The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) integrates diplomacy and military power to foster a stable and secure international environment hospitable to American interests and values. Our talented team of foreign and civil service officers, military personnel, academic experts, and contractors implement a variety of programs to help our friends and allies meet their security needs. PM programs support the State Department's strategic goal of achieving peace and security, serving American interests by building international capacity to counter internal and external threats, and by promoting regional stability.

Security Assistance

PM manages three security-related categories of foreign assistance. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) provides grant assistance to about 50 countries, many of which are key partners in the war on terror, for the purchase of military equipment and training. Working with and through the State Department's regional bureaus and the Department of Defense (DoD), PM works to ensure that FMF funds are used effectively by recipient nations. International Military Education and Training (IMET) funding brings foreign military students from 140 countries to the United States for training at military educational institutions and supports training by U.S. military mobile training teams in other countries. IMET promotes better understanding of how the U.S. armed forces conduct military operations and reinforces core American values, such as civilian control of the military and respect for human rights. By improving the professional competence of foreign military students, IMET strengthens our alliances and coalitions. Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) funds provide support to regional peace support operations for which neighboring countries, rather than the United Nations, take primary responsibility. PKO funds support the implementation of peace agreements and enhance the capability of other nations to participate in voluntary peacekeeping, counterterrorism, and humanitarian operations, such as the Multilateral Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai, the African Union Mission in Sudan (Darfur), and the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership in Africa.

A major PKO program administered by PM is the President's Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). Endorsed at the 2004 G-8 Sea Island Summit, GPOI is a five-year program that seeks to remedy the worldwide shortage of capable peacekeepers and deficiencies in deployment and logistical support capability. GPOI partners are working to train and, where appropriate, equip 75,000 peace operations support troops worldwide by 2010, and to develop a transportation and logistics support arrangement to deploy and sustain troops during peace operations. GPOI supports the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Italy that trains stability police from around the world for peace support operations, and GPOI funding recently enabled troop deployments to peacekeeping efforts in both Lebanon and Somalia.

Congress recently provided an additional tool to assist our partners in combating terrorism. Section 1206 of the FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the use of DoD funds for projects approved by both the secretaries of state and defense to build the capacity of foreign countries' military forces to conduct counterterrorist operations, or to participate in or support military or stability operations in which U.S. armed forces are engaged. In FY 2006, this authority was used to fund projects totaling over $100 million in nine countries, and we expect an expansion of this program in the current year.

Arms Transfers

On behalf of the secretary of state, PM regulates the export of US.-origin military equipment and defense services to other countries in accordance with the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). This legislation authorizes the sale or lease of U.S.-origin defense articles, services, and technical data to other countries solely for purposes of internal security, legitimate self-defense, preventing or hindering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them, and enabling recipient countries to participate in collective measures consistent with the United Nations Charter to maintain or restore international peace and security. Through its review and approval processes, PM manages all proposed sales and transfers, whether government-to-government sales under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or direct commercial sales (DCS), to foreign countries to ensure that U.S. arms transfers promote regional stability and are not retransferred to unauthorized parties. PM is particularly attentive to the needs of our allies and partners in the war on terrorism; since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, PM has approved hundreds of defense trade licenses every year under an expedited program for coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are also working closely with our partners in the Arabian Gulf to ensure that they are able to deal with terrorists and other regional threats.

Humanitarian Mine Action and Countering Effects of Illicit Weapons

The United States leads the world in funding for Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA), which includes landmine removal, mine risk education, and landmine survivor assistance programs. PM initiated and continues to manage robust international programs to alleviate the threat of landmines in dozens of countries whose people and economies are devastated by the explosive remnants of war.

As arguably one of PM's most important activities, we lead an interagency and international effort to secure or destroy excess stocks of the man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) that pose a terrorist threat to commercial and military aviation. With strong Congressional support and the assistance of the Transportation Security Administration and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, PM has destroyed 21,000 MANPADS around the world.

The United States has long been a strong advocate of efforts to curb illegal trafficking in

Disabling a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS). Courtesy of PM/WRA

small arms and light weapons (SA/LW), and regularly urges other countries to adopt stringent measures to effectively regulate their arms trade. PM leads programs through which countries can destroy their excess SA/LW stocks and improve stockpile security and management, preventing these weapons from destabilizing troubled regions. In Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia, and elsewhere, PM programs have destroyed almost 1 million weapons, as well as over 90 million rounds of ammunition. In Afghanistan we are supporting disarmament programs and major munitions destruction efforts, and in Ukraine, we lead a 12-year-old Partnership for Peace effort to destroy a portion of that country's Cold War legacy weapons inventory.

Cornerstone of the State-Defense Relationship

PM serves as a bridge between the State Department and the Department of Defense, and manages a variety of programs that harmonize our diplomatic and military efforts. PM leads international negotiations on status of forces and base access agreements that establish the respective rights and responsibilities of the United States and its partners when American forces are present on the territory of another country. PM supports the development of innovative interagency concepts such as the new Africa Command, which will have a civilian deputy commander in charge of civil-military programs, and the new Interagency Counterinsurgency Initiative, which seeks to improve the ability of the U.S. government and its partners to counter insurgencies inimical to our interests.

In the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the PM Bureau established the Political-Military Action Team (PMAT) to assist real-time diplomatic coordination of fast-breaking military activities. PMAT supported Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and provided vital State-Defense links facilitating humanitarian assistance operations in response to the 2004 Southeast Asia/Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and coordinated political-military actions during the 2006 crisis in Lebanon. PMAT provides a 24/7 capability to synchronize political-military information within the State Department and between State and the Department of Defense (DoD).

Finally, the Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) Program and State-Defense Exchange (SDE) programs greatly strengthen our relations with DoD. POLADs are much-valued senior advisors to military commanders; PM is expanding the program significantly, and seeking as well to build a POLAD Reserve Corps to enable us to provide responsive diplomatic support to emergent military operations. The SDE program places military officers at the State Department and our officers in staff positions throughout DoD in order to facilitate the exchange of information, provide mutually reinforcing professional education for our respective personnel, and bring closer together our respective departments.

http://www.state.gov/t/pm/