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Articles by Risa Brooks
General knowledge: Russian military chiefs, the Russian public and Ukraine and China
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The Dangerous New Civil-Military Bargain
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spearheaded a dizzying array of controversial changes at the Pentagon. In late February, he fired General Charles Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the navy chief, as well as top lawyers for the army, navy, and air force.
NORMS, POLITICIZATION, AND THE MILITARY PROFESSION
There is a global trend of increased politicization of the military in eroding democracies, some of which are allies of the United States. Risa Brooks joins host Carrie Lee to shed light on the evolving dynamics between political leaders and the military. Brooks discusses the trend of political leaders using the military for their own gain.
The Creeping Politicization of the U.S. Military
The Creeping Politicization of the U.S. Military
The Creeping Politicization of the U.S. Military
When Senator Tommy Tuberville finally lifted his blanket hold on promotions for 440 senior military officers last December, many in the Pentagon breathed a sigh of relief. The Alabama Republican had blocked the promotions to protest a Biden administration policy granting paid leave and travel reimbursement for abortion services to military personnel based in states where the procedure is illegal.
Generally Speaking: Assessing Political Speech by Retired General and Flag Officers
Editor’s Note: Recent years have seen a surge in partisan speeches and other political activities by retired general and flag officers. What do other officers themselves think about this surge in political activity? Marquette’s Risa Brooks and my Georgetown colleagues Michael A. Robinson and Heidi Urben discuss the tension they found between traditional, apolitical civil-military relations and the officers’ concerns about threats to the constitution and other grave concerns.
Speaking Out: Why Retired Flag Officers Participate in Political Discourse - Texas National Security Review
Few other issues in U.S. civil-military relations are as controversial as the political activism of retired officers. Much of this modern-day controversy dates back to the 1988 presidential election, when former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley endorsed then-candidate George H.W. Bush in a primary, followed by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. William J. Crowe, Jr. endorsing then-candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.
How Military Leaders Can Navigate a Crisis of Democracy: Lessons from the Reservist Protests in Israel
In July, in the midst of a showdown over the fate of Israel’s judiciary, two ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government retweeted a remarkable video. The narrative details a fictitious encounter in which a soldier who is under fire requests air support from a pilot, only to be answered with a question: “Do you support the judicial reform, or not?” The soldier repeats the request, only to receive the same reply.
The Israeli Military’s Democratic Dilemma
In March, thousands of reservists in Israel’s military sent shock waves through the country when they announced that they would no longer show up for training and participate in operations if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not abandon plans to overhaul the country’s judiciary. One of the proposed measures would effectively muzzle the Israeli Supreme Court’s oversight of the government and of the laws it passes.
The Israeli Military’s Democratic Dilemma
Sign in and save to read later Print this article Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Get a link Page url Request Reprint Permissions In March, thousands of reservists in Israel’s military sent shock waves through the country when they announced that they would no longer show up for training and participate in operations if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not abandon plans to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
How The Anti-Woke Campaign Against the U.S. Military Damages National Security
International Security Program Fellow Risa Brooks writes on the consequences of the anti-woke campaign against the U.S. military in War on the Rocks. Anti-woke criticism of this kind has become a rallying cry of the American right, especially among those who use nationalism and appeals to a version of American nostalgia to unite a fervent base to “renew America.” The military has become a political football in this campaign.
How the Anti-Woke Campaign Against the U.S. Military Damages National Security
According to critics of the U.S. military, its civilian and military leaders are overly fixated on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the expense of the military’s warfighting mission and organizational well-being. These commentators and politicians accuse the military of everything from making servicemembers uncomfortable in the ranks by requiring their participation in diversity training to wasting time and money and damaging recruitment through those efforts. As Sen.
The Right Wing’s Loyalty Test for the U.S. Military
Risa Brooks Foreign Affairs December 13, 2022 A dangerous turn in civil-military relations. Read Full Article » Show comments Hide Comments Advertisement
The Right Wing’s Loyalty Test for the U.S. Military
Sign in and save to read later Print this article Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Get a link Page url Request Reprint Permissions Not that long ago, members of the Republican Party would never dream of criticizing men and women in uniform. But today, it is commonplace.
National Security
Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners Quotes of the Day: 1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, NOVEMBER 13 (Putin's War) 2. Ukraine: CDS Daily brief (13.11.22) CDS comments on key events 3. Biden’s new national security strategy points to China’s ‘intent to reshape the international order.’ - One expert calls it ‘the first superpower summit of the Cold War Version 2.0.’ 4.
Keeping Civil-Military Relations Civil
Civil-military relations is not a topic that gets many hearts racing. Yet attention to the relationship between the military and the society it serves has become more urgent after it was revealed that Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s most senior military officer, worked with cabinet and sub-cabinet officials to frustrate the desire of President Donald Trump to use the American military in ways Milley viewed as inappropriate.
Erica De Bruin, Risa Brooks: 18 steps to a democratic breakdown
By Erica De Bruin and Risa Brooks Special to the Washington Post Democracy is most likely to break down through a series of incremental actions that cumulatively undermine the electoral process, resulting in a presidential election that produces an outcome clearly at odds with the voters’ will. It is this comparatively quiet but steady subversion, rather than a violent coup or insurrection against a sitting president, that Americans today have to fear most.
Masters and Commanders
The Process Is Working Kori Schake Risa Brooks, Jim Golby, and Heidi Urben (“Crisis of Command,” May/June 2021) level serious charges against the U.S. military’s leadership, contending that its influence has grown to the point where “presidents worry about military opposition to their policies and must reckon with an institution that selectively implements executive guidance.” “Unelected military leaders,” they argue, “limit or engineer civilians’ options so that generals can run wars as they...
A Key Player in Trump’s First Impeachment Tells His Insider’s Story
nonfiction Alexander Vindman, Nov. 19, 2019Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times Aug. 3, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET HERE, RIGHT MATTERS An American Story By Alexander Vindman In his compelling memoir, “Here, Right Matters,” Alexander Vindman explains how it came to pass that he became a chief witness in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. What he presents is the story of an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances who did the right thing.
What Makes a Military Professional? Evaluating Norm Socialization in West Point Cadets
Abrahamsson, B. (1972). Military professionalization and political power. Sage Publications. Google Scholar Ackerman, E . (2016, September 16). What to make of military endorsements? The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-to-make-of-military-endorsements Google Scholar Babcock-Lumish, B (2013). Uninformed, not uniformed? The apolitical myth (p. 48-56). Military Review, (September/October). Google Scholar Bacevich, A., Kohn, R. (1997, December 8).
Crisis of Command
Risa Brooks & Jim Golby & Heidi Urben Foreign Affairs April 10, 2021 When U.S. President Donald Trump left office on January 20, many of those concerned about the state of civil-military relations in the United States breathed a deep sigh of relief. They shouldn’t have. Yes, Trump used the military as a political prop, referred to some of its leaders as “my generals,” and faced a Pentagon that slow-rolled his attempts to withdraw troops from battlefields around the world.
America’s Broken Civil-Military Relationship Imperils National Security
When U.S. President Donald Trump left office on January 20, many of those concerned about the state of civil-military relations in the United States breathed a deep sigh of relief. They shouldn’t have. Yes, Trump used the military as a political prop, referred to some of its leaders as “my generals,” and faced a Pentagon that slow-rolled his attempts to withdraw troops from battlefields around the world.
A Tale of Two Armies - Politics of Military Authoritarianism in North Africa
Table of Contents On January 20, 2020, world leaders met in Germany and announced the intra-Libyan dialogue framework intended to end Libya’s latest civil war between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and General Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) by unifying the rival political, economic and, crucially, military forces under the reconfigured Presidential Council (PC), acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Politics of Military Authoritarianism in North Africa
Table of Contents The armed forces have been a central political player and the real locus of power in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan for sixty years, but the turbulence of the last decade prompts a reexamination of this power. Will the scale of social crisis and structural economic challenges prompt the armed forces to seek an exit from governing? In Egypt, few political or social interlocutors remain with whom a military withdrawal can be negotiated, limiting the scope for orderly transition.
Enduring Authoritarianism in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan - Politics of Military Authoritarianism in North Africa
Table of Contents The ability of grassroots movements to mobilize and sustain protests created an unexpected opening for political transition in Sudan and Algeria in the course of 2019. In each case, the acquiescence, if not active collusion, of the armed forces in the ouster of the long-term president they had previously supported reinforced hopes for a new era of pluralist, democratic politics.
Civil-Military Relations in Sisi’s Egypt - Politics of Military Authoritarianism in North Africa
Table of Contents The fundamental logic of civil-military relations under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi remains the same as it has in Egypt for decades, although that may be changing. The president must accommodate a large corporate military and sate its organizational and economic interests to retain its support and his latitude to govern. Given the considerable challenges facing Egypt, however, whether Sisi can keep his end of that bargain is uncertain.
Beyond Huntington: US Military Professionalism Today
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 10.55540/0031-1723.3036 Recommended Citation Risa Brooks, "Beyond Huntington: US Military Professionalism Today," Parameters 51, no. 1 (2021), doi:10.55540/0031-1723.3036. DOWNLOADS Since March 02, 2021 COinS To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately, you may Download the file to your hard drive.
The Real Threat to Civilian Control of the Military
As soon as Joe Biden announced that he would nominate General Lloyd Austin to serve as his secretary of defense, critics began to question the choice. Austin retired from a long career in the U.S. Army just four years ago and, like General James Mattis before him, would thus require a congressional waiver of the rule requiring active-duty military personnel to wait seven years before becoming defense secretary.
Analysis | Biden has picked a retired general for defense secretary. Here’s why it matters. Original
On Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden announced his nominee for defense secretary would be retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III. The move would make the former U.S. Central Command leader the first Black secretary of defense. Biden would also be the second consecutive president to begin his tenure with the nomination of a retired military officer for the post.
Let the Generals Speak? Retired Officer Dissent and the June 2020 George Floyd Protests
June 2020 was a remarkable month in U.S. civil-military relations. President Donald Trump sought to use active-duty forces to confront Americans protesting racial injustice in the United States. As he put it in a June 1 call with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the nation’s governors, Trump wanted the latter to “dominate the streets,” potentially with military forces. His supporters echoed the call, with Sen.
The Herculean Effort to Build an American Army
Risa Brooks, The New York Times July 15, 2020 THE RISE OF THE G.I. ARMY, 1940-1941 The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor By Paul Dickson Paul Dickson's “The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941” recounts the remarkable story of how the United States built its Army from scratch before World War II. In 1939 the Army comprised fewer than 200,000 poorly trained and equipped troops and officers.
The Herculean Effort to Build an American Army
Gen. George C. Marshall surrounded by members of his general staff, November, 1941. July 15, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET THE RISE OF THE G.I. ARMY, 1940-1941 The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor By Paul Dickson Paul Dickson’s “The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941” recounts the remarkable story of how the United States built its Army from scratch before World War II. In 1939 the Army comprised fewer than 200,000 poorly trained and equipped troops and officers.
Would the U.S. Military Repress Protesters? Lessons from the Arab Spring
In early June, President Donald Trump threatened to unleash active-duty troops on American citizens protesting the killing of George Floyd. As he put it on June 1, if governors do not “dominate the streets,” he “will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem.” Some of his top supporters, such as Sen.
Congress controls the military, too - Gen. Milley should testify
Recent news stories suggesting that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley might be reticent to testify before Congress sent shivers down the spines of many civil-military affairs analysts. The U.S. military by design has two masters – the executive branch and Congress. It must heed both. Following several days of controversy about the military’s role in the response to protests following the death of George Floyd, the Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee – Rep.
Preventing Military Politicization
Civilian politicization of the military is a common occurrence in civil-military relations around the world. Scholars and analysts have long observed how civilian leaders intervene in the military and rely on its influence to secure their positions in office. That this might happen in the United States is less surprising when seen in this broader context. Indeed, civilian leaders in the United States sometimes involve the military in domestic politics, although usually on a lesser scale.
What Can Military and Civilian Leaders Do to Prevent the Military’s Politicization?
When Capt. Brett Crozier’s memo detailing the spread of COVID-19 on the USS Roosevelt leaked to the press on March 31, it painted a picture starkly at odds with the Trump administration’s claim that it was firmly in control of the pandemic. Crozier described a dire situation and called for the Navy to get the sailors off the ship.
Making Military Might: Why Do States Fail and Succeed?: A Review Essay
© 2003 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States
In 2009, President Barack Obama ordered a comprehensive review of the United States’ strategy for the war in Afghanistan that revealed some troubling dynamics in the country's civil-military relations. During the review, top military leaders, including the commander of the International Security Assistance Force led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Gen.
The (Four) Stars and the State: Civil-Military Affairs in 2019
November 11, 2019 What is the proper role of retired general and flag officers in American politics? This is a question that has been debated for a long time, but things have heated up since the 2016 elections due to the prominent role of retired generals in that presidential campaign and in the Trump administration. Even more recently, retired Adm. Bill McRaven penned an op-ed that attracted the attention of many, but especially those who study civil-military relations.
Jim Mattis Tells His Life Story
Risa Brooks The New York Times September 2, 2019 AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File Jim Mattis’s “Call Sign Chaos” will disappoint readers hoping for a tell-all account of his tenure asDonald Trump’s first secretary of defense, but they will still learn a lot about the man who held that position. Written withBing West, an author and former Marine, the book provides a tour through Mattis’s four decades of service in the Marine Corps.
Jim Mattis Tells His Life Story
nonfiction Image Jim Mattis talks to U.S. Marines prior to their departure for Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2001 Aug. 30, 2019, 5:00 a.m. ET CALL SIGN CHAOS Learning to Lead By Jim Mattis and Bing West Jim Mattis’s “Call Sign Chaos” will disappoint readers hoping for a tell-all account of his tenure as Donald Trump’s first secretary of defense, but they will still learn a lot about the man who held that position.
Integrating the Civil-Military Relations Subfield
Annual Review of Political Science Vol. 22:379-398 (Volume publication date May 2019) First published as a Review in Advance on January 30, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-060518-025407 Risa A. Brooks Department of Political Science, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA; email: Sections Abstract Keywords INTRODUCTION WHAT ARE CIVIL–MILITARY RELATIONS?
Technology and Future War Will Test U.S. Civil-Military Relations
Technology and Future War Will Test U.S. Civil-Military Relations Relations between America's civilian and military leadership are going to face serious new challenges as the U.S. military prepares for future war. In coming years, the Pentagon will make portentous decisions about how to adapt transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and human augmentation. The potential for change is enormous.
Technology and Future War Will Test U.S. Civil-Military Relations
Relations between America’s civilian and military leadership are going to face serious new challenges as the U.S. military prepares for future war. In coming years, the Pentagon will make portentous decisions about how to adapt transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and human augmentation. The potential for change is enormous.
Analysis | Trump breaks these 3 rules about how U.S. presidents relate to the military
Editors’ note: After President Trump’s announcement Monday night that the United States would expand the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, we asked Marquette University Associate Professor Risa Brooks to comment on the U.S. strategy shift, in light of her earlier analysis for the Monkey Cage on the decision-making in the U.S. raid on Yemen in the early weeks of the Trump administration. Here are her insights: Q: Does the Afghan strategy review differ from Trump’s decision on the Yemen raid?
Analysis | What should U.S. military leaders do if the president provokes a major international crisis?
Imagine a U.S. president whose management of international relations strikes many in the political establishment as dangerous and contrary to the U.S. national interest. Imagine further that Congress, run by the president’s party, appears unwilling to challenge the president, while the news media is profoundly distrusted by half the country. This president’s administration starts provoking countries that have powerful militaries, perhaps even nuclear weapons.
Lumpers versus Splitters: A Pivotal Battle in the Field of Terrorism Studies
In his Cold War classic, Strategies of Containment, John Gaddis observes that human behaviors can be analyzed either by splitting them into small conceptual units or by lumping them together into larger ones.[1] Whereas splitters seek analytic leverage by highlighting fundamental behavioral differences, lumpers seek leverage by underscoring their essential commonalities. Within the field of terrorism studies, these divergent approaches yield markedly dissimilar counterterrorism implications.
The sources of military dissent: Why and how the US military contests civilian decisions about the use of force
Introduction In 1992, during the lead up to the presidential election, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell wrote a New York Times op-ed titled ‘Why Generals Get Nervous’, in which he outlined his opposition to any US military involvement in the Bosnian civil war.
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