours per day at DLIFLC studying a foreign language.

“The most important person you should know is yourself,” said Brand, who recommends that the FAOs become familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type In-dicator questionnaire to assist in their language learning.

In theory, Myers-Briggs determines how humans process information and which of the four psychological func-tions is dominant for one person most of the time - sensation, intuition, feeling and thinking.

“How does this apply to language learning? One thing we all have in com-mon is we learn every day. If the lan-guage learning piece is tough for you, try a different technique,” said Brand.

Brand’s final advice to the FAOs was to assimilate all the wisdom from the

[ 30 ] Joint FAO Course • January 25-29, 2016

guest speakers at the Joint Foreign Area Officer Course and take it with them abroad, but if they ever find something that they do or learned does not work, “change it to something that does.”

Embassy 101

FORMER AMBASSADOR to Fiji David Lyon spoke about embassy set-tings Jan. 26, where FAOs will work with Foreign Service Officers together on a day-to-day basis to promote diplo-macy and solve problems before they become disputes.

“In the field the most important rela-tionship is between the ambassadors and the geographic combatant command-ers,” said Lyon.

Ambassadors are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and are the personal representatives of the President in a foreign state. All U.S. personnel in a country are under the di-rection of the ambassador except in a situation where a geographic combatant commander has jurisdiction over De-fense personnel, such as U.S. Pacific or European Command.

The second most important person in an embassy is the deputy chief of mis-sion and is the key adviser to the ambas-sador.

“FAOs live in both worlds (Depart-ment of State and Defense). You have to satisfy your immediate boss in the embassy and your home agency,” said Lyon.

Breaking down the staff structure of an embassy, Lyon informed the FAOs

of who they will be working with when they arrive at their duty stations. U.S. embassies and consulates are made up of consular and management sections, political and economic sections, public diplomacy and public affairs sections, and regional security officers and U.S. Marine security guards. FAOs work with Foreign Service Officers and other officers from every section on any num-ber of issues.

All of these sections work togeth-er combined with strategic planning to promote U.S. diplomacy abroad, but it is still difficult to plan for what could happen next in the world.

“Foreign affairs is too squishy. It’s so difficult to predict the future. If some-one had predicted the Arab Spring we could’ve had more Arabic linguists and more Foreign Service Officers in those countries,” said Lyon.

“Foreign Service Officers, just like FAOs, sign up for service and adven-ture, but without the expectation of put-ting our lives in danger. I really want to commend you for what you do and your service,” said Lyon.

Lyon retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2005 following a 33-year ca-reer with the Department of State. His final posting was to Suva, Fiji, where he served as Ambassador to the Pacific Island countries of Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Security cooperation

REAR ADM. Todd Squire, director for international engagement, Office of

[ 31 ]Joint FAO Course • January 25-29, 2016

the Chief of Naval Operations, at the Pentagon in Washington. He is a two-time graduate of DLIFLC in German in 2002 and Turkish in 2010, and he served in Japan, Germany, Turkey and India. He spoke briefly about the FAO role in security cooperation Jan. 26.

Squire defines security cooperation as DOD interaction with foreign defense establishments to build relationships that promote specific U.S. interests.

“It sounds daunting, but at the end of the day, it’s really not that hard,” said Squire.

Squire said that a good beginning is to understand the U.S. codes and rec-ommend that FAOs learn these among other policies. Security assistance under Title 22 is a Department of State respon-sibility and security cooperation under Title 10 is a Department of Defense re-sponsibility.

Between State and DOD, Squire echoed what many speakers at this and previous Joint Foreign Area Officer courses said – FAOs have many bosses and to get used to that, but to remember that the ambassador is the President’s direct representative in a foreign coun-try and the closest at hand.

Culture

ALL OF THE SPEAKERS agreed on the importance of having cultural un-derstanding and language skills as key to being a successful FAO.

“We spend a lot of time learning about foreign cultures otherwise we wouldn’t be FAOs,” said Squire, who

wants FAOs to enjoy the experience as much as he enjoyed his assignments abroad.

Kee also told FAOs to understand the culture of where they serve and that they have to be able to be a bridge be-tween cultural differences.

“Give them dignity, courtesy, re-spect and kindness. This goes a long way,” said Kee.

Brand also spoke about having em-pathy, understanding, and broad per-spective regarding certain situations, which will ultimately make one a better FAO.

“We’re going to ask you to learn more than foreign language. Step out-side your culture. Learn something better and new,” said Brand. “Exploit things you’re good at and work on things you’re not.”

Once their FAO training is complet-ed, they are expected to serve as defense attachés, security cooperation officers and political-military planners world-wide. The concept of equipping military officers with regional expertise, lan-guage skills, and knowledge of U.S. and foreign political-military relationships dates back to 1889 when the U.S. sent permanent military Attaches to London, Paris, Vienna, and Saint Petersburg.

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