McNamara and Rumsfeld: Control and Imbalance in Civil-Military Relations
Abstract
As the nation moves beyond the planning failures of Operation Iraqi Freedom, both military and civilian leaders must act to restore balance to the strategic decision making process. Civilian control of the military is not in question, but senior military leaders must be given the professional respect and freedom to develop and provide both the President and Congress with candid advice and recommendations concerning national defense policy formulation and execution. Although expectations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff are well defined in US Code, reforms must address the requirements for the civilian strategic leader in relation to the uniformed military. Congress must also take action to reform the relationship between the Legislature, Executive and military elites to better enable the military to freely advise all participants in the strategic policy process. Operation Iraqi Freedom may well prove to be a watershed event for the culture of American civil-military relations. The intent of this paper is to examine how we have arrived at this point and to suggest reforms that will improve civil-military cooperation in national strategy and policy formulation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 24, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA478987
Entities
People
- Robert J. Rice
Organizations
- United States Army War College