Regional and Trans-Regional Affairs Directorate

The Regional and Trans-Regional Affairs Directorate oversees the development, coordination, and implementation of national, regional and multilateral U.S. counterterrorism policy. The Directorate seeks to build political will and capacity with our international partners around the world.

The Directorate is instrumental in developing policies to attack terrorists' leadership, safe havens, and the conditions that terrorists exploit. It also works with other federal government agencies, as part of the U.S. Counterterrorism Team, to ensure that America is applying all elements of national power, in conjunction with partner nations, allies and like-minded non-state actors, to target terrorists.

The Directorate is comprised of two offices: Regional Affairs; and Trans-Regional Affairs and Designations.

Office of Regional Affairs

Regional officers, focusing on the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Eurasia, the Near East, Africa, South and Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific, form the backbone of the Office of Regional Affairs. They have wide-ranging responsibilities including:

• Coordinating counterterrorism policy for their region within the Department of State and with other federal agencies.
• Formulating policy recommendations and strategies to advance U.S. counterterrorism objectives in their particular region.
• Offering guidance to partner nations about the types of training and assistance the U.S. Government provides.
• Developing and coordinating regional strategies to counter terrorists' ability to operate in areas which straddle national boundaries.
• Serving as the principal counterterrorism contact for the embassies in their region -- both U.S. embassies overseas and partner nation embassies in Washington, DC.
• Providing briefings on all aspects of counterterrorism policy in their region to visiting foreign delegations, Members of Congress and their staffs, academic groups, and others.

Office of Trans-Regional Affairs and Designations

The Office of Trans-Regional Affairs and Designations consists of two units: Public Designations and International Organizations.

• The Public Designations Unit prepares designations--public identifications which carry legal sanctions--of terrorists and terrorist organizations for consideration by the Secretary of State. It also evaluates proposed Treasury Department designations of terrorist supporters, front companies, and fundraisers.
• The International Organizations Unit coordinates Department of State positions regarding multilateral approaches to counterterrorism. It also leads U.S. Government counterterrorism delegations to international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Group of Eight.

Theodore Allegra is the Acting Deputy Coordinator, Regional and Trans-Regional Affairs Directorate at the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.