Defence diplomacy in the long war

One of the most dominant security issues of twenty-first century has been the u.s. led battle against transnational terrorism-the aptly named Long War. Over the past fifteen years the Long War has been examined using multiple perspectives; however, one central mechanism is missing in current analyses: defence diplomacy. Defence diplomacy enhances the diplomatic and security capacity of a state, providing the only link between executive office and the ministries of foreign affairs and defence, two vital institutions in the Long War. Using a case study of u.s. defence diplomacy in Afghanistan from 2001-2014, the paper argues simply that the practice of defence diplomacy far outweighs current theories on what it is, how it works and why it matters? The paper aims to generate a more nuanced understanding of defence diplomacy, as well as identifying it as a key component of the u.s. ct/coin strategy to achieve its Long War policy objectives.