Seminar on Military Legitimacy and Leadership

The Seminar on Military Legitimacy and Leadership is about US foreign policy and military power. It explores the legitimacy of military operations and how the leadership of those entrusted with our military power, from the commander-in-chief down to the individual soldier, determines the success or failure of our foreign policy.

Central themes are the requirements and standards of military legitimacy, which include laws, cultural and moral standards, personal and national values, and public perceptions of legitimacy in both the US and the area of operations. The seminar relates these often conflicting standards of legitimacy and their religious and moral underpinnings to the concepts of democracy, human rights and the rule of law that are at the heart of US foreign policy. A focus of the seminar is on the conflicting concepts of legitimacy that arise from cultural plurality, and how they threaten US foreign policy objectives without proper leadership from the strategic down to tactical levels.

Today’s military leaders must recognize the limits of military power if they expect to achieve mission success in hostile cultural environments. Contrasting concepts of legitimacy in Latin America, Central Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia–wherever US forces may be deployed–require that our military leaders understand how mission success depends upon public support in both the US and the area of operations.

The concept of military legitimacy brings together concepts of history, political theory, Constitutional law, international law, religion, culture, ethics and leadership, and applies them to US military operations in the contemporary strategic environment. It is a study of military means and methods, both destructive and constructive, and those leadership models that can best achieve mission success in today’s ambiguous and unforgiving conflict environments.

The Symposia on Military Legitimacy and Leadership complement the Seminar by providing a forum for sharing the concepts developed in the Seminar with a broader audience. Symposia on Military Legitimacy and Leadership are scheduled around special guests who have expertise in the topics of legitimacy and leadership.