After serving many years in Afghanistan and Iraq, General McMaster was on the receiving end of policies and strategies disconnected from the reality on the ground. The tendency to view strategy only through one’s own lens can be described as “strategic narcissism,” where we don’t consider the influence other players have on an outcome. This calls for a shift towards “strategic empathy.” “Empathy is really our ability to consider, in particular, the ideology, the emotions, and the aspirations that drive and constrain the other.” 

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Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci.