Image from a WWI U.S. military film poster
PAST EVENT
Warrior Nation: America's Experience of War
Brown Bag Lunch
Series: International Security Brown Bag Seminar
Open to the Public - Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369
March 26, 2009
12:15-2:00 p.m.
| Speaker: | Dominic Tierney, Research Fellow, International Security Program |
Related Project: International Security
Description:
What kind of wars do Americans support and oppose? Which outcomes do they see as victories and defeats? Driven by idealism and wrath, Americans consistently perceive wars as either crusades or quagmires.
Inter-state wars are crusades, in which the United States should employ all necessary force to achieve majestic objectives. Nation-building missions are seen are quagmires, in which the United States only gets further entrenched, regardless of how successful the mission is on the ground. From the Civil War through Iraq, the United States has lurched from the crusade yin to the quagmire yang, as the military shifted from battling enemy states to stabilizing foreign societies. These two traditions leave the United States ill equipped in an era where limited war and nation-building represent increasingly important uses of force.
Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come-first served basis.
Contact:
ISP Program Coordinator
International Security Program,
79 John F. Kennedy St., Mailbox 53,
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Harvard University
Kennedy School of Government
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Email: susan_lynch@hks.harvard.edu
Phone: 617-496-1981
Fax: 617-495-8963
Url: http://www.belfercenter.org/ISP/
