‘Woke’ Naval Academy Hurts U.S. Military

Americans have long been rightly proud of our military. But that might be changing. A recent Reagan Institute poll indicates that only 48 percent of Americans had “a great deal of confidence” in the military. Last year, confidence hovered at similar levels, around 45 percent. But compared with 2018, this is a precipitous drop — just four years ago, 70 percent of Americans expressed significant confidence in the military.

The reason for this decline? Sixty-two percent of Americans said the military had become politicized, thereby reducing their trust in it as an institution. Cultural questions are seeping into the last major nonpartisan institution in American life.

About the Author

Seth Cropsey

Seth Cropsey is president of Yorktown Institute. He served as a naval officer and as deputy undersecretary of the Navy. The U.S. Naval Institute Press published his most recent book, co-authored with Harry Halem, Breaking the New Axis: A U.S. Grand Strategy for Eurasia, in April.

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Americans have long been rightly proud of our military. But that might be changing. A recent Reagan Institute poll indicates that only 48 percent of Americans had “a great deal of confidence” in the military. Last year, confidence hovered at similar levels, around 45 percent. But compared with 2018, this is a precipitous drop — just four years ago, 70 percent of Americans expressed significant confidence in the military.

The reason for this decline? Sixty-two percent of Americans said the military had become politicized, thereby reducing their trust in it as an institution. Cultural questions are seeping into the last major nonpartisan institution in American life.

About the Author

Seth Cropsey

Seth Cropsey is president of Yorktown Institute. He served as a naval officer and as deputy undersecretary of the Navy. The U.S. Naval Institute Press published his most recent book, co-authored with Harry Halem, Breaking the New Axis: A U.S. Grand Strategy for Eurasia, in April.