The State of Civil-Military Relations in 2026 and Beyond

Video Description

The U.S. military’s professionalism and deference to civilian authority are considered to be exceptional by global standards. Even as trust in American institutions has decreased in recent years, public confidence in the military remains high. In recent years, however, shifts in U.S. domestic politics have put pressure on that apolitical ethos. As the Trump administration pursues a national security strategy and internal security strategy that deviates from historical norms, how will the U.S. military respond?  Will soldiers resist orders that might be considered legally dubious? And what parallels can be drawn between the United States and other democracies around the world experiencing similar shifts? Join The Fletcher School at Tufts University and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to examine these and other questions in a discussion on civil-military relations in honor of the late Richard H. Shultz, the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of International Security Studies at The Fletcher School. The Fletcher School Academic Dean and Distinguished Professor of International Politics Daniel Drezner will discuss this topic with a panel of experts featuring Saskia Brechenmacher, a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Kori Schake, director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, and Eliot A. Cohen, the Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Kelly Sims Gallagher, dean and professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at The Fletcher School and nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program, will deliver opening remarks. Like and subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/38sljlH The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace. Visit our website: https://carnegieendowment.org/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/CarnegieEndow Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carnegieendow/