서강대학교

초록/요약 도움말

In contemporary international relations, there are many roles including ambassadors, governmental officials, members of NGOs and international organizations. Among them, however, there is little recognition of the importance of a defense attaché compared to a general diplomat. As a result, the importance of the role and functions of the defense attaché can be underestimated. However, defense attachés have performed an important role in international relations from the times of the Roman Empire where they examined the enemy’s military forces, and where they were essential to the liaison with allied armies. Before the World Wars I and II, as well as during and after these wars, defense attachés were the key personnel responsible for reporting the precise information to the host country and providing the accurate analysis of the battlefield situation. After the World War II the defense attaché were able to resign to the duties that focused more on their diplomatic mission, sometimes under the conflict between ideologies. Present-day diplomacy proceeded within every corner just as diverse as the role of international relations. It is difficult to disregard any of the relevant factors, such as economy, society, culture, and politics among several others. The defense attaché is the same. Even though the possibility of inter-state wars is relatively low now, different other duties have nevertheless to be performed by the defense attachés. They have to collect information relevant for the national interest from the defense perspective, as well as to conduct the military diplomacy and to cooperate with the host and the dispatched countries. Additionally, they also have to promote the defense industry exports and imports in order to contribute to the national economy. Notwithstanding these many and varied functions of the defense attachés their importance is not sufficiently recognized by others, including people from the military. In order to enhance the performance of the defense attaché, relevant and accurate recognition of his mission and importance should be undertaken first. In this context, the significance of the present thesis lies in that it examines the real-life experiences of former defense attachés derived from the interviews with them, and that the results are subject to the quantitative analysis. The present thesis defines the crucial roles of the defense attachés according to their distinctive missions as compared to those of ordinary diplomats and then makes several proposals for the development of the defense attachés and the system which manages them.