Tom Ricks: U.S. Military Leadership In Decline

• published: 04 Dec 2012
• views: 8868

01:39 What do you think the Petraeus story tells us? 05:24 Are there heroes anymore? 10:42 Do generals today get fired for combat ineffectiveness? 14:03 For which reasons should a general be fired? 16:24 Looking back over the last ten years, do you think a different approach to dealing with bad leadership would have resulted in different outcomes or a faster exit from a Iraq or a better position in Afghanistan? 19:58 Where should the line of accountability exist between generals and civilian leaders who order the generals? 25:28 On Afghanistan, the "war of inattention" and "casual arrogance." 27:46 The peril of a ground war in Afghanistan. 30:40 What feedback have you gotten from the generals of the last decade? Audience Q&A; 31:37 Why was Gen. Schwarzkopf considered such an excellent general? 36:02 Can the military fight insurgents? 40:07 You said the wisdom is not to fire a general unless you have a better one in mind? How do you ensure this? 41:38 Isn't this the best educated force? What does that tell us? 48:15 What is your opinion of universal public service versus an all-volunteer force? http://hillcenterdc.org Foreign Policy editor Susan B. Glasser interviews Thomas E. Ricks, author of THE GENERALS: American Military Command from World War II to Today Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas E. Ricks discusses his new book in conversation with Foreign Policy editor-in-chief Susan Glasser. A book signing will follow the conversation. Books will be available for purchase. From the bestselling author of FIASCO and THE GAMBLE comes an epic history of the decline of American military leadership from WW II to Iraq. History has been kinder to the American generals of World War II -- Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley -- than to the generals of the wars that followed. Is this merely nostalgia? In THE GENERALS, Thomas E. Ricks answers the question definitively: No, it is not, in no small part because of a widening gulf between performance and accountability. Ricks has made a close study of America's military leaders for three decades and in his hands this story resounds with larger meaning: about the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, about the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails. This is military history of the highest order. Ricks is a fellow at the Center for New American Security and a contributing editor to Foreign Policy, the magazine of global politics. Ricks covered the U.S. military for The Washington Post from 2000 to 2008. Prior to becoming editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy, Susan Glasser spent four years as co-chief of The Washington Post's Moscow bureau and covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Glasser previously worked for eight years at the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, where she rose to be the top editor. With her husband, New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker, she is the author of Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution. Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on Capitol Hill is a vibrant home for culture, education and city life on Capitol Hill. Visit our site and Join our mailing list to stay current with news and events at Hill Center.