Dr. Dille is Professor of Strategic Studies and State Department Chair at the Marine Corps War College®. He joined MCWAR® in 2022 on detail from the Department of State, where he has spent 31 years in the Foreign Service.
Aside from domestic postings, Dr. Dille has served in 11 foreign assignments. From 1992-94, he served at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, first as consular officer then as economic officer handling fisheries, science, aviation, and industrial portfolios. At the American Embassy in Mexico from 1994-96, he served as consular officer working in visas, as arrests and detention officer, and as political officer. At Consulate General Shanghai from 1997-2000, he served as General Services Officer. From 2000-2002, he served as Deputy Economic Counselor in the U.S. Embassy Managua where he assisted American claimants for properties confiscated by the Sandinista regime in the 1980s and helped American businesses with investment disputes. From 2003-2005, he served as Management Officer in Embassy Minsk, with stints as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires. After two years working in the Executive Office for the Bureaus of European and International Organization Affairs, he served as Management Counselor at U.S. Embassy Prague from 2008-2012, with a one year tour in Iraq in 2009-2010, where he served as LNO to the Multinational Corps, then as Transition Coordinator to set up consulate on our base in Basrah. In 2008, Dille was recognized with the Secretary of State’s Arnold Raphel Award for his mentoring of Foreign Service colleagues.
From 2013-2016, Dille served in Nur Sultan (then Astana) as Management Counselor in our mission to Kazakhstan, were he converted the operation in Almaty from a USAID to State operation, serving long stints as acting Deputy Chief of Mission.
From 2017-2020, Dille was the Executive Director of the Bureau of African Affairs, running support to 54 posts and the domestic offices, including assignments of Foreign Service staff, coordinating with security and construction offices in State, and overseeing a budget of $1.1 billion. During his time as EX Director, Dille was sent out to serve as Chargé d’affaires (acting ambassador) in Embassy Khartoum and Embassy Freetown during the absence of ambassadors there.
From 2020-2021, Dille was the Minister Counselor for Management Affairs at Embassy Kabul, where, as senior administrator, he oversaw over 800 employees and contract staff responsible for facilities, medical, finance ($1 billion budget), procurement, property, real estate, motor pool, travel, housing, cafeterias, IT, Air Wing, and fire protection for 3,000 residential staff in several compounds, On August 15, 2021, his Air Wing and other staff emptied the Embassy in one day, and Dille stayed on at the Kabul Airport to support the largest civilian evacuation in U.S. history, earning the Secretary’s Award for Heroism. After months in Washington wrapping up details related to the closure of the largest U.S. mission, Dille filled out what would have been his second year in Kabul when he was recruited to be Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires at Embassy Colonia from January to July 2022, then was asked to serve as Chargé d’affaires in Embassy Ashgabat from July to September 2022.
Dille received a PhD in international and comparative law from the London School of Economics in 2012, writing on the legal consequences of property confiscations in Nicaragua under the Sandinista government (1979-1990). In 1991, he earned an LL.M in European Legal Systems from Exeter University in the UK, writing his master’s thesis on the standing of non-European Community nationals before the European Court of Justice. Previously, Dille served as a lawyer and legislative administrator in Minnesota after graduating with a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School. Dille authored an article, The European Economic Interest Grouping, in 1990, and is conducting research on cross-cultural management.
Education
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Ph.D. in Law, 2012, London School of Economics and Political Science
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LL.M. in European Legal Studies, 1991, Exeter University
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JD in Law, 1986, University of Minnesota
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B.A. in History and International Relations, 1982, cum laude, Macalester College
Areas of Expertise