At the end of 2018, the dramatic resignation of James Mattis from his post as U.S. Secretary of Defense sparked new concerns about the Trump administration’s conduct of foreign policy and its relationship with the military. Kevin Weng, a PhD candidate and lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Committee on International Relations, joins the podcast to discuss the civil-military implications of the Mattis resignation and the ongoing debate over policy towards Syria.

Apologies for the poor recording quality in this episode -- we experienced some technical difficulties. Won't happen again!

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Articles referenced:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-withdrawal-obama.html

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/andrew-sullivan-establishment-will-never-say-no-to-a-war.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/01/06/trump-actually-followed-one-civil-military-norm-with-his-announcement-on-syria/

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/legacy-james-mattis/578815/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/opinion/mattis-trump-civil-military-relations.html

Credits:

Podcast Production Credits:

Thomas Krasnican, host

Nick Paraiso, host

Haz Yano, engineer and producer

Aishwarya Kumar, producer

Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Sarah Claudy, creative consultant

David Raban, publisher