Horns of a Dilemma

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H.R. McMaster, author of the new book Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World, discusses his theories of strategic empathy and the security processes that he implemented in the Trump administration, and examines the threats posed by Russia, China, and a myriad of other actors around the world. This wide-ranging discussion is moderated by Jim Golby, senior fellow at the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

This episode of Horns of a Dilemma is a powerhouse of intelligence knowledge. Adm. (Ret.) William McRaven, former chancellor of the University of Texas at Austin and retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral, sits down with John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to discuss Brennan's new book, Undaunted: My Fight Against America's Enemies, At Home and Abroad. This is a wide-ranging discussion that covers the history of the CIA, the decision-making styles of the presidents Brennan worked for, the events of 9/11, and some of the more controversial projects with which the CIA was involved. McRaven and Brennan were introduced by Stephen Slick, director of the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Bobby Chesney, director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sit down with Peter Baker and Susan Glasser to discuss their new book, The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Time of James A. Baker III. James Baker was the secretary of state for George H.W. Bush at the end of the Cold War and the man who helped orchestrate the remarkably broad coalition that prosecuted the first Gulf War. While those are substantial diplomatic achievements, Glasser and Baker point out that James Baker's accomplishments were much broader than that and included substantial involvement with political campaigns including running the re-election campaign of Gerald Ford and others.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Michael Kimmage, professor and department chair at the Department of History at Catholic University in Washington D.C., discusses his book, The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy. Kimmage asserts that the idea of the "West" — a set of shared values that he argues revolve around liberty and self-determination — can be traced both to Wilsonian idealism, as well as to profound developments at the end of World War II. He traces the influence that this concept that there is a group of like-minded transatlantic nations had on Cold War foreign policy. Kimmage's discussion is wide ranging, encompassing issues as diverse as the influence of race and questions about "America first." Kimmage was introduced in this episode by Jeremi Suri of the LBJ School and professor at the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Clint Work of the Stimson Center hosts a discussion between Gen. Vincent Brooks, senior fellow at the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and Sheena Greitens, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about the Korean Peninsula. This group of experts assesses the security situation on the peninsula and how it affects U.S. security.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen to a talk by David French, author of Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How we Restore our Nation. French details the way in which the United States has become increasingly polarized politically, geographically, and culturally, and examines what he considers to be the threat of secession. French makes the case that in order to unite the country, Americans need to find causes and ways of interacting that focus on bringing people together and finding common ground. This discussion was part of the University of Texas' celebration of Free Speech Week.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Dr. Michele Malvesti, professor at the LBJ School and the Strauss Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Julie Schafer, chief technology officer for Flu Lab, discuss how the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is coming along. They talk about issues related to the development of vaccines and to what extent the response to the pandemic has conformed with planning assumptions. The episode explores what we can learn to help our response to future pandemics and other biological threats.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with Jim Golby, senior fellow at the Clements Center, to discuss the similarities and differences in foreign policy between a second Trump administration or a Biden administration. Their conversation covers a variety of foreign policy topics as well as discovering differences in process, personality, and procedure between the two potential administrations.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Jim Golby, a senior fellow at the Clements Center at the University of Texas of Austin, sits down with Brandon Archuleta to talk about his new book, Twenty Years of Service: The Politics of Military Pension Policy and the Long Road to Reform. Archuleta's book unpacks the forces that are behind the long persistence of a retirement system that was, as he puts it, "cliff vested," where soldiers who remained for less than 20 years would receive nothing and those who remained for over 20 years would receive a generous pension. He also looks at the forces that enabled reform in the pension system in 2018. Archuleta is an active duty Army officer and the views and opinions he expresses are his own and not those of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or any other aspect of the military.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with Evelyn Farkas, president of Farkas Global Strategies and former deputy assistant secretary of defense, to discuss global politics in the era of Trump. Dr. Farkas provides a survey of global politics and the retrenchment of freedom since 2005. She then places this in the context of the Trump administration, concerns among some U.S. allies and partners overseas about Washington's commitment to democracy around the world, and whether we are seeing a reduction of democratic principles within America that mirrors some of the developments we have seen in other countries.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Aaron O'Connell, associate professor of history at the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and Michel Paradis, a law professor at Columbia Law School and Georgetown Law School, discuss Paradis' book, Last Mission to Tokyo, examine the aftermath of the Doolittle Raid. In April 1942, Col. Jimmy Doolittle lead a group of Army aviators launching B-25 bombers from Navy aircraft carriers to bomb Tokyo on a one-way mission. All but eight of the raiders escaped captivity. However, those eight were tried for war crimes by the Japanese and sentenced to death. Three were executed and five had their sentences commuted. Pardis' book takes a look at the trial of the Japanese lawyers after the war who arranged the military commission and trial of the Doolittle Raiders.

If you think of the 1990s, you may think of the "The Simpsons," Nirvana, or "Seinfeld." But if you're a security or policy wonk, one of things you're going to remember about the decade is a military response option that seemed to be one of the first things officials considered for almost any dilemma — the no fly zone. What are no fly zones? What are the politics and prospects of no-fly zones? In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Stephen Wrage, professor at the Naval Academy, and Lt. Col. (ret.) Scott Cooper, to discuss their book, No Fly Zones and Internal Security: Politics and Strategy.

In this episode of Horns of Dilemma, Will Inboden, editor-in-chief of the Texas National Security Review, and Ashlyn Hand, a Ph.D. candidate at the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin, speak with Lauren Turek, a professor at Trinity College, about her new book, To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelical Influence on Human Right on US Foreign Relations. American foreign policy has often had a strong religious component, whether that be in the form of manifest destiny, or in the idea of American exceptionalism. But as Turek documents, in the late 20th century, the specific notion of human rights intersected with evangelical missionaries and their perceptions of the risks associated with communism and other important foreign policy questions, and were able to organize and influence U.S. foreign policy in a new and important way.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, William Inboden, editor-in-chief of the Texas National Security Review, is joined by Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, and Philip Zelikow, former executive director of the 9/11 Commission and counselor to numerous administrations, to discuss Zoellick's new book, America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. They also discuss how Zoellick transformed himself from an economist, an expert in finance, a lawyer, and a diplomat, into a historian who wrote an overarching history of a vast period of American power.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Sheena Greitens, associate professor at the LBJ School at the University of Texas, moderates a discussion between Tanvi Madan, senior fellow in the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution, and Jim Steinberg, professor of social science, international affairs, and law at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Their conversation revolves around the fraught, contentious, and important relationship between the world's largest democracy, India, the world's most powerful democracy, the United States, and the world's fastest rising economy, China.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with professor Bartholomew Sparrow, professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin and author of, The Strategist: Brent Scowcroft and the Call of National Security, to talk about the late Brent Scowcroft. Scowcroft was a towering figure in American foreign policy for over 50 years. After a distinguished Air Force career, he served as deputy national security advisor in the Nixon administration and as national security advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. He is considered by many to have been the best national security advisor in U.S. history. Scowcroft remained engaged in foreign policy issues after his government service. In 2002, he penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that argued the United States should not invade Iraq, becoming the most prominent and influential Republican national security professional to oppose the war. Scowcroft was known for his collegiality, professionalism, and commitment to a prudent, realistic U.S. foreign policy.

We live in an era of almost unprecedented partisan division and polarization where any issue of policy can become one that is deeply divided along party lines, and many of those issues of policy involve the military. We've seen this in examples of troops being deployed to the southwest border of the United States and through the use of federal troops in response to the racial justice protests. How does the military avoid becoming partisan in these divisive times? Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, explores this question with Jim Golby, senior fellow at the Clement Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, explores how social media has played an increasingly prominent role in the public discourse. Listeners to the War on the Rocks podcast may recall an episode featuring Camille Francois of Graphika, and Jessica Brandt, head of policy and research for the Alliance for Securing Democracy, dealing with the question of disinformation. These topics have also been covered in more popular press with books such as Like War: The Weaponization of Social Media, by P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking, and War in 140 Characters, by David Patrikarakos. But very few of these explorations have gone into how social media effects international relations. Professor Sarah Kreps, the John L. Wetherill professor in the Department of Government and adjunct professor of law at Cornell University, unpacks that very idea in this episode.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Mark Lawrence, director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, to discuss the inner workings of the presidential library system and the purposes they serve. Who runs them and who funds them? What mission do they serve? Does every President get one? Lawrence and Hodges also examine the complicated history and contradictory characteristics of President Johnson himself.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Rebecca Hersman, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss her article, "Wormhole Escalation in the New Nuclear Age," featured in Volume 3/Issue 3 of the Texas National Security Review. In her article, Hersman argues that our understanding of nuclear escalation may be obsolete. Rather than following a traditional step-wise ladder model, she argues that new technologies may results in sudden and unexpected escalation--much like the concept of a wormhole."

Often when we discuss national security we tend to focus on "hard security concepts," things like military capability, nuclear weapons, deterrence, and other things that are comfortable to those that have studied security for a long time. But what does it mean to be secure? Are people secure from something or someone? And who is it that we mean by the concept of "the nation"? Frequent listeners to Horns will have heard in the discussion with Kori Schake, Derek Chollet, and Jim Goldgeier, the notion that the concurrent pandemic and crisis of racial justice requires us to reconceptualize what we mean by "national security." In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma Doyle Hodges, the executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Shirin Sinnar, professor at Stanford University Law School, to discuss race, identity, and national security.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Frank Gavin, chair of the editorial board of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Fredrik Logevall and Daniel Bessner, authors of "Recentering the United States in the Historiography of American Foreign Relations," which appeared in the Spring 2020 edition of TNSR. This article discusses a trend in the academic history community, to try to seek explanations other than the role of the United States for major events in the world. While this had salutary effects on the field, it has also had the perverse effect of underplaying the role of United States — the most powerful actor in the post-1945 world — on global politics. It also has led to overstating the role of international developments on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy which, the authors argue, was primarily driven by American domestic factors. In this wide-ranging interview, Gavin, Logevall, and Besnner, discuss the process of working on the article, the movements in history to which they are responding, as well as the response that they've seen to the article.

The United States faces a unique confluence of crises right now. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented economic and social impact on society, and has caused many people to reconceptualize what "national security" means. At the same time, the nation finds itself convulsed by issues of racial injustice and the response to issues in our criminal justice system. This likewise causes a reconceptualization of what it means to be secure, and raises questions about the role of the military and security forces in the United States. In this episode Doyle Hodges, the executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with a panel of policymakers and academics to discuss how academics and those who study questions of war and peace broadly defined, can best influence and help as the United States works its way forward during these parallel crises. The panel features Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Jim Goldgeier, the Robert Bosch senior visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and professor of international relations at American University, and Derek Chollet, the executive vice president of the German Marshall Fund.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, the executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with author Dr. Brendan Gallagher to discuss his book, The Day After: Why America Wins the War but Loses the Peace. America has been successful in the battlefield aspects of its military endeavors but has struggled over the last two decades to find lasting political solutions that are acceptable to all parties after the conflict has ended. As Dr. Gallagher says in the introduction, "This is a book about an uncomfortable subject. Why does the most powerful nation in the world achieve triumphant military victories, but botch nearly everything that comes next?" Dr. Gallagher's perspective is informed by his time as an active duty infantry officer with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The views in his book are his own personal views, and not necessarily those of the Department of Defense, the Army, or any particular Army unit.

In this episode, we learn more about the Clements Center namesake, William J. Clements. Clements negotiated a deal with President Richard Nixon where he reported directly to the president, despite serving as the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served two non-consecutive terms as a Republican governor of Texas at a time when Texas politics was dominated by the Democratic party. Through Clements' own words in interviews and televised appearances, as well as through an interview between Will Inboden, the Executive Director of the Clements Center, and George Seay, the chairman of the Clements Center board — and Clements' grandson — we learn more about the Bill Clements and his legacy."

In this episode of Horns, William Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, and author and journalist Craig Fehrman, discuss his book, Author and Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote. In this fascinating conversation, Inboden and Fehrman examine the relationships between presidents and their ghost writers. In addition, they talk about how it is that presidents use these books to advance their political views, careers, and at times, their financial well being.

Do reputations matter in international politics? Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with professor Danielle Lupton to discuss her book, Reputation for Resolve: How Leaders Signal Determination in International Politics. Hodges and Lupton discus how reputations form and what results from these reputations. Lupton is professor at Colgate University and earned her PhD from Duke University in 2014.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, talks with Dr. Erik Lin-Greenberg about his article, "Allies and Artificial Intelligence: Obstacles to Operations and Decision-Making," which is featured in Volume 3 Issue 2 of TNSR. Dr. Lin-Greenberg is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House and an incoming assistant professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research examines how military technology affects conflict dynamics in the regulation of the use of force and how remote warfighting technologies, like drones and cyber warfare, shape crisis escalation. He also explores how technology influences alliance relationships and public attitudes toward the use of force.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we participate in our first ever cross-podcast and listen in on a conversation that took place on the This is Democracy podcast about the U.S.-China relationship. Jeremi Suri, a renowned scholar of democracy and host of This is Democracy, sits down with Sheena Greitens, one of the newest additions to the University of Texas faculty. Professor Greitens is about to become an associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and she is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. Her research focuses on American national security, East Asia, and authoritarian politics in foreign policy. In particular, she has focused on China's domestic security policies and their implications for the world. The conversation focuses on China under Xi Jinping's leadership and takes a look at the regime of domestic surveillance that has developed.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of Texas National Security Review, takes a deep dive into "Coercion Theory: A Basic Introduction for Practitioners," an article by author Dr. Tami Davis Biddle that appeared in Volume 3 Issue 2 of the publication. Dr. Biddle is a professor of national security at the U.S. Army War College, where she has taught since 2001. Her book, Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic Bombing, 1914-1945, was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2002 and was added to the Chief of Air Staff's reading list from the Royal Air Force.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Paul Edgar, the associate director for the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with for a wide-ranging discussion about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on European governance. Paul is joined by Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, Michael Mosser, assistant professor of international relations and global studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and Lorinc Redei, lecturer and graduate adviser for the Global Policy Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Their discussion reviews the impact of the novel coronavirus on governance issues such as the timing of European elections, the trend to authoritarianism in some European countries, and the likely impact on the future of

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Paul Edgar, the associate director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with retired Marine Gen. Robert Neller, the former 37th commandant of the Marine Corp., and retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea. Edgar, Brooks, and Neller discuss how the military is supporting civic authorities as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis. They discuss both the organization and structure under which the military forces respond, as well as the capabilities the military can provide in order to augment the response of local authorities.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen to a discussion moderated by Steve Slick of the Strauss Center and the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin about the role of intelligence in the COVID-19 pandemic. Slick is joined by Bobby Chesney, director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, Paul Pope, senior fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project, and Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Their conversation touches on whether the failure to properly anticipate and warn about the novel coronavirus constitutes an intelligence failure, what changes might be required in the intelligence community in the wake of the pandemic, and what type of investigation or inquiry might be appropriate in order to learn lessons and incorporate changes for both the intelligence community and the whole of government moving forward.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with Rebeccah Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute to talk about nuclear weapons. Their conversation is wide-ranging, covering the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, American policies regarding testing, and arms control agreements. The conversation also focuses on how the utility of nuclear weapons has changed after the Cold War.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, William Inboden, director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sit downs with Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for New American Security. In this wide-ranging discussion that spans the globe, Inboden and Fontaine look at issues of great power competition, making a distinction between the threats, risks, and challenges posed by Russia and China. They also delve into a discussion of U.S. relations with India and other great powers.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a talk given by Brig. Gen. (ret.) Kimberly Field, professor of the practice and executive director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M. Gen. Field discusses the notion of grand strategy in the context of alliance relationships. Specifically, she draws on her experience serving as a U.S. representative at the United Nations and as a general officer deployed to Afghanistan as part of the NATO alliance, to examine the role that allies play in supporting and enabling U.S. grand strategic vision. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a conversation moderated by Dr. Michele Malvesti, vice president at the Financial Integrity Network and visiting professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Julie Schafer, the chief technology officer for Flu Lab. Dr. Malvesti and Dr. Schafer discuss the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. They look at the virus from a public health response perspective and consider the impact it could have on national security. During this wide-ranging discussion, the two explore infectious disease outbreaks, how governments plan for and respond to emerging infectious diseases, and what can be done to prevent pandemics in the future. This talk was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a book talk given by James Mann, author of The Great Rift: Dickey Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship that Defined an Era. Mann, a journalist and prolific author who has previously written about foreign policy in the Regan, Bush, and Obama administrations, is currently an author-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. In his book, Mann explores the relationship between Colin Powell and Dick Cheney during the post-Cold War period from 1988 to 2008. Mann discusses the differences in how the two men saw themselves, whether as politicians, policymakers, or career public servants. This difference sowed the seeds of what would ultimately become a fracture in a friendship that first developed during the Reagan administration. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we listen in on a talk given by Ambassador Dennis Ross, former special envoy to the middle east peace process. Ambassador Ross discusses his new book, "Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel's Most Important Leaders Shaped its Destiny," in which he describes four Israeli leaders who he asserts made decisions for the good of the state rather than their own political benefit. He discusses this in the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and in particular evaluates the new plan put forward by the Trump administration. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Alan McPherson, the Thomas J. Freany Jr. Professor of History and director of the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy of Temple University, comes to the University of Texas to talk about his book, Ghosts of Sheridan Circle. McPherson discusses the September 1976 car bomb assassination of the former Chilean ambassador to the United States Orlando Letelier, and human right activist Ronni Moffitt, at Sheridan Circle in Washington, D.C. Agents of the Chilean secret police under President Augusto Pinochet carried out the murders. Letelier had served briefly as the Chilean ambassador to the United States under President Salvador Allende, who Pinochet had overthrown in a 1973 coup. The talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, John Gans, director of communications and research at Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania, gives a talk at the University of Texas at Austin to discusses his book, White House Warriors: How the National Security Council Transformed the American Way of War. In this talk, Gans focuses on the career and the accomplishments of a single NSC staffer, who ultimately perished during his duties in Bosnia. He uses the story of Nelson Drew as a way to illustrate both the power and the process that exists within the NSC. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, talks about Brexit. Sloat details the path of how Britain got to this point, as well as the number of efforts on the part of Theresa May and Boris Johnson to find a solution that would be amenable both to the British Parliament and to the European Union. Her insights help to understand both the long-term implications of Brexit, as well as the substantial challenges that are posed by the implementation of this agreement. The talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Aaron O'Connell, associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and Paul Edgar, associate director of the Clements Center for National Security, moderate a conversation with retired Gen. Robert Neller, the 37th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. During the discussion, Neller focuses on the future of the Marines, the future of war, and vital threats to American national interests. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, comes to the University of Texas to discuss his book, How Churchill Waged War: The Most Challenging Decision of the Second World War. Packwood explores issues that are lesser known than Churchill's famous oratorical skills, such as how he organized for success in dealing with the unique challenges that confronted him as he assumed the premiership, how he dealt with questions of civil-military relations by assuming the role of defense minister, and how the features that made Churchill an indomitable war leader led ultimately to his transition from power after the war. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, sits down with a panel of experts to discuss the origins and possible outcomes of the Brexit referendum. Will is joined by Michael Mosser, assistant professor of international relations and global studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Lorinc Redei, lecturer and graduate adviser for the Global Policy Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Charlie Laderman, lecturer in international history at the War Studies Department at King's College, discusses his book Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order. Laderman talks about the mass killing and death of Armenians during the period that preceded and shortly followed the independence of the Turkish Republic. The subject of this episode focuses on the question of how this incident signaled the rise of a global order based simultaneously on liberalism, sovereignty, and a commitment to human rights. This event took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of Dilemma, Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, talks about election meddling in the past, present, and future. He describes the history of KGB interference in U.S. elections and how the U.S. has countered it. Walton discusses how the KGB found that they just couldn't just construct a lie out of whole cloth. Instead, they had to build on pre-existing divides that existed in America. KGB propaganda focused on issues of race, religion, and, strangely, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center, the Strauss Center, and the International Studies Project.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Darren Dochuk, associate professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, discusses his new book, Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Dochuk explores how oil grafted itself to the soul of the United States and became part of its identity. He uses the term "wildcat Christianity" to describe the actions of oil prospectors who used the profits from their ventures to support Christian missionary endeavors around the world and traces how the religious identity and cultural identity of the United States are intertwined with this natural resource. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, sits down with Professor Paul Pope and Dr. Kiril Avramov of the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas and Dr. Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, to discuss the history of influence operations and active measures by the Soviet Union and Russia. Their wide-ranging discussion covers everything from Soviet active measures in Chile, to the theory of reflexive control that governed the Soviet strategy of conducting influence operations, to the response in the United States to Operation JADE HELM, Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the role of social media in advancing political warfare goals. Join us for a fascinating conversation about history that has urgent implications for today.

Sovereignty as a concept conveys that a single entity has the legitimate authority to exercise governance over a particular territory. So, how can an exclusive individual right be shared? John Ciorciari, associate professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center and the International Policy Center, explores these questions at a talk he recently gave at the University of Texas. Specifically, he asks what sovereignty sharing is and why it matters, and what the conditions are under which it could work. Ciorciari uses examples from Cambodia, Liberia, and Guatemala to illustrate what sovereignty sharing looks like in practice, and why it matters. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.