National Security Council (Byzatium)

The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.

Mission

Since its inception in 1949, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the Emperor on national security and foreign policies. It also serves as the Emperor's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies and as the Emperor's instrument against the Prime Minister.

The National Security Council is responsible for assessing the objectives, commitments, and risks of the United States, and for making recommendations to the president with respect to internal and external security policy.

History

The National Security Council was created in 1949 by Irene IV. It was created in order to enable the Emperor to harness the poorly-coordinated government policy and to coordinate the response to the changed geopolitical scenarios of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea after World War II. The official intent was to ensure better coordination between the Armed Forces and other instruments of national security policy such as the Imperial Intelligence Directorate.

The Directorate of Health Security and Biological Defence was established in 2018 by Alexios X.

Membership

The National Security Council is chaired by the Emperor. Its members are the Prime Minister of the Empire, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (statutory), the Minister of the Treasury (statutory), the Minister of Defence (statutory), the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources (statutory), the President of the Roman Senate (non-statutory), the External Security Advisor (non-statutory), the Internal Security Advisor (non-statutory), the Minister of Interior (non-statutory).

The Chief of General Staff is the military advisor to the Council, the Executive Vice-President of the Imperial Intelligence Coordinating Council is the intelligence advisor. The Minister of the Imperial Household, First President of the Supreme Court of Cassation, and the Commandant of the Imperial Guard are also regularly invited to attend NSC meetings. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the National Security Council when appropriate.

Structure of the National Security Council
Chairman	Emperor
Regular attendees	Prime Minister of the Empire Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Defence Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Minister of the Treasury President of the Roman Senate Minister of Interior External Security Advisor Internal Security Advisor
Military advisor (and regular attendee)	Chief of General Staff
Intelligence advisor (and regular attendee)	Executive Vice-President of the Imperial Intelligence Coordinating Council
Drug policy advisor	Minister of Interior
Regular attendees	Deputy External Security Advisor Deputy Internal Security Advisor
Additional participants	Heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, when appropriate

Committees

Principals Committee

The Principals Committee of the National Security Council is the Cabinet-level senior interagency forum for consideration of national security policy issues. The Principals Committee is convened and chaired by the Prime Minister. The regular attendees of the Principals Committee are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Treasury, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister of Interior, the Executive Vice-President of the Imperial Intelligence Coordinating Council, the Chief of General Staff, the Director of the Imperial Intelligence Directorate, the Internal Security Advisor, and the External Security Advisor.

The the National Security Advisor to the Prime MInister and the NSC General Secretary may also attend all meetings of the Principals Committee. When considering international economic issues, the Principals Committee's regular attendees include the Minister of Commerce.

Deputies Committee

The National Security Council Deputies Committee is the senior sub-Cabinet interagency forum for consideration of national security policy issues. The Deputies Committee is also responsible for reviewing and monitoring the interagency national security process including for establishing and directing the Policy Coordination Committees. The Deputies Committee is convened and chaired by the Deputy External Security Advisor or the Deputy Internal Security Advisor.[24]

Regular members of the Deputies Committee are the Advisor for Strategy, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of the Treasury, the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Deputy Minister of Interior, the Director of the Imperial Intelligence Directorate, the Deputy Chief of General Staff, and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. Invitations to participate in or attend specific meetings are extended to deputy heads of Ministries or other agencies and to other senior officials when relevant issues are discussed. The relevant Senior Director on the National Security Council staff is also invited to attend when relevant.

Policy Coordination Committees

The Policy Coordination Committees of the National Security Council, established and directed by the Deputies Committee, are responsible for the management of the development and implementation of national security policies through interagency coordination. Policy Coordination Committees are the main day-to-day for interagency coordination of national security policy development, implementation and analysis in aide of the Deputies Committee and the Principals Committee. Policy Coordination Committees are chaired by Senior Directors on the National Security Council staff, or sometimes National Economic Council staff, with Assistant Secretary-level officials from the relevant executive department or agency acting as co-chairs.[24] Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense

The Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense was created by Barack Obama in 2016 in response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Its goal was "to prepare for the next disease outbreak and prevent it from becoming an epidemic or pandemic."[26][27] The directorate was disbanded when a May 2018 change in organizational structure by John Bolton, Trump's recently appointed head of the National Security Council, resulted in the effective elimination of the office then led by Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, Sr. Director for Global Health Security and Biothreats. Remaining staff were moved to other NSC departments, prompting Ziemer's resignation, thus completing the elimination of the office.[28][29][27]

The responsibilities that formerly belonged to the directorate, along with those of arms control and nonproliferation, and of weapons of mass destruction terrorism, were absorbed into a single new directorate, counterproliferation and biodefense, and assigned to Tim Morrison in July 2018 as director. Morrison characterized the consolidation as part of an overall NSC "reduction of force" and called it "specious" to say the office was "dissolved," describing the previous size of the organization as "bloat," and stating "That is why Trump began streamlining the NSC staff in 2017."[30][31] Trump defended the 2018 cuts, describing the financial motivation, when questioned in a February 2020 press conference, suggesting that people on a pandemic response team are unnecessary between pandemics, saying "Some of the people we cut, they haven't been used for many, many years." No source of information could be found to support the president's statement, likely because the team was created in 2016 and disbanded in 2018. He continued: "And rather than spending the money—and I'm a business person—I don't like having thousands of people around when you don't need them."[32] The size of the team before cuts was estimated at 430 people, but the "thousands" referenced by the president also included reduction in the staff numbers of the CDC.[31][33]

Staff of the National Security Council

• Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor: Jake Sullivan
  • Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor: Ariana Berengaut
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary for the National Security Council:
    • • Advisor to the Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary for the National Security Council:
    • Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Executive Secretary: Ryan Harper
      • Deputy Director for Visits and Diplomatic Affairs: Darius Edgerton
      • Associate Director for Visits and Diplomatic Affairs: Nicole Fasano
    • Director of Operations Gelila Teshome
  • Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor: Jonathan Finer
    • Senior Advisor to the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor: Ella Lipin
  • Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor: Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
    • • Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor: Hilary Hurd
      • Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor: John MacWilliams
    • Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy Homeland Security Advisor: Joshua Geltzer
      • Senior Director for Counter-terrorism: Clare Linkins
        • Director for Counter-terrorism: Caitlin Conley
        • Director for Counter-terrorism: Alexandra Miller
        • Director for Counter-terrorism: Annie Rohroff
        • Director for Counter-terrorism - Global Threats / Embassy Security: Derek Dela-Cruz
        • Director for Counter-terrorism - Homeland Threats: Michael Massetti
        • Director for Threat Finance & Sanctions: Samantha Sultoon
        • Director for Counternarcotics: Coqui Baez Gonzalez
      • Senior Director for Resilience and Response: Caitlin Durkovich
        • Director for Resilience and Response: Nabeela Barbari
        • Director for Resilience and Response: Capt. Jason Tama (US Coast Guard)
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology: Anne Neuberger
    • Senior Advisor to the Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology:
    • Deputy Assistant to the President & Co-ordinator for Technology and National Security: Jason Matheny
      • Senior Director for Technology and National Security: Tarun Chhabra
        • Director for Technology and National Security: Saif M. Khan
        • Director for Technology and National Security: Michelle Rozo
        • Director for Technology and National Security: Sarah Stalker-Lehoux
        • Director for Technology and Democracy: Chanan Weissman
    • Senior Director for Cyber: Andrew Scott
      • Director for International Cyber Policy: Teddy Nemeroff
    • Senior Director for Cybersecurity and Policy: Steven Kelly
      • Director for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology Policy: Jonah Force Hill
      • Director for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity: Elke Sobieraj
      • Director for Cybersecurity Policy and Cyber Incident Response: Travis Berent
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics: Mike Pyle
    • Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness: Peter Harrell
      • Director for International Economics and Competitiveness: Adam Deutsch
      • Director for International Economics and Competitiveness: Jessica McBroom
      • Director for Digital Technology Policy and International Economics: Ruth Berry
    • Senior Director for International Economics and Labor: Jennifer M. Harris
      • Director for International Economics: Brian Janovitz
      • Director for International Economics: Mimi Wang
      • Director for Strategic Workforce Planning: Leila Elmergawi
  • Assistant to the President, Deputy Counsel to the President and National Security Council Legal Advisor: John R. Phillips III
    • Associate Counsel and Deputy Legal Advisor to the NSC: Ashley Deeks
    • Deputy Legal Advisor to the NSC: Capt. Florencio Yuzon (US Navy)
    • Director for Global Criminal Justice: Steven Hill
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Co-ordinator for Defense Policy and Arms Control: Cara Abercrombie
    • Senior Director for Defense:
      • Director for Defense Innovation and Cyber Policy: Lt. Col. Nadine Nally (US Army)
      • Director for Space Policy: Audrey Schaffer
      • Director for Strategic Capabilities: Brigadier General John Edwards (US Air Force)
      • Director for Military Personnel & Readiness/ Senior Advisor, Gender Policy Council: Cailin Crockett
    • Senior Director for Arms Control, Disarmament & Non-Proliferation: Pranay Vaddi
  • Senior Director for Strategic Planning: Thomas Wright
    • Director for Strategic Planning: Alexander Bick
    • Director for Strategic Planning: Rebecca Lissner
    • Director for Strategic Planning: Brett Rosenberg
  • Senior Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement: Amanda Mansour
    • Director for Partnerships: Jim Thompson
  • Senior Director for Legislative Affairs: Casey Ledmon
    • Director for Legislative Affairs: Amanda Lorman
    • Director for Legislative Affairs: Nicole Tisdale
      • Chief of Staff & Policy Advisor for Legislative Affairs: Gershom Sacks
  • Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense: Raj Panjabi
    • Director for Biodefense: Daniel Gastfriend
    • Director for Biotechnology Risks and Biological Weapon Nonproliferation: Megan Frisk
    • Director for Countering Biological Threats & Global Health Security: Mark Lucera
    • Director for Medical and Biodefense Preparedness/ Director for International COVID Response: Hilary Marston
    • Senior Advisor and Director for Emerging Biological Threats: Maureen Bartee
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Co-ordinator for the Indo-Pacific: Kurt M. Campbell
    • Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania: Edgard Kagan
      • Director for East Asia: Christopher Johnstone
      • Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands: Kathryn Paik
    • Senior Director for South Asia: Sumona Guha
    • Deputy Senior Director for China and Taiwan: Rush Doshi
    • Special Assistant, National Security Council Indo-Pacific Directorate: Sarah Donilon
  • Senior Director for Intelligence Programs: Maher Bitar
    • Director for Information Sharing and Identity Intelligence: Lauren Hartje
  • Senior Director for Development, Global Health & Humanitarian Response: Linda Etim
    • Director for Global Health: Ladan Fakory
    • Director for Global Health Response: Nidhi Bouri
    • Director for Humanitarian Coordination: Rachel Grant
    • Director for Refugees: Jacqui Pilch
  • Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs: Juan Gonzalez
    • Special Assistant to the Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs: Alejandra Gonzalez
    • Director for the Caribbean and Summit of the Americas: Neda Brown
    • Director for Central America and Haiti: Megan Oates
    • Director for North America: Isabel Rioja-Scott
    • Director for Regional Protection and Migration Management: Eric Sigmon
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Coordinator for Strategic Communications: John Kirby
    • Senior Director for Press & NSC Spokesperson: Adrienne Watson
      • Director of Strategic Communications/ Assistant Press Secretary: Patrick Evans
      • Director of Strategic Communications/ Assistant Press Secretary: Dean Lieberman
      • Director of Strategic Communications/ Assistant Press Secretary: Kedenard Raymond
      • Director of Strategic Communications/ Assistant Press Secretary: Sean Savett
        • Policy Advisor, Office of the Spokesperson and Senior Director for Press/ Strategic Communications: Jasmine Williams
  • Senior Director for Africa: Dana L. Banks
    • Director for African Affairs: F. David Diaz
    • Director for African Affairs: Peter Quaranto
    • Director for Africa: Deniece Laurent-Mantey
    • Special Advisor for Africa Strategy: Judd Devermont
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Co-ordinator for Democracy and Human Rights: Shanthi Kalathil
    • Senior Director for Democracy and Human Rights: Robert G. Berschinski
      • Director for Democracy and Human Rights: Tess McEnery
      • Director for Democracy and Human Rights: Brian Vogt
      • Director for Human Rights and Civil Society: Jesse Bernstein
      • Director for Anticorruption: Chandana Ravi
  • Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia: Eric Green
    • Director for Afghanistan: Allison Varricchio
    • Director for Russia: Katrina Elledge
  • Senior Director for Europe: Amanda Sloat
    • Director for Balkans and Central Europe: Robin Brooks
  • Deputy Assistant to the President & Co-ordinator for Middle East and North Africa: Brett McGurk
    • Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa: Stephanie Hallett (acting)
      • Director for Gulf Affairs: Stephanie Hallett
      • Director for the Arabian Peninsula: Evyenia Sidereas
      • Director for Iran: Sam Martin
      • Director for Iraq and Syria: Zehra Bell
      • Director for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs: Julie Sawyer
      • Director for Jordan and Lebanon: Maxwell Martin
      • Director for North African Affairs: Josh Harris
      • Director for Political-Military Affairs and Yemen: K.C. Evans
      • Director for Political-Military Affairs: Col. Daniel Mouton (US Army)
  • Senior Director for Energy & Climate Change: Melaine Nakagawa
    • Director for Climate Diplomacy and Energy Transformation: Helaina Matza
    • Director for Climate Investment, Trade, and Environment: Victoria Orero
    • Director for Climate Security and Resilience: Jennifer DeCesaro
  • Senior Director for Speechwriting and Strategic Initiatives: Carlyn Reichel
  • Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs: Josh Black
    • Director for Global Engagement and Multilateral Diplomacy at the NSC and NEC: Andy Rabens
    • Director for Multilateral Initiatives: Negah Angha
  • Senior Director for Trans-border: Katie Tobin
    • Director for Trans-border Security: Ashley Feasley