PEACEKEEPING AND STABILITY OPERATIONS INSTITUTE AND STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE THE AMERICAN MILITARY ADVISOR: DEALING WITH SENIOR FOREIGN OFFICIALS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD Michael J. Metrinko August 2008 Visit our website for other free publication downloads http://www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil/ To rate this publication click here This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code, Section 105, it may not be copyrighted. ***** The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This report is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. ***** The author is grateful to all his military and civilian colleagues who offered comment and advice on this effort. They have served as diplomats, soldiers, and advisors in critical times and in a wide variety of conflict zones, and the impact of their role is seldom fully appreciated. His thanks goes especially to Ambassador (Ret.) Ron Neumann, Ambassador (Ret.) Marisa Lino, Ambassador (Ret.) John Limbert, Ambassador Mike Malinowski, Professor Richard Smyth, Professor Clementine Fujimura, Professor Hekmat Sadat, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Drabik, Colonel Michael G. Clark, Colonel Mike Moon, Colonel Tom Pope, Ms. Susan Merrill, and Mr. Bruce Boevers. ***** Comments pertaining to this report are invited and should be forwarded to: Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 122 Forbes Ave, Carlisle, PA 17013-5244. ***** All Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) publications are available on the SSI homepage for electronic dissemination. Hard copies of this report also may be ordered from our homepage. SSI’s homepage address is: www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil. PKSOI’s website address is https://pksoi.army.mil ***** ii The Strategic Studies Institute publishes a monthly e-mail newsletter to update the national security community on the research of our analysts, recent and forthcoming publications, and upcoming conferences sponsored by the Institute. Each newsletter also provides a strategic commentary by one of our research analysts. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please subscribe on our homepage at www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army. mil/newsletter/. ISBN 1-58487-361-2 iii CONTENTS Foreword ......................................................................vii Biographical Sketch of the Author..............................ix Summary .......................................................................xi I. Introduction ...........................................................1 II. What Is an Advisor? .............................................6 Definition ............................................................6 Differences in Perception..................................8 Differences in Time Frame .............................11 The Local Calendar Takes Precedence..........14 III. Selection and Qualifications of the Advisor....17 Assigning the Right Person or the Right Team .......................................................17 Rank, Gender, and Age ..................................19 IV. The Advisor’s Tools for Success .......................22 Professional, Academic, and Life Experience .........................................22 The Advisor’s Personality ..............................26 Personal Flexibility ..........................................27 Knowing the Local Culture ............................28 Knowing American Culture and History .......................................................34 Knowing the Terrain .......................................35 The Hypocrisy Factor ......................................37 V. The Language Problem ......................................40 Use of Interpreters ...........................................41 Using “Basic” English .....................................45 Using a Third Language .................................47 Understanding What Is Heard and What Is Said.................................................................48 Non-verbal Communication ..........................51 v VI. The Office as Battle Space .................................52 The First Who in Who’s Who ........................52 Foreign Officials’ Sources of Income ............ 55 Local Perception of Government Service......57 The Trap of Personally Identifying with Foreign Officials .............................................. 59 VII. Other Players on the Field .................................63 The U.S. Government Writ Large .................63 The Country Team ..........................................65 Other International Players ........................... 66 The Domestic Constituency ...........................67 The Media ........................................................67 VIII. Military Assistance Available to the Advisor .....................................................70 Essential Services ............................................70 Personal Risk: A Cost-Benefit Analysis .......74 IX. Preparation and Coordination— Approaching the Job ...........................................76 The Preparation Checklist .................................76 X. Departing the Country .......................................81 Endnotes ..............................................................83 vi FOREWORD This publication is the first in a new series, entitled PKSOI Papers, being published by the Strategic Studies Institute and the U.S. Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. This paper will be followed on a periodic basis with publications focused on peacekeeping and stability operations. Future papers will include scholarly articles on issues of interest to civilian and military practitioners from the international community, U.S. Government, and nongovernmental organizations. Our intent is to maintain the focus at the strategic and interagency level in an effort to inform individuals responsible for establishing policy as well as senior level practitioners of stability operations. This introductory paper concerns the role of the American military advisor. Military officers have frequently been called upon to serve as advisors to foreign officials and to play seminal roles in the political and development realms overseas. Lawrence of Arabia’s work with Arabs attempting to build a nation-state during World War I and the role of military advisors in post-World War II Japan and Germany are well-known examples of the impact that officers can have on political evolution and strategic success in areas of conflict. In today’s Iraq and Afghanistan, the role of the military advisor has expanded greatly, and the relationships established by American officers at the strategic level with local Governors, Cabinet Members and other civilian policymakers are easily as important as any strictly military officer to military officer role. The advisory function traditionally has not been part of military preparation and training, yet the consequences of failure or success on the part of vii American military advisors are far-reaching for the United States. Based on the experience of diplomats and military officers who have served in many zones of conflict, and whose duties meant daily interaction with senior foreign officials, this guide describes the preparations that an advisor should make, illustrates the questions he should ask, and explains the political and cultural complexities that affect his mission. Although most of the examples are drawn from Islamic countries, the precepts and advice apply broadly. JOHN A. KARDOS Colonel, U.S. Army Director Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute DOUGLAS C. LOVELACE, JR. Director Strategic Studies Institute viii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR MICHAEL J. METRINKO is a retired Foreign Service Officer with extensive experience in the Islamic world, a region with which he has been dealing for almost 40 years. He was a Peace Corps volunteer for 5 years in Turkey and Iran, and State Department assignments took him back to Turkey and Iran, as well as Poland, Syria, Yemen and Israel for another 14 years. Mr. Metrinko was a member of the Tehran Embassy staff taken hostage in 1979 and spent 14 months as a prisoner in Iran. His assignments in Washington DC, included 2 years as Deputy Director of the Iran-Iraq Desk and 3 years as an Office Director in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, where he had oversight responsibility for refugee programs in Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. Mr. Metrinko returned to active government service after the events of September 11, 2001, with assignments to Yemen, Iraq, and 4 years in Afghanistan at U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) and at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. His last posting was as the Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, where he spent more than 1 1/2 years dealing directly with the new Afghan National Assembly. Mr. Metrinko now serves as Ministry Reform Advisor at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, based at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. ix