Security managers are seldom required to speak foreign languages. But with resources and risks spread across the world, we should. I make this assertion because knowing the local language where our cleared programs are used, or developed, is essential. Cleared contractors and government employees are required to know the ‘lay of the land’ where they serve, just as at home. That truth is often taken for granted.
Jurisdiction
Take ,for instance, your very presence in a foreign country. If you are there to develop a working relationship with your counterparts, it is essential to know jurisdiction. Are you, for example, authorized to have your own security force? If so, are they authorized to be Americans, or must they be local hires, or both? Foreign nationals are often hired both as a sign of goodwill to the people in whose land we find ourselves, or because we cannot bring Americans overseas for relatively basic jobs. In either case, it is imperative we know who they are, what they are authorized to do, and whether we can have input on who we hire.
Authority
To accomplish this, it is important to know under what authority we are in a country. If we are there as part of a ‘Status of Forces’ agreement, that means our presence is assured by a State Department contract. This generally deals with our military presence abroad. We can rest assured that our security has been discussed at that level. We can, in most cases, rely on that agreement to guide our hiring practices. Guards, secretarial services, cleaning services, and similar are generally made up of locally hired people. We can in most liberal democracies rely upon a legitimate local government’s vetting of these personnel. As a rule, a check with the local police (or intelligence) officials will reveal if there is ‘anything known’ about these people. Here it serves the security manager well to speak the language of the host nation. Your discussions with local police officials will proceed much smoother if you can speak their language. They will expand upon a host of subjects. Better yet, they will provide you in many cases with a look at the records of the persons of interest. This, just as in our country, is governed by local privacy laws.
Additionally, local law enforcement can offer documents which they themselves refer to in making security judgements. The annual reports of the security services in Western European countries are of tremendous value. Often they are presented in unclassified versions, the better to advise their nationals of what their services have revealed about the local threats. I’ve read such documents which cover espionage, terrorism, and other investigations. There are reports on crime concerns, investigative statistics, and helpful advisories on countering such plagues as may exist where your compound or company has offices. Trouble is, they are all in a foreign language. Your ability to read these reports is critical to knowing what concerns exist right outside your office doorstep. Generally, reading these reports is a good, professional prologue to discussion with your police or intelligence counterparts.
Information
Regardless of where you are in the world, a knowledge of local news and controversial issues is essential. This requires familiarity with political parties and news sources. There are no summaries of foreign news which capture completely what local commentators are saying. If you find your cleared efforts taking place in non-democratic countries, you’ll find the local news under government control. Nevertheless, a background in the customs, beliefs, and history of the country is invaluable. What would you think of a foreign colleague stationed in America who scheduled a routine visit to your office on the 4th of July? You’d consider him clueless about our customs, not to mention of doubtful intelligence. The same is true overseas. We must be aware of such events not only for practical matters such as appointment scheduling, but also to make ourselves appear culturally sensitive, if not politically aware. Likewise, we’d need to be cognizant of such local significant events to preclude international incidents. We wouldn’t want to be present in an official capacity at an event organized by a group whose political presence could compromise our mission.
All of this is to advise our Human Resources staff to be aware of the need for security personnel assigned overseas to have a working knowledge of the local customs, history, and language. Further, security managers will find their job more effective, rewarding, and personally enriching to speak with, attempt to understand, and perhaps to befriend local people met in the course of one’s duties abroad.
