convergence

Wechsler and Barnabo
the state. Colombia is now an exporter of security in the region, providing military training at
the request of regional and international organizations and collaborating with both neighboring
states and other countries as far afield as Turkey to share its lessons learned and provide
capacity-building assistance for combating narcotics and TOC, as well as citizen security,
peacekeeping operations, disaster response, and the strengthening of defense institutions. Its
special operations forces are now considered to be among the best of their kind in many circles.
The lessons learned from Colombia’s successes are regularly applied to U.S. Government efforts
in support of Mexico, Afghanistan, and other partners. DOD was just one U.S. Government
actor among many that provided support to Colombia, but its military-to-military collaboration
was a vital part of perhaps the first whole-of-government approach to combating TOC.
Building Partner Capacity
DOD’s capacity-building efforts with foreign partners are widespread. Capacity-building and
training of security forces, which serve a variety of national security objectives, are often areas
in which DOD has a comparative advantage vis-à-vis other departments and agencies. As
transnational criminal organizations expand their presence in regions such as West Africa and
Southeast Asia, the Department’s ability to support an ever-greater array of partner nations is
more and more valuable. DOD’s role in training, equipping, and in some cases operating alongside
partner countries’ security forces is the bedrock of building these states’ capacity to combat
TOC over the long term. DOD also partners with U.S. law enforcement agencies to support
the improvement of policing capacity in key partner states. Given resource constraints, support
for military-to-military and law enforcement capacity-building is in many cases a particularly
effective use of limited resources. It amounts to a long-term investment and provides partner
countries with the skills and tools that allow them, rather than the United States, to assume
the burden of combating TOC in and around their territory.
The impact of DOD initiatives is clear in numerous cases. In Indonesia, a sprawling
archipelago across which multiple criminal organizations and terrorist groups operate, Joint
Interagency Task Force–West ( JIATF-W) activities have increased the capacity of Indonesian
security forces to fight a broad range of transnational threats including criminal organizations
trafficking in narcotics and precursor chemicals and terrorist and insurgent movements seeking
safe space from which to operate. JIATF-W support to Indonesia’s National Narcotics Board
has resulted in the construction of facilities at a counternarcotics academy used by various
elements of the Indonesian security forces. In Liberia, a strategic location in a region that has
experienced growth in trafficking and transnational crime, DOD support has focused on
capacity-building in two principal areas: maritime security (primarily through rebuilding the
Liberian Coast Guard) and support to the newly formed Transnational Crime Unit. United
States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) supported the renovation of a Liberian Coast
Guard base of operations, which included construction of a boat ramp/launch facility, floating
pier, and security fence. In addition, USAFRICOM has sponsored attendance by Liberian
Coast Guard personnel at various U.S. Coast Guard training courses that support Liberia’s
maritime security operations.
238