Beyond the Resignation Debate: A New Framework for Civil-Military Dialogue
Abstract
Recent debates about whether senior military officers can offer public dissent or resign in protest have a disproportionate impact on civil-military relations. As a result, many discussions focus primarily on how the civil-military dialogue has broken down and offer little advice to senior officers about how they can and should engage properly in effective civil-military dialogue. Scholars should begin a more constructive discussion about how to best integrate military advice into today s policy-making process. Although military expertise is imperfect and only one input policy makers should consider, a forthright, candid civilmilitary dialogue decreases the likelihood of strategic miscalculation and increases the odds of effective policy making. To complement scholarly discussions that discourage political activity by military officers, this article develops a Clausewitzian framework for introducing military advice into what is always a political context. It offers practical suggestions for military officers and hopes to stimulate further debate about what positive norms could shape the civil-military dialogue.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA624385
Entities
People
- Jim Golby
Organizations
- Air University