Combating the crisis of civil-military relations - citizens, public officials and military have failed to meet each other's expectations, military must be reformed from within - Cover Story

Humanist, Jan-Feb, 1998 by Gregory D. Foster

The crisis we face today in civil-military relations is real. Its symptoms, though suffocatingly pervasive, have not been recognized for what they are. But like an unseen lymphoma or termite infestation that destroys silently from within, the danger signs are more ominous than we care to admit. Because institutions in general are so much the lifeblood of society, and the military particularly so, neither suicide nor negligent death are options we can afford to let happen. Accordingly, we have no choice but to move quickly to seek a cure.

Gregory D. Foster is George C. Marshall Professor and former J. Carlton Ward Distinguished Professor and director of research at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, at Washington, D.C. The views expressed here are his own.