Horns of a Dilemma

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Paul Edgar, the associate director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with retired Marine Gen. Robert Neller, the former 37th commandant of the Marine Corp., and retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea. Edgar, Brooks, and Neller discuss how the military is supporting civic authorities as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis. They discuss both the organization and structure under which the military forces respond, as well as the capabilities the military can provide in order to augment the response of local authorities.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen to a discussion moderated by Steve Slick of the Strauss Center and the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin about the role of intelligence in the COVID-19 pandemic. Slick is joined by Bobby Chesney, director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, Paul Pope, senior fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project, and Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Their conversation touches on whether the failure to properly anticipate and warn about the novel coronavirus constitutes an intelligence failure, what changes might be required in the intelligence community in the wake of the pandemic, and what type of investigation or inquiry might be appropriate in order to learn lessons and incorporate changes for both the intelligence community and the whole of government moving forward.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with Rebeccah Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute to talk about nuclear weapons. Their conversation is wide-ranging, covering the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, American policies regarding testing, and arms control agreements. The conversation also focuses on how the utility of nuclear weapons has changed after the Cold War.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, William Inboden, director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sit downs with Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for New American Security. In this wide-ranging discussion that spans the globe, Inboden and Fontaine look at issues of great power competition, making a distinction between the threats, risks, and challenges posed by Russia and China. They also delve into a discussion of U.S. relations with India and other great powers.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a talk given by Brig. Gen. (ret.) Kimberly Field, professor of the practice and executive director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M. Gen. Field discusses the notion of grand strategy in the context of alliance relationships. Specifically, she draws on her experience serving as a U.S. representative at the United Nations and as a general officer deployed to Afghanistan as part of the NATO alliance, to examine the role that allies play in supporting and enabling U.S. grand strategic vision. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a conversation moderated by Dr. Michele Malvesti, vice president at the Financial Integrity Network and visiting professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Julie Schafer, the chief technology officer for Flu Lab. Dr. Malvesti and Dr. Schafer discuss the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. They look at the virus from a public health response perspective and consider the impact it could have on national security. During this wide-ranging discussion, the two explore infectious disease outbreaks, how governments plan for and respond to emerging infectious diseases, and what can be done to prevent pandemics in the future. This talk was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a book talk given by James Mann, author of The Great Rift: Dickey Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship that Defined an Era. Mann, a journalist and prolific author who has previously written about foreign policy in the Regan, Bush, and Obama administrations, is currently an author-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. In his book, Mann explores the relationship between Colin Powell and Dick Cheney during the post-Cold War period from 1988 to 2008. Mann discusses the differences in how the two men saw themselves, whether as politicians, policymakers, or career public servants. This difference sowed the seeds of what would ultimately become a fracture in a friendship that first developed during the Reagan administration. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a talk given by Ambassador Dennis Ross, former special envoy to the middle east peace process. Ambassador Ross discusses his new book, “Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped its Destiny,” in which he describes four Israeli leaders who he asserts made decisions for the good of the state rather than their own political benefit. He discusses this in the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and in particular evaluates the new plan put forward by the Trump administration. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Alan McPherson, the Thomas J. Freany Jr. Professor of History and director of the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy of Temple University, comes to the University of Texas to talk about his book, Ghosts of Sheridan Circle. McPherson discusses the September 1976 car bomb assassination of the former Chilean ambassador to the United States Orlando Letelier, and human right activist Ronni Moffitt, at Sheridan Circle in Washington, D.C. Agents of the Chilean secret police under President Augusto Pinochet carried out the murders. Letelier had served briefly as the Chilean ambassador to the United States under President Salvador Allende, who Pinochet had overthrown in a 1973 coup. The talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.  

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, John Gans, director of communications and research at Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania, gives a talk at the University of Texas at Austin to discusses his book, White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War. In this talk, Gans focuses on the career and the accomplishments of a single NSC staffer, who ultimately perished during his duties in Bosnia. He uses the story of Nelson Drew as a way to illustrate both the power and the process that exists within the NSC. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.