Dick Kohn, Professor of History and Peace, War and Defense, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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A specialist in American military history and civil-military relations, Richard H. Kohn has taught at CCNY, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Dickinson College, and the Army and National War Colleges. He was the Chief of Air Force History for the USAF, 1981-1991. From 1992-2006 he chaired Carolina's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense and from 1992-2000, headed the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, a consortium of faculty in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina interested in national and international security broadly defined. His writing and teaching has focused on American war making, national security policy, and civilian control of the military.
Judging wars in hindsight, as Burt Solomon's story demonstrates, no matter what the standard (necessity, morality, "good," benefit, or other) will usually produce a muddle of confusion and controversy. One problem is that judgments often hinge on implicit or explicit counterfaction assumptions: what would have or might have happened had events not taken place as they did. Anaother problem is that interpretations change over time because of new research or subsequent events. The surest way to judge a war is to compare the outcome with the goals and purposes of the contending sides at the time. That there will be… Read more
For years the US Government has intended to close Guantanamo. The only difference between the Bush and Obama Administrations is that Mr. Bush talked about closing the prison while Mr. Obama is acting. Leading Republicans like John McCain and Lindsay Graham have agreed that closure is in the national interest. Mr. Bush concluded that Guantanamo harms American national security; Mr. Cheney is merely re-litigating with the public something he apparently lost inside the administration, but was able to stymie through his skill in government process, and the enormous ambiguities involved. Certainly the prison undermines national security. It's become a one-word… Read more
The economic crisis certainly has the potential to become the United States's most serious national security threat, either directly or indirectly. If the world economy descends into a deflationary spiral--accelerating unemployment, diminishing demand, increasing contraction of business activity, falling prices, protectionism, expanding defaults on debt--a number of areas could explode into turmoil: rioting, mass crime, violent repression, sudden refugee flows, and even the overturning of governments. Starvation and disease would likely spread as trade and economic activity shrivel and infrastructures break down. In such circumstances, my guess is that while disorder might arise in countries like China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and… Read more
President Obama ought to ban the words "win," "lose," "victory," and "defeat" from all discussions of Afghanistan. He should ask his advisers for a list of the desired outcomes in that country that would be in the national interest of the United States, in order of priority. Each should be accompanied by a discussion of 1/ the strategy to achieve the outcome, with the possibilities of success accompanied with a discussion of the uncertainties and their possible and probable consequences 2/ the likely costs, 3/ reasonable guesses as to the time required, and 4/ the possible unintended consequences. He… Read more
Biography provided by participant
