The Role of the Military in Modern America: Somewhere Between a Coup and Agents of a Regime

Join award-winning scholar and Navy veteran Allen Linken for a frank discussion about the fascinating and often misunderstood role of the military in today’s society. With fewer and fewer people serving in the military, there is a disconnect emerging in the United States about what the military is and what they actually do. Coupled with high profile tensions between the military and civilian society that most recently include women in combat and whether military commanders should be able to prosecute sexual assault crimes, there are deepening concerns about the role of the military. What autonomy should we have in the military? How do we strike a balance where soldiers are not openly hostile to civilian leadership, leading to a coup, while not blindly following civilian leadership, causing them to be agents of a regime?

Dr. Allen Linken earned his J.D. at Albany Law School, his M.P.P at the University at…