The Frontline Country Team: A New Model for Building Security Partnerships

Host: American Enterprise Institute. In the Long War on terrorism, the capabilities of America’s allies and local security partners will determine whether we achieve our goals in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. Building and sustaining these partnerships has proven to be a great challenge, as well as a delicate task to manage from afar. To better understand current U.S. programs for security cooperation and propose how they might be improved in the future, AEI fellows Christopher Griffin and Thomas Donnelly have written “The Frontline Country Team: A Model for Engagement.” In this new report, the authors advocate the creation of frontline country teams in which the U.S. ambassador, supported by military assistance and an advisory group from within the embassy, will direct U.S. security partnerships in the Long War. Griffin and Donnelly stress that the success of the country team depends on enhancing the ambassador’s leadership authority and effectively integrating the interagency operations on the ground. At this event, Griffin and Donnelly will present their proposals and discuss the challenges of strengthening partnerships with allies in the Long War. Commenting will be two experts who have directed security cooperation operations at the country team level: former ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley and Colonel Robert Killebrew, U.S. Army (Retired).