The Future of US Civil-Military Relations

At the end of the first semester, ALLIES co-sponsored an all day symposium with the Tufts Democrats. The symposium, “The Future of U.S. Civil-Military Relations,” examined civil-military relations from a non-partisan point of view. Dr. Mackubin Owens, professor at the Naval War College, and Dr. Harvey Sapolsky, professor at the MIT Security Studies program, spoke on the first panel, “The Role of the Military in a Democracy.” Dr. Owens and Dr. Sapolsky discussed the relationship between the soldier and the state, the responsibilities of civilians with regards to the military, and the problems facing US civil-military relations today. Speakers for the second panel, “Civil-Military Relations in Higher Education,” were Erik Dahl, a member of Tufts Advocates for ROT; Daniel Wesche, a Tufts undergraduate and Iraq war veteran; Tyson Belanger, a former Marine and current Harvard PhD candidate; and Paul Joseph, Director of the Peace and Justice Studies program at Tufts. Panelists debated issues such as the value of ROTC on campuses and whether or not students pursuing a Liberal Arts degree should learn about the military. Panel three, “Private Military Companies (PMCs),” featured Derek Wright, Director of the Development for International Peace Operations Association; Chris Taylor, former Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Blackwater USA; Kateri Carmola, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College; and Rye Barcott, former Marine, founder of Carolina for Kibera, and current student at the Harvard Kennedy and Business Schools. This panel weighed the benefits and drawbacks of PMCs and discussed the legal and moral issues surrounding their use. The final panel on Veterans’ Affairs included Andrew Young, Captain in the US Air Force Reserve and Mental Health Service Officer in the Iraq War Veterans Association; Tyson Belanger; and Drew Sloane, a former Army officer. This panel focused mainly on the challenge of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The event was a wonderful opportunity for ALLIES to expose more Tufts students to the importance of civil-military relations. Considering that many of the students who attended the day’s symposium study Political Science and hope to be active in politics after graduation, the event allowed ALLIES to achieve its goal of informing future civilian leaders about military and security related issues. It increased dialogue about civil-military relations on the Tufts campus by causing many students who had never been exposed to the military or thought about its importance in US policy to begin considering some key civil-military ideas. The symposium also opened the door for future events with both the Tufts Democrats and the Tufts Republicans.