U.S. Army War College >> Strategic Studies Institute >> Publications >> Details

American Civil-Military Relations: New Issues, Enduring Problems

Authored by Dr. Douglas V. Johnson II, Dr. Steven Metz.

Other Studies by Keyword

+[CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS] +[Johnson] +[Metz] +[Leadership]

Brief Synopsis

The authors were invited to prepare a paper for a conference on Civil-Military Relations in the fall, 1994. That paper was translated into an article for the Winter, 1995 edition of The Washington Quarterly under the title "Civil-Military Relations in the United States: The State of the Debate." Although the intensity of interest in this subject has fallen from the front pages of the newspapers, the authors have here suggested that the debate needs to continue and that it should start with identification of the right questions. The basic issues are inherent in the structure and beliefs of American political society, but the questions may be changing as the nature of that society and the manner in which it talks to itself and what it sees its responsibilities to be are also changing. While the authors do not see a current crisis in the relationship, they attempt to explain many of the basic features of that relationship, providing some of its history along the way. They have pointed out several conditions which put the relationship under particular strain and suggest that the Secretary of Defense is, by virtue of several institutional peculiarities, at the nexus of the relationship. It is the author's intent that this study lead to sustained debate within the military and civilian policy-making communities.

You may also be interested in the following titles:

• 
  Strategic Stability: Contending Interpretations

• 
  Talking Past Each Other? How Views of U.S. Power Vary between U.S. and International Military Person...

• 
  Insanity: Four Decades of U.S. Counterdrug Strategy

• 
  Venezuela as an Exporter of 4th Generation Warfare Instability

• 
  The Energy and Security Nexus: A Strategic Dilemma

• 
  2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List

• 
  U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol 2: National Security Policy and Strateg...

• 
  U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol. 1: Theory of War and Strategy, 5th Ed.

Survey: American Civil-Military Relations: New Issues, Enduring Problems

1. How would you rate the writing and overall quality?

12345

2. Is the content relevant for influencing present and future debates?

YesNoNo Opinion

Your Comments (No URLs Allowed):

If you'd like a reply to your comments, provide your email:
(optional)

Also by the Authors/Editor:

2010 SSI Annual Strategy Conference Report "Defining War for the 21st Century"
Decisionmaking In Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: The Strategic Shift of 2007
Decisionmaking in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: Removing Saddam Hussein by Force
Borders: Technology and Security--Strategic Responses to New Challenges
Women in Combat Compendium
COIN of the Realm: U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy
Rethinking Insurgency
Global Climate Change: National Security Implications

View other pubs in the following category:

United States