Faculty Publications

While the health of civil-military relations has important domestic implications, including the overall strength and durability of our democracy, it is simultaneously important to consider how the status of civil-military relations at home influences the United States’ ability to promote healthy civil-military norms abroad.

U.S. liberals have been in a defensive crouch for the past decade. Now, with authoritarianism on the rise, they have come under fire from those on both the left and right who want to reduce the country’s global role. In response, some liberal thinkers have looked back nostalgically to the early days of the Cold War, seeking inspiration from a time when robust liberal internationalism seemed capable of saving the world.

Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien spoke with Naunihal Singh, author of the book Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups, to discuss the spate of coups in the region, the origins of coups, what makes certain countries more coup-prone than others, and the rise and fall of anti-coup norms during and after the Cold War. We also dispelled several coup myths, including the myth of the coup contagion.

While Kabul celebrates the second anniversary of Taliban rule, the country has deteriorated by most metrics and its citizenry continues to suffer the consequences.

In concluding part I of this study, we quoted then-Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, who observed that the setup of the US national security system made sense “when most conflicts were regional” in scope and nature. But as we move into the mid-twenty-first century, the United States faces the global challenge of the People’s Republic of China, whose ability to contest America and its allies are not confined to a single geographic region.

Despite its growing access to advanced Western systems, Ukraine continues to face critical deficiencies in many essential areas, including protective equipment, maintenance and logistics, and spare parts for weapons and vehicles. Combined with shortfalls in various forms of nonlethal aid and equipment, these gaps not only significantly limit Ukrainian performance on the battlefield but also blunt the impact of the Western aid packages.

The recent summit in Vilnius showed NATO's failure to forge a "shared strategic outlook" on Ukraine and that the military alliance is just kicking the can down the road.

Joe Stieb from the National Security Affairs Department argues in this article that the Iraq War cannot be understood without looking at the idea of totalitarianism and its impacts on U.S. foreign policy.

As part of the symposium "Global Order After Ukraine" an examination as to whether the global system is fracturing.

Since 1945, U.S. foreign policy has been defined by precluding the emergence of adversaries and hostile coalitions by creating an Americanized international system through alliances, extended deterrence, and favorable trade terms. The Cold War national security system has not adapted well to global issues of trade, transnational threats, and China’s expansive foreign policy.

The challenge facing the U.S. policy establishment is how to prevent its new partnerships from being derailed.

This article explores the major scholarly debates about the origins of the 2003 Iraq War at the 20th year anniversary of the conflict.

Policymakers must be prepared to accept their responsibilities to take the hard choices involved in translating strategy into policy.

Approaches for policymakers to consider when grappling with the ethical questions of whether and how to engage with authoritarian or increasingly illiberal states and actors.

Discussing Korean security issues with Adam Lowther, Host of NucleCast of the ANWA Deterrence Center and Director of Strategic Deterrence Programs at the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska.