The Engine Room of Democracy

In this session, Dana Chipman, former judge advocate of the U.S. Army, discusses the role of the Judicial Center and how America supports and nurtures a professional judiciary.

Gene Dodaro is the comptroller general of the United States government and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Established by Congress as a watchdog, the GAO is the one organization that forces truthfulness and accountability across the federal government. In this session, Dodaro discusses the critical role of independent oversight as a foundation for rule of law.

Sean O’Keefe served in senior positions in both Congress and the executive branch. He has a unique perspective on how these two branches of government work together for a greater common good. Host Dr. John Hamre and O’Keefe discuss the tension between these two branches and the imperative for collaboration.

John Kirby was a chief spokesman for both the Department of Defense and the Department of State. In this session, host John Hamre and Kirby discuss the importance of public communications as a foundation for credibility of government action, explaining how public communications reinforces rule of law.

General Vincent Brooks is a pathbreaking Army officer. First in his class at West Point, Brooks rose to become the senior commander of American and allied forces in Korea. The commander of United States Forces Korea also has an important diplomatic role, serving as the head of UN forces in Korea and the senior political-military spokesman in Korea. In this session, Brooks and host John Hamre take us into the operational and legal issues of leading an alliance. They talk through how Brooks had to serve as a warrior and a diplomat in a dynamic theater of operations.

Elizabeth Rindskopf-Parker is a unique lawyer. She has served as an educator, a national security lawyer working for both the CIA and the National Security Agency, and was the head of the California Bar Association. In this session, Rindskopf-Parker and host John Hamre delve into the American judiciary. They discuss how it retains legitimacy when courts are constantly dealing with conflict—picking winners and losers.

Dr. Richard Meserve is a unique individual—a lawyer, a research physicist, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. In this episode, he explains the unique role that independent agencies play in the governance landscape of America. Independent agencies regulate the daily life of most Americans, yet most Americans don't know the critical role they play. Meserve takes us into the world of independent agencies and how they operate to protect democratic principles in the most technical dimension of American life.

John Bellinger served as the senior lawyer in both the Department of State and the National Security Council. In this session, host John Hamre and Bellinger discuss the way rule of law is embedded in diplomacy and foreign policy. Bellinger articulates the role that international law and international institutions play in advancing American interests.

Major General John Ewers is a marine who rose to become the senior lawyer for the Marine Corps. In this episode, host John Hamre and Ewers discuss how the rule of law is observed on the battlefield. As the senior legal officer in Iraq, Ewers shares with listeners the challenges of conducting lawful warfare in the most demanding and unpredictable environment.

Glenn Gerstell recently stepped down as the general counsel for the National Security Agency, America’s premier technical intelligence agency. In this episode, Gerstell discusses how the United States undertakes sophisticated intelligence collection while staying consistent with a constitutional obligation to protect the privacy of American citizens.