March 18, 2019
WOTR Podcast: Civil-Military Relations Gone Wild?
Debates over civil-military relations have reached a fever pitch since the 2016 presidential campaign and the beginning of the Trump administration. Many have focused on the top-down questions: What role should retired generals play in our political system? What are the consequences of having so many former military leaders at the upper-most ranks of a presidential administration? Should we be worried about the state of civilian leadership in the Pentagon? But to put those in their right context, it is important to look at civil-military relations from the bottom-up. How are ethics taught to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines? What is the state of the profession of arms? What does it really mean for the American people to honor their troops? In this episode, we tackle many of these questions from the top-down and the bottom-up with a terrific panel of experts: Loren DeJonge Schulman of the Center for a New American Security, Alice Hunt Friend of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Steven Foster of the U.S. Army and one of the contributors to Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics.
Listen to the full conversation on War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
Harnessing Military Talent to Compete in the 21st Century
Commentary
Developments in technology mean that the DoD must update its processes to attract, recruit, and harness talent to apply skill sets where they are most needed....
By Emma Moore
-
If the Military Can't Handle Its Sexual Assault Problem, Congress Needs to Step In
Commentary
Should the DoD continue failing at comprehensively and effectively addressing sexual violence, Congress must intervene more robustly....
By Katie Galgano & Emma Moore
-
What Leaders Can Do Now To Strengthen U.S. Special Operations Forces
Commentary
Improving performance of SOF teams themselves is necessary to fully leverage the attributes and potential of SOF in future missions....
By Lt Col Stewart J. Parker & Emma Moore
-
The All-Volunteer Force: Civil-Military Relations Hit Home—and Abroad
Commentary
Tensions in the civil-military relationship threaten national security from conflicts abroad to cities across the United States....
By Nathalie Grogan
