Issue Briefs
Why Lloyd Austin Is A Superior Pick To Run The Defense Department (From Forbes)
Loren B. Thompson
December 08th, 2020.
President-elect Biden’s reported decision to nominate retired Army general Lloyd Austin to become Secretary of Defense is a wise move. Neither Biden nor the other announced members of his national security team have any intimate understanding of what modern war is like. They need at least one peer in their deliberations who has seen war up close, a professional who grasps the human dimensions of conflict. General Austin has seen combat at close hand from several perspectives, and has distinguished himself as one of the preeminent warfighters of his generation. If he doesn’t like an idea for employing the military, that’s an unambiguous signal it’s a bad idea. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
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Loren B. Thompson is a Senior Adviser at GPI, Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute and Chief Executive Officer of Source Associates, a for-profit consultancy. Prior to holding his present positions, he was Deputy Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and taught graduate-level courses in strategy, technology and media affairs at Georgetown. He has also taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Mr. Thompson holds doctoral and masters degrees in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor of science degree in political science from Northeastern University |