A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

In October 2022 we published an episode examining the newly released National Security Strategy (NSS) and comparing it to its interim predecessor. Once the NSS is published there are a number of other strategic documents that are published that nest within the overarching guidance of the NSS. In this episode podcast editor Ron Granieri sits down with War College professors Bob Bradford and Tom Spahr to discuss the unclassified version of the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS). The capstone strategic guidance document for the Department of Defense (DoD), the NDS details priorities, identifies allies and adversaries, and spells out in grand macro terms the direction forward for the entire DoD. The analysis centers around the utility and the messaging of the document as well as the complimentary Missile Defense Review that was released along with the NDS. The three talk about plenty of familiar concepts like building partner capability and capacity, integrated deterrence and developing resilience that make for a great conversation.

Every year the amount of sheer talent, knowledge and experience that comes through the little town of Carlisle, PA is astounding. There is the student body at the Army War College and the nation's leaders that present as part of the curriculum, the number of academic powerhouses associated with Dickinson College and Penn State Dickinson Law, and the speaker program at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Added to that list is the J. Sherwood McGinnis, Jr. War, Peace and Justice Project (WPJP) which began its Fall/Winter presentation schedule in October this year. A BETTER PEACE was fortunate enough to sit down with two of the program's main presenters, General Sir Rupert Smith and LTG (Ret.) Jim Dubik, Ph.D., to discuss the project's main theme: "Why has it been so difficult to achieve peace and justice as a result of our conflicts?" The two soldier-authors shared their thoughts and experiences with podcast editor Ron Granieri in a captivating conversation. Be sure to check out the project's website at https://www.warpeacejustice.org/ for future events. And visit the Cumberland County Historical Society where the project was hosted the next time you're in Carlisle.

There are multiple facets to the civil-military relationship. How the military interacts with the civil society, or other governmental agencies or the relationship between the military and the civilian authorities charged with the control and direction of the military are all very different. Alice Hunt Friend is in the virtual studio to discuss her specific area of expertise - the elite levels of leadership, the folks participating in the highest levels of the government. She joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to examine some of the misunderstandings that exist and what has to be done to correct them. Their conversation centers on the role of politics in the civ-mil relationship, and the mis-characterization of political versus partisan. And while we're on the topic, the U.S. Army War College is pleased to announce the creation of its new Civil-Military Relations Center(CMRC). The center was created to sponsor and promote the development of a healthy, sustainable relationship between the American military, society, and political leaders through education, research, and outreach. Go check out the website and see the publications, podcasts, events and conferences designed to develop leaders, advance knowledge and connect professionals. https://cmrc.armywarcollege.edu/

Dating back to 1987 and the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the National Security Strategy (NSS) has become perhaps the most powerful single document to communicate the Executive branch's vision to Congress, the American people, the many departments of the U.S federal government, as well as foreign friends and foes. When President Biden took office in January 2021, his administration produced an interim NSS that many nicknamed the "skinny NSS" and released it March of that year. On 12 October 2022, the Biden-Harris administration released an updated NSS. We've got Carrie A. Lee and J.P. Clark in the studio to examine the contents of the new document and talk about what has changed, what is emphasized and what the new NSS communicates to the world. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to highlight the themes and messages in the new product that is now twice as large as the original interim NSS.

Successful military organizations are always assessing and adapting; this includes methods of command and control. The joint task forces with constituent air, land, and maritime components currently used by the U.S. military have demonstrated benefits, but are all too often ad hoc structures that take too long to stand up and fight as a cohesive team. Tom Bruscino and Lou Yuengert are in the studio to talk about their recently released manuscript, The Future of the Joint Warfighting Headquarters: An Alternative Approach to the Joint Task Force, which they wrote with fellow authors Eric Bissonette, Kelvin Mote, Matthew Powell, Marc Sanborn and James Watts. Tom and Lou argue that now is the time to create standing, numbered, and regionally aligned joint warfighting headquarters— American Expeditionary Forces (AEFs)—around a command council and a staff organized into Joint centers and cells. They join host Darrell Driver to share the thought process behind the organizational structure and why the U.S. military must become a superior and sustainable joint force sooner than its adversaries.

Since President Eisenhower first named and warned against the military-industrial complex in his farewell speech, the relationship between "the military and the market" has been the subject of heightened scrutiny from Congress, the press, and scholars. A new book by that name provides new and surprising perspectives by taking the long view of two centuries of the economic dimensions of the military from entrepreneurs and new technologies to consumer products and sex workers. A BETTER PEACE welcomes editors and contributors Kara Dixon Vuic, Jennifer Mittelstadt and Mark R. Wilson as they discuss they discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of the military-industrial complex and beyond with podcast editor Ron Granieri. Find the book here: https://www.pennpress.org/9781512823233/the-military-and-the-market/

Getting faculty governance right in higher education can be a difficult endeavor. There are multiple models that can be employed, personalities always play a role and leadership has to agree on the value that the faculty's experience contributes. Getting it right in the world of professional military education (PME) adds a whole new twist. Nicholas J. Rowland and Matthew Woessner are back in the studio with podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss shared governance in PME. Their conversation builds on their previously published work Shared Governance for Intellectual Overmatch as they still strive to provide the best form of governance to create the finest strategic leaders in the world.

A BETTER PEACE welcomes Ian Ona Johnson to the studio to discuss his new book Faustian Bargain: The Soviet-German Partnership and the Origins of the Second World War. Ian joins our own Michael Neiberg to not only discuss his writing, editing and publication process but their conversation ventures into the usefulness of history. Written before the hostilities in Ukraine began, the alliances of the interwar period that the book examines offer great insights into the behavior of Russia and a number of the nations affected by the war. Their conversation even turns to the latest debate amongst historians regarding presentism or the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts.

The U.S. military is struggling to recruit and it's not just quality, it's quantity as well. The all volunteer force is at risk. Falling recruiting rates can be compensated for by higher retention rates for a time, but eventually the lack of new talent will be felt across the force. Allison Abbe is in the studio to discuss a recent article in which she points out policies that have created the insular military communities that may be raising retention but harming recruiting. Allison joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to explain her thoughts on the three policies that might be doing more harm than good, and how they could be changed for the better.

It has been recognized since antiquity that victory in war often goes to those who best organize "the sinews of war" (money, equipment, and supplies). Yet at the U.S. Army War College the Defense Management course that teaches these topics has often been maligned. For a time, a heavy focus on acronym-heavy process caused many students to roll their eyes and ask, "Why do I have to learn this? I'm not a force manager, or budgeteer, or program manager etc." Tom Galvin and Doug Waters are in the studio to explain how the course is evolving to better demonstrate why everybody needs a little Defense Management in their lives. In one of the final components of the core curriculum, War College students get a healthy dose of the other strategic triad -- force structure, readiness, and modernization. Galvin and Waters join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss how this course is changing and why everybody needs to just eat their academic spinach because the students are going to "speak defense management" in their coming assignments.