Horns of a Dilemma

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, John Gans, director of communications and research at Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania, sits down with several members of the University of Texas faculty to discuss his new book, White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War. The discussion is led by William Inboden, editor-in-chief of the Texas National Security Review and director of the Clements Center, Steve Slick, director of the Intelligence Studies Project and former director and senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council, and Aaron O'Connell, a veteran of the National Sescurity Council staff and faculty fellow at the Clements Center. The discussion dives into the role of the National Security Council and the challenges it faces. They also discuss Gans' process in researching and writing White House Warriors.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, retired General Amos Yadlin sits down with Steve Slick, director of the Intelligence Studies Project, to discuss Middle East security and Israeli security concerns. Slick and General Yadlin also engage in a conversation about the role of Israel in the middle east, the future of Israel, and questions regarding security in the region. General Yadlin served in the Israeli Armed Forces for over forty years as an air force officer and as the director of Israeli Military Intelligence. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Intelligence Studies Project, the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Clements Center for National Security.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, retired Gen. Vincent Brooks sits down with William Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center. The conversation spans Gen. Brooks' career from his days as a cadet at West Point, where he was the first African American appointed to serve as first captain, all the way through his retirement after thirty-eight and a half years as a four star general commanding all U.S., U.N., and combined U.S. and Korean forces on the Korean peninsula. 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, William Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center for National Security, and Robert Chesney, director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, sit down with Texas congressman Mac Thornberry for a wide-ranging discussion on defense policy. Congressman Thornberry is a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and served as chairman of the Armed Services Committee from January 2015 to January 2019. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

Where are we 18 years after 9/11? What is the nature of the phenomenon of terrorism now and what challenges does America face today? What security strategies are currently in place and have they worked? Paul Pope, senior fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project, moderates a panel on counterterrorism since 9/11. Paul is joined by John Brennan, former CIA director, retired Adm. William McRaven, former commander of the Special Operations Command, Farah Pandith, author and former National Security Council and State Department official, and Nicholas Rasmussen, former National Counterterrorism Center director. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Intelligence Studies Project, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Clements Center for National Security.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Jim Goldgeier, professor and former dean of the American University School of International Service, and Derek Chollet, current executive vice president of the German Marshall Fund, discuss their 2008 book, America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 and the arc of post-cold war American foreign policy. In this podcast, they've included another 11/9, referring not to the end of the Cold War, but to Nov. 9, 2016, the day after the election of Donald Trump. This talk was recorded during the University of Texas Clements Center's Summer Seminar on History, Statecraft, and Diplomacy.  

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, chair of the Texas National Security Review Editorial Board Frank Gavin interviews political scientist Robert Jervis. In a wide-ranging interview that reaches all the way back to Jervis’ undergraduate days at Oberlin College in the late 1950’s, Gavin explores the factors which shaped Jervis’ career, the state of the political science field today, especially as it relates to security studies, and how political scientists deal with challenges ranging from the expansiveness of their theoretical claims to balancing political considerations in policy-relevant work. This interview was recorded during the University of Texas Clements Center’s Summer Seminar on History, Statecraft, and Diplomacy.    

This episode of Horns of a Dilemma expands on a recent roundtable in the Texas National Security Review that examines the question of adopting a nuclear no-first-use policy. Dr. John Harvey, a scientist and former senior Defense Department official, and Jon Wolfsthal, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, debate whether such a policy adds or detracts from stability in the event of a crisis, and how it affects the calculus of deterrence. Dr. Harvey and Mr. Wolfsthal also discuss topics ranging from the reliability of nuclear command and control to the credibility of signaling resolve, and how such issues would be affected by a no-first-use policy. You can read the full roundtable, which includes essays by Harvey, and Wolfsthal, as well as Professor Nina Tannenwald writing on nuclear no-first-use, and Professors Rachel Whitlark and Brendan Green writing on sole nuclear launch authority, on our website: tnsr.org.  

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, James B. Steinberg, a professor at the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, who also served as deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration and deputy national security adviser under President Bill Clinton, discusses the process and considerations that led to the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. Based on his first-hand experience as a participant in the process, Steinberg explains how the parties involved were able to come to an agreement that allowed all of them to preserve their most important positions while finding space for compromise in order to end the violence. Steinberg’s talk, which builds on his recent article in the Texas National Security Review, was recorded as part of the University of Texas Clements Center Summer Seminar on History, Statecraft, and Diplomacy.    

Throughout history, how have Americans thought about their own self-defense? Have they always thought about it like they do today — as expansive, global, and ideological? Andrew Preston discusses these questions by looking at the history of the idea of national security and how it is different today than in the past, the topic of his current book project. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.   Andrew Preston is Professor of American History and a Fellow of Clare College at Cambridge University. His work focuses on war and foreign relations, including how it intersects with domestic politics and culture. He is the author or editor of seven books, including Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy (Knopf, 2012) and, most recently, American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2019).