Strategic Studies Quarterly Summer 2021 Vol 15, No. 2
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SUMMER 2021 Vol. 15, No. 2 Civil- Military Relations: “What Does It Mean?” Martin E. Dempsey FEATURE ARTICLE CMR in the United States: What Senior Leaders Need to Know (and Usually Don’t) Peter D. Feaver Richard H. Kohn The Line Held: CMR in the Trump Administration Kori Schake An “Unprincipled Principal”: Implications for Civil- Military Relations Pauline Shanks Kaurin Through the Looking Glass: Trump- Era CMR in Comparative Perspective Risa Brooks Maximum Toxicity: Civil- Military Relations in the Trump Era Mackubin Thomas Owens Trump’s Generals: A Natural Experiment in Civil- Military Relations James Joyner ONLINE ONLY Uncivil-Military Relations: Politicization of the Military in the Trump Era Jim Golby Strategic Studies SSQ Quarterly Chief of Staff, US Air Force Gen Charles Q. Brown, Jr., USAF Chief of Space Operations, US Space Force Gen John W. Raymond, USSF Commander, Air Education and Training Command Lt Gen Marshall B. Webb, USAF Commander and President, Air University Lt Gen James B. Hecker, USAF Director, Academic Services Mehmed Ali, PhD Director, Air University Press Maj Richard T. Harrison, USAF Guest Editor Dr. Jim Golby Managing Editor Print Specialist Illustrator Jeanne K. Shamburger Megan N. Hoehn Daniel M. Armstrong Advisers Contributing Editors Gen Michael P. C. Carns, USAF, Retired David C. Benson, PhD James W. Forsyth, PhD Mark J. Conversino, PhD Christina Goulter, PhD Kelly A. Grieco, PhD Christopher J. Bowie, PhD Michael R. Kraig, PhD Jay P. Kesan, PhD Dawn C. Murphy, PhD Charlotte Ku, PhD David D. Palkki, PhD Martin C. Libicki, PhD Nicholas M. Sambaluk, PhD Wendy Whitman Cobb, PhD https://www.af.mil/ https://www.spaceforce.mil/ https://www.aetc.af.mil/ https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ Strategic Studies Quarterly An Air Force–Sponsored Strategic Forum on National and International Security SUMMER 2021 VOL. 15, NO. 2 FOREWORD 3 ForewordJim Golby from Guest Editor Jim Golby POLICY FORUM 6 Civil-Martin E. Military Dempsey Relations:“What Does It Mean?” FEATURE ARTICLE 12 Civil- Military Relations in the United States: What SeniorPeter D. Feaver Leaders Need to Know (and Usually Don’t) Richard H. Kohn PERSPECTIVES 38 The Line Held: Civil- Military Relations in theKori TrumpSchake Administration 50 An “Unprincipled Principal”: Implications for Civil-Pauline Shanks Military Kaurin Relations 69 Through the Looking Glass: Trump- Era Civil-Risa Brooks Military Relations in Comparative Perspective 99 Maximum Toxicity: Civil- Military Relations in Mackubinthe Trump Thomas Era Owens 120 Trump’s Generals: A Natural Experiment in JamesCivil- Joyner Military Relations ONLINE ONLY 149 Uncivil-Military Relations: JimPoliticization Golby of the Military in the Trump Era FOREWORD FROM GUEST EDITOR JIM GOLBY Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, scholars and practitio- ners of American civil-military relations have been busier than most would like to be. They have observed—or participated in—friction between the senior military officers and elected leaders who sent American Soldiers to war and kept them engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq for nearly two de- cades. They have watched norms erode as retired generals took center stage at both parties’ nominating conventions and as a president openly courted active duty service members to join his political coalition. And they have questioned long- held assumptions about the durability of America’s civil- military institutions in the days leading up to the Capitol attack that took place on 6 January 2021. These challenges can be difficult to talk about— let alone understand—but now is a time to reflect and learn. Fortunately, some of the busiest and most insightful scholars and prac- titioners in the field have taken the time to share their reflections with the rest of us in this special edition of Strategic Studies Quarterly focused on the state of American civil-military relations at this time of uncertainty. Two central themes emerge from the contributions in these pages. First, both elected civilian officials and senior military leaders share some of the blame for the trust deficit that has emerged over the last two decades. And second, both civilian and military leaders will need to recommit them- selves to rebuilding that trust if they hope to successfully navigate the challenges they will face together in the future. Retired general Martin Dempsey, the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, begins this edition with a reflection on how loyalty and different cultures shape interactions between civilian and military leaders. Although divergent cultural backgrounds can be a source of conflict and confusion, Dempsey emphasizes that understanding and appreciating these differ- ences help provide a necessary foundation for the open communication and trust that make civil- military relationships work. As Kori Schake documents, however, open communication and trust often were missing at the highest levels during the Trump administration. Although senior military leaders made some significant mistakes, Schake maintains that the health of civilian control in the United States may have become stronger as the generals and admirals leading the institution held the line and learned from their mistakes. In the feature article, Peter Feaver and Richard Kohn argue that there is room for improvement on the military side of the civ- mil equation, but the contours of the challenges senior military leaders will face remain manageable. Drawing on insights from their interactions with newly minted generals and admirals over decades in the CAPSTONE and STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY SUMMER 2021 3 Jim Golby PINNACLE professional military education courses, Feaver and Kohn document the insights they believe senior military leaders need to know—but usually do not. Pauline Shanks Kaurin’s essay asserts that civil- military challenges of- ten arise not because senior military officers lack understanding but rather because civilian leaders—or “principals”—do not possess the necessary moral values to lead the relationship. Kaurin argues that an “unprincipled principal” can manifest in different ways, but she contends that scholars of American civil- military relations have not fully contemplated this chal- lenge in theory or developed effective ways to address it in practice. Risa Brooks offers a potential source of inspiration to address this chal- lenge and others. After noting that scholars have often drawn stark dis- tinctions between the character of American civil- military relations and those of other nations, Brooks maintains there is value in studying US civil- military relations through a comparative lens. She illustrates the value of this approach by applying insights from the comparative politics literature to explain civil- military dynamics during the Trump administra- tion and encourages other scholars to look to comparative scholars for fresh insights about US civil- military relations. Mackubin Owens contends that Trump’s civil-military failings have already been widely exposed; however, Owens also believes that retired officers share much of the blame for the tensions that arose over the last few years. Although many Trump critics hailed opposition from the so- called adults in the room (most of them retired generals serving in the president’s cabinet), Owens argues that the policy obstruction Trump faced from both active and retired officers had corrosive impacts on civil- military trust. In the concluding essay, James Joyner assesses the actions of those same retired generals but from a different perspective. After Trump ap- pointed Jim Mattis, John Kelly, and several other retired officers to key national security positions, some scholars and pundits feared the generals’ presence would create acute problems. Joyner argues that—based on what we know so far—the presence of retired generals in cabinet positions did not create or magnify any significant civil- military problems outside of those Trump created for himself. The diverse perspectives and arguments expressed in this issue suggest that debates about what occurred during the Trump administration are far from resolved. Yet they also point to challenges that remain. Running throughout the essays, however, is a shared sense of optimism that the lessons of previous civil-military controversies might enable healthier 4 STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY SUMMER 2021 Foreword civil- military interactions in the future. Those interactions are not in- evitable, but they remain possible. We hope this issue will help launch the candid dialogue that civilian and military leaders must have with one another if they are to successfully face future challenges together. Dr. Jim Golby Guest Editor Dr. Golby is a Senior Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and a co- host of the pod- cast Thank You for Your Service. A note from the Air University Press director and the SSQ team: Dr. Jim Golby superbly spearheaded this special CMR edition during the vacancy of the editor in chief position (which was filled after this issue was completed). We are grateful to him for his guidance, insights, and leadership. STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY SUMMER 2021 5 POLICY FORUM Civil-Military Relations: “What Does It Mean?” remember one of the secretaries of defense for whom I worked telling me stories about his time as an undergraduate at a prestigious Ivy League university. One of his most vivid memories was of “movie Inight” each Sunday