Military Brass Vs. Civilian Academics at the National War College: A Clash of Cultures - Hardcover

Wiarda, Howard J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0739150855 ISBN 13: 9780739150856

Publisher: Lexington Books, 2011

Synopsis

In Military Brass vs. Civilian Academics at the National War College: A Clash of Cultures, Howard J. Wiarda uses his first-hand experience to examine the conflict between the two cultures, military and civilian, that coexist uneasily at the College. He also explores the issues-tenure, academic freedom, research, teaching-that divide them. While this study focuses on the National War College, what Wiarda has to say about the tensions and "clash of culture" applies to all Professional Military Education (PME) schools.

About this title

Review:

Based on his personal experience, Wiarda provides a candid and critical analysis of the military-civilian academic cultural divide at NWC, the failure of the military to assign officers with requisite academic qualifications and dispositions to leadership positions at NWC and the National Defense University, and the adverse consequences of this failure on the open exchange of ideas and critical thinking required for future military and civilian leaders. The reforms that Wiarda suggests, notably placing more civilians in key leadership positions and empowering the faculty in decision-making, deserve serious consideration.--Roy Stafford, former National War College academic dean and professor

Howard Wiarda's book hits home by exposing the problems with higher military education and demonstrates that students, rather than faculty, run the institution. He shows the need for major reforms if US military education hopes to compete with its civilian counterparts.--Dale R. Herspring, Kansas State University

About the Author:

Howard J. Wiarda is Dean Rusk Professor of International Relations at the University of Georgia and author of Think Tanks and Foreign Policy: The Foreign Policy Research Institute and Presidential Politics, Harvard and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA): Foreign Policy Research Center and Incubator of Presidential Advisors, and Conservative Brain Trust: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the American Enterprise Institute.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0739150855
• ISBN 13: 9780739150856
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176