![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
Bureau overview | |
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Jurisdiction | Executive branch of the United States |
Employees | 436 (as of 2015) [1] |
Annual budget | $161 million (FY 2015) [1] |
Bureau executive |
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Parent department | U.S. Department of State |
Website | Official Website |
The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) [2] is an agency within the United States Department of State that bridges the Department of State with the Department of Defense. It provides policy in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and policy, military use of space, and defense trade. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
According to the Department of State website, the Bureau secures military base access and overflight permission to support the deployment of U.S. military forces. It negotiates the status of U.S. military forces and International Criminal Court non-surrender agreements. It is also responsible for coordinating the participation of coalition combat and stabilization forces, and assisting other countries in reducing the availability of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), which are shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.
The Bureau seeks to create and manage defense relationships with allies of the United States, regulate arms transfers, control access to military technology, and combat the illegal trafficking of small arms or light weapons. It also is responsible for training and equipping international peacekeepers and other military personnel.
The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement within the Bureau of Political Affairs manages the Humanitarian Mine Action Program and publishes the "SAFE PASSAGE": [3] A Newsletter for the Humanitarian Mine Action and Small Arms/Light Weapons Communities. The office also publishes "To Walk The Earth In Safety" [4] a publication that summarizes the current U.S. effort to rid the world of the most pressing land mine and ordnance problems in a country-by-country format. Finally they have published a number of press releases [5] that describe ongoing efforts within those communities and the Office's efforts in support of these aims. The United Nations Mine Action Centre defines "mine action" as removing land mines from the ground, assisting victims, and also teaching people how to protect themselves from danger in environments affected by land mines. In addition to promoting public and private mine action partnerships, the Bureau works with the Department of Defense to provide assistance in the event of natural disasters.
Josh Paul, the director of congressional and public affairs for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, resigned in October 2023, amid the 2023 Gaza-Israel war, citing the "intellectual bankruptcy" in providing more weaponry to Israel amid the bombing of Gaza. Paul recalled that, in his 11 years at the bureau, the entity "most responsible" for transferring arms to other countries, he had "made more moral compromises" than he could recall. [6]
The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs is divided into twelve unique offices: [1] [7]
The bureau also includes the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Peacekeeping, Programs, and Operations; the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Defense Trade Controls; the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security and Security Assistance; and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements, as well as the Senior Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, in the Bureau's Front Office.
In fiscal year 2015, PM's operating budget, including salaries, was approximately $161 million. [1] PM's total FY 2015 foreign assistance funding was approximately $7 billion. [1]
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that deals with issues involving national security and high technology. A principal goal for the bureau is helping stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, while furthering the growth of United States exports. The Bureau is led by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security.
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is the oldest civilian element of the U.S. Intelligence Community and among the smallest, with roughly 300 personnel. Though lacking the resources and technology of other U.S. intelligence agencies, it is "one of the most highly regarded" for the quality of its work.
Charles A. Duelfer is Chairman of Omnis, Inc., a consulting firm in aerospace, defense, intelligence, training, and finance. He is a regular commentator in the media on intelligence and foreign policy and is the author of Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq.
The United States under secretary of defense for policy (USDP) is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The under secretary of defense for policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense for all matters concerning the formation of national security and defense policy.
In the United States Government, the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) is part of the United States Department of State, charged with implementing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in Europe and Eurasia, as well as advising the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States law governing foreign aid policy. It outlined the political and ideological principles of U.S. foreign aid, significantly overhauled and reorganized the structure of U.S. foreign assistance programs, legally distinguished military from nonmilitary aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to administer nonmilitary economic assistance programs. Following its enactment by Congress on September 4, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Act into law on November 3, 1961, issuing Executive Order 10973 detailing the reorganization.
The Leahy Laws or Leahy amendments are U.S. human rights laws that prohibit the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity. It is named after its principal sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont).
The Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (T) is a position within the U.S. Department of State that serves as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the U.S. Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State by providing policy in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and policy, military use of space, and defense trade. The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs reports to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) is a bureau within the United States Department of State responsible for managing a broad range of nonproliferation and counterproliferation functions. The bureau leads U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, advanced conventional weapons, and related materials, technologies, and expertise.
The Arms Export Control Act of 1976 gives the President of the United States the authority to control the import and export of defense articles and defense services. The H.R. 13680 legislation was passed by the 94th Congressional session and enacted into law by the 38th President of the United States Gerald R. Ford on June 30, 1976.
Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
Military relations between Israel and the United States have been extremely close, reflecting shared security interests in the Middle East. Israel is designated as a major non-NATO ally by the U.S. government. A major purchaser and user of U.S. military equipment, Israel is also involved in the joint development of military technology and it regularly engages in joint military exercises with United States and other forces. The relationship has deepened gradually over time, though, as Alan Dowty puts it, it was "not a simple linear process of growing cooperation, but rather a series of tendentious bargaining situations with different strategic and political components in each."
The United StatesForeign Military Financing (FMF) program provides grants and loans to friendly foreign governments to fund the purchase of American weapons, defense equipment, services and training. The program was established through the 1976 Arms Export Control Act and is overseen by the Office of Security Assistance within the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the United States Department of State and executed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the United States Department of Defense. The program's stated aims are to be promote U.S. interests by "ensuring coalition partners and friendly partner governments are equipped and trained to pursue common security objectives by contributing to regional and global stability, strengthening military support for democratically-elected governments, fighting the War on Terror, and containing other transnational threats including trafficking in narcotics, weapons and persons."
Frank Ruggiero is an American civil servant. He served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM). He now serves as Senior Vice President of Government Relations at BAE Systems.
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is a security assistance program of the United States government to facilitate the purchase of U.S. arms, defense equipment, design and construction services, and military training to foreign governments. FMS is a government-to-government program where the United States Department of Defense through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) acquires defense articles on behalf of the foreign governments, protecting them from contract risks in negotiating with the arms industry and providing the contract benefits and protections that apply to U.S. military acquisitions. The FMS program was established through the 1976 Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and is overseen by the United States Department of State and the United States Congress through the annual Foreign Operations Appropriations Acts and National Defense Authorization Acts.
Anita E. Friedt is an American diplomat.
Thomas Laszlo Vajda is an American diplomat who had served as the United States Ambassador to Myanmar between 2021-2022.