A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

The final episode of our three-part series on Afghanistan looks at rebuilding trust in the civil-military relationship. Over two decades of conflict left its imprint on U.S. civil-military relations in myriad ways, not all of which were bad. Yet the collapse of the Afghan government and military after so many assurances that “this will be the year” has undoubtedly reduced the essential reservoir of trust. Guest host and U.S. Army War College Fellow LTC Ranjini Danaraj is joined by LTG (retired) Doug Lute, the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Deputy National Security Advisor on Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Asia under both Presidents Bush and Obama, and Dr. Carrie Lee, the Co-Director of the Civil-Military Relations Center and Chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. They have a thoughtful discussion on Afghanistan’s impact on civil-military relations. Their conversation reveals the vital aspects of a civil-military relationship, how politics are fundamental to the conversation, how to better integrate other elements of national power, and the need to balance expertise with humility.