The American Military Advisor: Dealing with Senior Foreign Officials in the Islamic World

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...