Supreme Command

During the 1990s, a number of events suggested that all was not well with civil-military relations in America. The media played up stories about alleged sexual harassment in the military, about military attitudes toward Bill Clinton’s fitness to serve as commander in chief, and about heated debates on the military’s role in the post-Cold War world. There is no question that civil-military relations during the 1990s were contentious, characterized by mutual suspicion and misunderstanding. But why had things gotten so bad? Some believed the tensions were a temporary phenomenon, attributable to the perceived anti-military character of the Clinton administration. But others expressed concern that the problems went deeper.

Peter Feaver’s excellent new book, Armed Servants, sheds much-needed light on civil-military relations in the

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.

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During the 1990s, a number of events suggested that all was not well with civil-military relations in America. The media played up stories about alleged sexual harassment in the military, about military attitudes toward Bill Clinton’s fitness to serve as commander in chief, and about heated debates on the military’s role in the post-Cold War world. There is no question that civil-military relations during the 1990s were contentious, characterized by mutual suspicion and misunderstanding. But why had things gotten so bad? Some believed the tensions were a temporary phenomenon, attributable to the perceived anti-military character of the Clinton administration. But others expressed concern that the problems went deeper.

Peter Feaver’s excellent new book, Armed Servants, sheds much-needed light on civil-military relations in the

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.