The (Four) Stars and the State: Civil-Military Affairs in 2019
War on the Rocks
War on the Rocks
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2019
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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. The premiere scholarly society focused on civil-military relations was in town over the weekend, so Ryan decided to have a few people over to War on the Rocks headquarters to sort through it all. He was joined by Risa Brooks, Peter Feaver, Jim Golby, and Alice Hunt Friend.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Warner Rocks the Rocks Podcast on Strategy, Defense, and Foreign Affairs. |
| 0:16.0 | My name is Ryan Evans, I'm the CEO of One the Rocks. |
| 0:18.0 | You might hear in the background a neighborhood. |
| 0:20.5 | It's my neighborhood here in Washington, D.C. on a beautiful fall morning, but it's not just any morning, it is Veterans Day today. |
| 0:26.0 | And I think it's appropriate that on Veterans Day we release this episode of the podcast, |
| 0:30.0 | which features a discussion on civil military relations and more specifically the role of senior retired officers in our politics. |
| 0:38.0 | Enjoy the show. |
| 0:42.0 | Hi I'm Jim Goldie, I'm an Army officer who works as a defense policy advisor at the U.S. |
| 0:46.4 | Mission to NATO. None of my views today represent the U.S. government, the U.S. Army, or the U.S. |
| 0:52.0 | Mission to NATO. |
| 0:52.6 | It's always an exciting way to start out a podcast. |
| 0:54.8 | And my name is Peter Fever. |
| 0:56.4 | I'm a professor of political science and public policy |
| 0:59.1 | at Duke University, and I'm not even sure |
| 1:02.0 | that my views represent my own views today. |
| 1:05.0 | I'm going to follow that. |
| 1:07.0 | My name is Alice Friend. |
| 1:08.0 | I'm with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and American University. |
| 1:13.3 | And I'm Risa Brooks and I teach political science |
| 1:15.9 | at Marquette University where I am an associate professor |
| 1:19.4 | and don't know anything about basketball. |
| 1:22.1 | So don't ask me about that. So I'd like to give kudos especially to Alice who won her |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from War on the Rocks, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of War on the Rocks and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

