Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM)

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The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM), headed by Assistant Secretary Andrew J. Shapiro, is the Department of State's principal link to the Department of Defense. The PM Bureau provides policy direction in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and plans, and defense trade.

Date: 08/18/2009 Description: Safeguarding the Seaways: Political-Military Affairs leads diplomatic engagement with America's international partners against piracy in the Horn of Africa. Click photo to learn more. © AP Image

Date: 08/17/2009 Description: Humanitarian Mine Action: Political-Military Affairs teams with non-profit and private sector partners to help post-conflict countries safeguard communities from abandoned landmines and unexploded munitions. Click photo to learn more. © AP Image

Date: 08/18/2009 Description: Keeping the Peace: Political-Military Affairs has joined with partners across the U.S. Government to train and equip over 100,000 foreign troops serving as peacekeepers under the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). Click photo to learn more. © AP Image

Date: 08/10/2009 Description: U.S. Department of State seal © State Dept Image

Security. Partnerships. Political-Military Affairs.

Political-Military Affairs advances the State-DoD relationship by bringing "smart power" to U.S. foreign policy in six key ways:

  1. Providing the Secretary with a global perspective on political-military issues;

  2. Supporting the U.S. Department of Defense by negotiating basing agreements, reviewing military exercises, facilitating overseas operations, and by providing embedded Foreign Policy Advisors to military service branch chiefs and combatant commands worldwide;

  3. Promoting regional stability by building partnership capacity and strengthening friends and allies through security assistance programs;

  4. Reducing threats from conventional weapons through humanitarian demining and small arms destruction programs, setting the stage for post-conflict recovery in more than 50 nations around the world;

  5. Contributing to Defense and Political-Military Policy and Planning; and

  6. Regulating arms transfers and U.S. defense trade.

Date: 08/10/2009 Description: U.S. Department of State seal © State Dept Image

Promoting Peace & Security Worldwide.
Click on the map below to learn more about PM programs

Western Hemisphere (WHA) Western Hemisphere (WHA) Europe and Eurasia (EUR)Near East (NEA)Africa (AF)South and Central Asia (SCA)East Asia and Pacific (EAP)

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