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Managing Security Overseas: Contact and Coordination with Local, Regional, and International Authorities

Employees overseas are under your protection but not under your direct watch. In this book excerpt, Scott Alan Ast provides advice and examples for protecting employees by making and maintaining important security contacts abroad.

By Scott Alan Ast

November 15, 2009 — CSO —

Excerpted from Managing Security Overseas: Protecting Employees and Assets in Volatile Regions by Scott Alan Ast (CRC Press, 2009).

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
—Martin Luther King Jr.

In order to operate effectively in volatile regions around the world, I would very strongly recommend you establish effective liaisons with law enforcement, U.S. government agencies, and private sector personnel—even competitors. If operations are going to operate on a safe footing, and to be plugged into the critical information required for conducting business in a safe manner, these liaisons are critical. Whether it be something as simple as reporting a minor criminal act, vandalism, for example, to contacting someone when your people or assets have been victim to an extortion attempt or act of terrorism, having a relationship in advance with the correct officials can not only cut through red tape and save time, but it might also save lives.

When working in more dangerous regions and countries, U.S. government agencies should be made aware of:

Nature/description of your project
Number of expats working on the project
Lodging/accommodations for expats
Expat travel within the country and neighboring countries
Other U.S. or foreign national business partners
Other U.S. or foreign national contractors/subcontractors

I have invited U.S. State Department personnel to visit the job site or project on many occasions, and they have taken me up on this offer. I have appreciated their taking the time to travel to these locations. It makes an impression upon them to see Americans working on these projects, and I can guarantee you that U.S. expats will not be forgotten in extreme situations. But, this is not always necessary, and in some regions, such U.S. government personnel may decline to attend or visit, due to security concerns.

Also see How to Manage Security Halfway Around the World

As far as contacting the law enforcement and government agencies of your host governments, I would recommend some caution (see the case studies at the conclusion of this chapter).

A word or two concerning the men and women of the U.S. Department of State: I have traveled the world a couple of times over, and wherever I go, whichever country I might be in, I make it a point to visit the U.S. embassies and consulates. I enjoy meeting and speaking with the regional security officers and their staffs, the U.S. Marine Corps on duty at these locations, consular officers, and many others. I do this to pay my respect to their efforts and commitment to keeping expatriates safe in foreign locations. The men and women who are employees of the State Department based here in the United States, particularly those who work with the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), I respect as extremely professional, dedicated, knowledgeable, and competent. [Editor's note: See Inside the OSAC's Race Against Terrorism.]