A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

From an American-centric scholarship standpoint, I think much of it is driven by this search for finding a scapegoat to make it understandable for why we lost.   A BETTER PEACE welcomes three scholars of the American War in Vietnam to sit down with Editor-In-Chief Jacqueline Whitt to examine the Tet Offensive and its significance in the Vietnam War. Bob Brigham, Hang Ngyuen and Greg Daddis discuss what we know and, more importantly, what we don't know about the period from 1968-1973 and how it affected U.S. and Vietnamese policy, strategy and tactics.     Robert K. Brigham is the Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College, USA. He is the author of numerous publications on American foreign relations. Gregory Daddis is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and a Professor of History and the Director of the Master of Arts Program in War and Society at Chapman University. He is the author of three books on the Vietnam war. Lien-Hang T. Nguyen is the Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia. She specializes in the Vietnam War, U.S.-Southeast Asian relations, and the global Cold War. She is the author of "Hanoi’s War" and she is currently working on a comprehensive history of the Tet Offensive. Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: President Johnson visited Gen William C. Westmoreland, U.S. military commander, in South Vietnam a month before Tet. Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo Episode 2

If you read a story and it sounds just too good to be true -- either good or bad -- open  up another window and look for the same topic from a different outlet. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Amanda Cronkhite, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of National Security and Strategy, to discuss the reality of media bias. She joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to take a critical look at the state of partisanship and objectivity in the realm of modern day as well as historical news sources.     Amanda Cronkhite is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College.  Ron Granieri is an Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Image Description: An 1894 cartoon by Frederick Burr Opper criticizes American newspapers’ elasticity with the truth. Image Credit: Created by Frederick Burr Opper

HISTORICALLY WE WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO... READ ABOUT ANOTHER CULTURE, READ ABOUT THEIR HISTORY, THEIR ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT AND TO UNDERSTAND WHY A CULTURE DEVELOPED THE WAY THAT IT DID In a world that is dominated by discussions of artificial intelligence, increasing technology on the battlefield, and new domains in space and cyber, what part does history play in the development of today's military officer. Dr. Greta Bucher, Professor of History at the United States Military Academy, joins our Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Whitt to discuss how an education in history is just as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago. But what should a historical education look like? Bucher and Whitt discuss the importance of incorporating social and cultural history, especially related to questions about race and gender, in the education of future military officers.     Dr. Greta Bucher is a Professor of History and the Vice-Deputy for Academic Affairs in the History Department at West Point Military Academy. Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: In 1976, 119 female cadets, a few of them seen here with their male counterparts, became the first women to join the Corps of Cadets at The United States Military Academy at West Point. Of the original 119, 62 graduated in 1980. Photo Credit: Department of the Army

Our students come with a professional ethos and a professional mindset of being apolitical and fundamentally the decisions... we're talking about often are happening in the political realm. In a rather momentous occasion, our Editor-In-Chief Jacqueline Whitt turns over the reins of podcast production to our new Editor of A BETTER PEACE, Ron Granieri. After the hand-off, the conversation turns to thinking about how faculty and students at the War College, and other institutions, are approaching the teaching of national security policy and decision making given the current global and domestic political environment. How can national security professionals understand allies' and adversaries' actions and motivations? What is the relative importance of process and psychology in influencing national security decisions? What tools and frameworks might help us make sense of the world around us? Can Whitt and Granieri convince you that we are all Constructivists now?     Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. Ron Granieri is an Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: President Donald J. Trump speaks at a ceremony honoring those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was held at the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Washington, Sept. 11, 2019. Photo Credit: White House Photo

Imagine a conflict, a real war with China…what does war termination look like in that environment? In our third and final episode our scholars continue the discussion of war termination, the latest calls for more lethality and persistent presence of politics in every conflict in modern times. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Emily Knowles of the Oxford Research Group to join our own faculty members Tino Perez, Jacqueline Whitt, and Andrew Hiil to closely examine this article of faith of strategic thought. They each offer personal and professional opinions on the concept and delve into a great deal more in part one of this watercooler style discussion.     Emily Knowles is the Program Director of Oxford Research Group’s Remote Warfare Program. Celestino Perez is a colonel in the U.S. Army and a faculty instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. Andrew A. Hill is the former Chair of Strategic Leadership and the first Editor-In-Chief of WAR ROOM at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: The Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, fired a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot, breaking the previous record established Jan. 31, 2008. The railgun is a long-range, high-energy gun launch system that uses electricity rather than gunpowder or rocket motors to launch projectiles capable of striking a target at a range of more than 200 nautical miles with Mach 7 velocity. A future tactical railgun will hit targets at ranges almost 20 times farther than conventional surface ship combat systems. Photo Credit: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams Episode 1 Episode 2

…the claim that AI is changing the nature of warfare…it doesn't have to be backed up by any empirical evidence at all…simply saying that maybe gets you what you want In the first episode our scholars began the discussion of the nature versus the character of war. In episode 2 the conversation turns to AI and the marketing value of claiming nature IS changing and it eventually flows to war termination. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Emily Knowles of the Oxford Research Group to join our own faculty members Tino Perez, Jacqueline Whitt, and Andrew Hiil to closely examine this article of faith of strategic thought. They each offer personal and professional opinions on the concept and delve into a great deal more in part one of this watercooler style discussion.     Emily Knowles is the Program Director of Oxford Research Group’s Remote Warfare Program. Celestino Perez is a colonel in the U.S. Army and a faculty instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. Andrew A. Hill is the former Chair of Strategic Leadership and the first Editor-In-Chief of WAR ROOM at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: The M3 howitzer was designed to be deployed with airborne troops and used during World War II, with a variant used during the Korean War. Photo Credit: U.S. Army Episode 1

I think it makes...strategic thinkers think that they're saying something profound when in fact they are not.   Scholars have long held that the nature of war is enduring and unchanging, while the character of war is in flux and subject to the whims of technology and modern thought. It is a concept often credited to von Clausewitz but odds are it's not that old an idea. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Emily Knowles of the Oxford Research Group to join our own faculty members Tino Perez, Jacqueline Whitt, and Andrew Hiil to closely examine this deeply held truth of strategic thought. They each offer personal and professional opinions on the concept and delve into a great deal more in part one of this watercooler style discussion.     Emily Knowles is the Program Director of Oxford Research Group’s Remote Warfare Program. Celestino Perez is a colonel in the U.S. Army and a faculty instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. Andrew A. Hill is the former Chair of Strategic Leadership and the first Editor-In-Chief of WAR ROOM at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Image: New Inventions of Modern Times -Nova Reperta-, The Invention of Gunpowder, plate 3 Image Creator: Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1934 Episode 2

When you're more focused on lethality you're less likely to look at ways the military can act to support things that will maybe avoid war in the first place During his tenure as the Secretary of Defense, James N. Mattis frequently used the term lethality in describing all aspects of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was described as a desired endstate for all acquisitions, it was the subject of criticism in the world of joint Professional Military Education, and service secretaries and chief were given carte blanche to eliminate or restructure anything that hindered or didn't contribute to lethality. Andrew Diederich joins Editor-In-Chief Jacqueline Whitt to discuss the shortcomings of that thinking in the strategic realm. If all the DoD concerns itself with is lethality, what roles, what options, what contributions is it at worst ignoring, at best, allowing to deteriorate?     LTC Andrew Diederich is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College AY19 Resident Class and currently assigned to Northern Command. Jacqueline E. Whitt is Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor-in-Chief of WAR ROOM. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. – Cpl. Matthew Teutsch (left) and Cpl. Brett Norman, both combat videographers with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, participate in hand-to-hand and close quarters combat during martial arts training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 2, 2018. The Marines worked on offensive and defensive techniques utilizing different weapons systems focusing on the motto of the Martial Arts Program: “One Mind, Any Weapon.” Photo Credit:  U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert

Words have meaning and all too often there is no common understanding of that intended meaning. When former Secretary of Defense Mattis placed an emphasis on intellectual leadership in “cultivating creative workforce talent” he surely had a specific idea in mind as to what that represented. Today’s panel takes a crack at just what intellect versus intelligence means and more importantly how to get after individual development. COLs Terri Peterkin and Maurice Sipos along with Dr. John Bonin join Buck Haberichter in the studio to try and understand just what the SECDEF had in mind and just as importantly how to get to his desired end state. What should institutions of higher learning, leaders and mentors do to develop creative leaders?

The charter was...to look at preparation of the Navy for the defense of maritime security and the coasts In the early 1900's the U.S. Navy found itself creating strategy in an ad hoc manner in the midst of modernization and calls for officer corps structure and education reform. In response the Secretary of the Navy initiated efforts which led to the creation of the Naval War College and equally as important the General Board of the Navy. The General Board was essentially the first Navy General Staff in all but name for fear of creeping Prussian militarism. John Kuehn, a professor of history at the Army Command and General Staff College, recounts the early days of the Navy's attempt to formalize strategy formulation. He and JP Clark review the formative stages of the modern U.S. Navy and the worldwide reach and structure that so many are familiar with today.   Dr. John Kuehn is a Professor of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. COL JP Clark is the Deputy Director for Academic Engagement for the Strategic Studies Institute and a WAR ROOM Senior Editor. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo: USS Baron DeKalb, an Eads class ironclad Photo Credit: U.S. Naval archives