Download or read book The Role of the Department of Defense in the Security of U S Embassies Abroad written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Diplomatic Security Key Oversight Issues written by Michael J. Courts and published by U.S. Government Accountability Office. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to increasing threats to U.S. personnel and facilities at overseas diplomatic posts since 1998, the Department of State (State) has taken a number of steps to enhance its risk management and security efforts. State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security (Diplomatic Security) leads many of these efforts with assistance from other bureaus and U.S. government agencies. Given the ongoing threats and the amount of resources needed to counter them, GAO has identified 11 key issues regarding Diplomatic Security that warrant significant Congressional oversight to monitor the cost, progress, and impact: Diplomatic Security Funding: Diplomatic Security funding has increased considerably in reaction to a number of security incidents overseas and domestically. In fiscal year 2016, total funding for Diplomatic Security operations--which includes its bureau managed funds as well as other funding such as personnel salaries--was almost $4.8 billion. Diplomatic Security Staffing Challenges: Diplomatic Security's workforce--including 3,488 direct-hire, 1,989 other U.S. government, and 45,870 contract personnel--continues to grow. However, potential challenges exist regarding the distribution of domestic and overseas positions, posting fully qualified individuals in the assignments with the greatest needs, and ongoing efforts to fill language-designated positions. Physical Security of U.S. Diplomatic Facilities: Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations collaborate to meet safety standards when constructing new embassies and mitigating risks at existing facilities. However, GAO made recommendations to address gaps in State's security related activities and processes. Physical Security of Diplomatic Residences and Other Soft Targets: State has taken steps to address residential security vulnerabilities and manage risks at schools and other soft targets overseas. However, GAO recommended actions to address weaknesses in State's efforts. Security Training Compliance: While State has robust security training requirements, it lacks consistent monitoring and enforcement processes, particularly for its Foreign Affairs Counter Threat training and for security refresher briefings at posts. Embassy Crisis and Evacuation Preparedness: Gaps in State's implementation and monitoring of crisis and evacuation preparedness could endanger staff assigned to overseas posts and the family members accompanying them. GAO has recommended actions to address these issues. Department of Defense (DOD) Support to U.S. Diplomatic Missions: Following the Benghazi attacks, DOD increased its support to U.S. diplomatic missions by creating dedicated military forces to respond to crises and expanding the Marine Security Guard program at overseas missions. However, State and DOD reported that they have experienced some logistical and other challenges. Dissemination of Threat Information: State has processes for communicating threat information to post personnel and U.S. citizens in-country. However, post personnel--including locally employed staff--have not always received important information in a timely manner. GAO has recommended steps State needs to take to address this concern. Countering Human Intelligence Threats: Foreign intelligence entities from host nations and third parties are motivated to collect information on U.S. operations and intentions. State has established measures to counter the human intelligence threat and works with other U.S. government agencies to identify and assess this threat. Ensuring Information Security: GAO has designated federal information security as a government-wide high-risk area and made recommendations to address these issues. State faces evolving threats and challenges to maintaining obsolete technology, defining clear roles and responsibilities for information security, and overseeing technology contractors. Status of Recommendations Made in Reports following the Benghazi Attack: In response to the Benghazi attack, State formed interagency teams to evaluate the security at 19 dangerous posts, convened an Accountability Review Board (ARB) to investigate the attack, and established panels to conduct further assessments. As of June 2017, State reported having addressed recommendations as follows: 268 of 287 made by the interagency teams, 26 of 29 by the ARB, and 64 of 75 by the panels. Terrorist attacks against U.S. diplomats and personnel overseas have led to increased attention of State's diplomatic security efforts. In this special publication, GAO identifies key issues affecting Diplomatic Security for Congressional oversight. These issues were identified from a body of related GAO work and State and other reports. GAO also interviewed U.S. officials from State and other agencies to obtain their views on key issues, obtain updated information and data, and follow up on actions they have taken on past GAO and other oversight report recommendations. What GAO Recommends: While State has taken steps to close recommendations made in past GAO reports, GAO identified 27 open recommendations from these reports (as of August 2017) that it believes should be given high priority for implementation. Of the 27 priority recommendations, 24 were related to diplomatic security.
Download or read book The Role of the Department of Defense in the Security of U S Embassies Abroad written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book First Line of Defense written by Robert V. Keeley and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The History of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the Us Department of State written by Us Department of State and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2011-10-03 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs was commuting from his residence to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on February 14, 1979, when four men abducted him. A man dressed as a policeman stopped the Ambassador's car and said that he had orders to search it. Aiming a gun at the chauffeur's head, the “policeman” ordered the chauffeur to remain still while he and three men got into the car. At gunpoint, the chauffeur drove to the Kabul Hotel, arriving at about 8:50 a.m. The kidnappers ordered Dubs out of the car and took him to a second floor room. The chauffeur was instructed to go to the U.S. Embassy and inform the Americans of the situation. A large number of Afghan police, military, and fire department personnel quickly surrounded the hotel. Three Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) from the U.S. Embassy arrived, as did four Soviet officials. During the next four hours, U.S. Officials repeatedly urged Afghan officials to exercise restraint to ensure the Ambassador's safety. According to FSOs on site, the four Soviet officials held repeated discussions with Afghan authorities and appeared to serve as advisors. At 12:50 p.m. Afghan forces stormed the second-floor room, and Ambassador Dubs was killed during the ensuing gunfire.The abduction and death of Ambassador Dubs highlighted the importance of diplomatic security and prompted U.S. Department of State officials to reexamine the security measures that they had in place. The United States has always had some form of diplomatic security, yet the threats to U.S. diplomacy and the measures that the Department of State has employed to counter them have changed considerably over time. This history explores how diplomatic security at the Department of State has evolved from the American Revolution to the post- Cold War era.The Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) is the security and law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of State. DS is a world leader in international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, security technology, and protection of people, property, and information.The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is responsible for providing a safe and secure environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. Every diplomatic mission in the world operates under a security program designed and maintained by Diplomatic Security. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel protect the Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States, investigates passport and visa fraud, and conducts personnel security investigations. Operating from a global platform in 25 U.S. cities and 159 foreign countries, DS ensures that America can conduct diplomacy safely and securely. DS plays a vital role in protecting U.S. embassies and personnel overseas, securing critical information systems, investigating passport and visa fraud, and fighting the war on terror.
Download or read book Security of U S Diplomatic Facilities and Personnel Abroad written by Teresa D. Boles and published by Nova Science Publishers. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States maintains about 285 diplomatic facilities worldwide. Attacks on such facilities, and on U.S. diplomatic personnel, are not infrequent. The deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September 2012, along with attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, drew renewed attention to the challenges facing U.S. diplomats abroad, as well as to the difficulty in balancing concerns for their security against the outreach required of their mission. Congress plays a key role in shaping the response to these challenges, such as by providing resources for diplomatic security and examining security breaches overseas. This book provides background information on the organisation, practice, and funding of U.S. diplomatic security efforts. It also provides summary information on the 11 September 2012, attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, as well as on the subsequent Accountability Review Board.
Download or read book Turning on the Dime written by Anton K. Smith and published by Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Army War College. This book was released on 2007 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The differences in approach and culture between the U.S. Departments of State and Defense are stark despite the fact that these organizations are members of the same team and share related national objectives. Understanding the nature of these differences is key to improving interagency cooperation between the two key agents of our national foreign policy. State's historical role as the nation's lead instrument of foreign policy has eroded since World War II, while Defense has seen its power and influence grow. Our nation's diplomatic efforts aim at exhausting opportunities to secure peace and stability before turning to the option of last resort. Defense is no less pleased than State when diplomatic efforts fail and military force is applied.
Download or read book U S Assistance to Foreign Military and Security Forces written by Louise Patterson and published by Nova Science Publishers. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department of State and the Department of Defense (DOD) have long shared responsibility for U.S. assistance to train, equip, and otherwise engage with foreign military and other security forces. The legal framework for such assistance emerged soon after World War II, when Congress charged the Secretary of State with responsibility for overseeing and providing general direction for military and other security assistance programs and the Secretary of Defense with responsibility for administering such programs. Over the years, congressional directives and executive actions have modified, shaped, and refined State Department and DOD roles and responsibilities. Changes in the legal framework through which security assistance to foreign forcesweapons, training, lethal and nonlethal military assistance, and military education and trainingis provided have responded to a wide array of factors. This book provides an overview of U.S. assistance to and engagement with foreign military and other security forces, focusing on Department of State and DOD roles. It lays out the historical evolution and current framework of the Department of State-DOD shared responsibility.
Download or read book Diplomacy for the 21st Century written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-07-08 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diplomacy for the 21st Century recommends steps that the Department of State should embrace to take full advantage of the leading science and technology (S&T) capabilities of the United States. These capabilities provide the department with many opportunities to promote a variety of the interests of the United States and its allies in a rapidly changing world wherein S&T are important drivers of economic development at home and abroad and help ensure international security. This report assesses and makes recommendations concerning the changing environment for the conduct of diplomacy in the years ahead, with a focus on the role of S&T in the development and implementation of U.S. policies and programs. According to this report, prompt steps by the department's leadership are essential to ensure adequate comprehension of the importance of S&T-related developments throughout the world and to incorporate this understanding within the nation's foreign policy for the 21st century. This report also urges the adoption by the department of a broader whole-of-society approach in carrying out its responsibilities at home and abroad - extending beyond traditional interagency coordination and the narrow band of current external partners to include foundations, universities, research centers, and other groups who are extending their international reach.
Download or read book Securing U S Diplomatic Facilities and Personnel Abroad written by Alex Tiersky and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, along with attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, have drawn renewed attention to the challenges facing U.S. diplomats abroad, as well as to the difficulty in balancing concerns for their security against the outreach required of their mission. Congress plays a key role in shaping the response to these challenges, such as by providing resources for diplomatic security and examining security breaches overseas. The inability to provide perfect security, especially against the evident threat of mob violence, has focused particular scrutiny on the deployment of diplomatic personnel in high-threat environments. The Department of State currently maintains a presence in locations faced with security conditions that previously would likely have led State to evacuate personnel and close the post. Under reciprocal treaty obligations, host nations are obligated to provide security for the diplomatic facilities of sending states. However, instances in which host nations have been unable or not fully committed to fulfilling this responsibility have sometimes left U.S. facilities vulnerable, especially in extraordinary circumstances. U.S. facilities therefore employ a layered approach to security, including not only the measures taken by a host country, but also additional, U.S.-coordinated measures, to include armed Diplomatic Security agents, hardened facilities, U.S.-trained and/or contracted local security guards, and sometimes U.S. Marine Security Guard detachments (whose principal role is securing sensitive information). The rapid growth in the number of U.S. civilians deployed in high-risk environments of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan spurred significant investment in recent years in the Department of State's capacity to provide security in dangerous areas through its Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), while simultaneously placing unprecedented burdens on DS's capability to carry out this mission successfully there and in other challenging locations. With greater focus on these frontline states, funds for other U.S. facilities could be strained.
Download or read book How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything written by Rosa Brooks and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former top Pentagon official, daughter of anti-war activists, wife of an Army Green Beret and human rights activist presents a scholarly examination of how a constant state of war is contrary to America's founding values, undermines international rules and compromises future security. --Publisher
Download or read book Terrorism Reducing Vulnerabilities and Improving Responses written by Russian Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-06-23 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is devoted primarily to papers prepared by American and Russian specialists on cyber terrorism and urban terrorism. It also includes papers on biological and radiological terrorism from the American and Russian perspectives. Of particular interest are the discussions of the hostage situation at Dubrovko in Moscow, the damge inflicted in New York during the attacks on 9/11, and Russian priorities in addressing cyber terrorism.
Download or read book Diplomatic and Consular Immunity written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book U S Public Diplomacy written by Kennon H. Nakamura and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public diplomacy describes a government¿s efforts to conduct foreign policy and promote national interests through direct outreach and commun. with the population of a foreign country. Activities include providing info. to foreign publics through broadcast and Internet media and at libraries and other outreach facilities in foreign countries; conducting cultural diplomacy, such as art exhibits and music performances; and admin. internat. educational and professional exchange programs. This report discusses the issues concerning U.S. public diplomacy. Determining levels of public diplomacy funding. Establishing capabilities to improve monitoring and assessment of public diplomacy activities. Charts and tables.
Download or read book Department of Defense s Role in Combating Terrorism and Force Protection Lessons Learned Since the Attack on the U S S Cole written by Jim Saxton and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001-04 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Standardized Regulations written by United States. Department of State and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Management of the National Nuclear Security Administration written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Special Oversight Panel on Department of Energy Reorganization and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 808 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
