Soldiers, War, Knowledge and Citizenship

Generals in politics. Soldiers as terrorists. War in Europe and Asia. Populism and authoritarianism or even fascism as the wave of the future? Where, how, and why have the principles of citizenship and military service evolved in the passage from the age of total war from the mid-20th century to the new forms of warfare visible in the 21st century? This volume of essays, derived from the authors' study of civil-military relations in defense institution building, will help the reader to make sense of issues of contemporary policy and strategy with their heritage in the past. Rather than casting their glance to the machines of war and to forms of irregular warfare, i.e. jihadist violence or so-called hybrid war, the authors--two professors from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and its Center of Civil-Military Relations, with their decades of expertise in European history and politics as well as international defense and internal security affairs--explore the classic issues of the soldier and politics in light of the perennial duties of citizenship. Drawn from executive education proffered by these authors on multiple continents, as well as advanced study in resident graduate education in strategic, area, and homeland security studies, the themes explo-red here range from soldierly traditions in a democracy to the past and future of the Atlantic alliance, from the soldier's ethos and ethics to the role of professional military education of soldiers and citizens in a democratic nation in the face of multifold crises amid contemporary conflict. With the foreword by Prof. Dr. Reiner Pommerin.