Source: Dale Herspring, 785-532-6839, falka@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/herspringbio.html
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu
Thursday, April 24, 2008
K-STATE FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT'S 12TH BOOK CRITICIZES RUMSFELD'S HANDLING OF CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS, CAUTIONS POLITICIANS ABOUT FAILING TO RESPECT THE MILITARY
MANHATTAN -- If there's a lesson to be learned from Donald Rumsfeld's tenure as U.S. secretary of defense, it's what not to do, according to a political science professor and foreign policy expert at Kansas State University.
Dale Herspring, university distinguished professor of political science at K-State, has written "Rumsfeld's Wars: The Arrogance of Power." Herspring criticizes Rumsfeld's performance as secretary of defense, a tenure that ended when he stepped down in November 2006 -- a day before speaking at K-State in the Landon Lecture Series.
Herspring's background in the military and in Washington laid the groundwork for this and his 11 previous books that address civil-military relations in the United States and abroad. Herspring spent more than 20 years in the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service and 33 years in the U.S. Navy, both in active and reserve. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
"I have lived in Washington and worked in the State Department. I know how the national security process is supposed to work," Herspring said. "However, the more I learned about how Rumsfeld and his crew were manufacturing intelligence data, the more furious I became."
Herspring's other criticisms of Rumsfeld include the way in which his leadership style put other leaders like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in impossible positions and how Rumsfeld disregarded the military's expertise. This "arrogance of power," Herspring argues in his book, is not unlike what was happening with the United State in Southeast Asia more than 40 years ago. He said that Rumsfeld would be remembered as another Robert McNamara, the secretary of defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
"We've had two civilian secretaries of defense who disrespected the military, and both have been disasters," Herspring said.
Herspring said that his book should serve as a warning to politicians and other civilian leaders who think that their only job is to control the military.
"The military does not need to be controlled. What is needed is joint respect between the military and civilian authorities as they work together to solve national security problems," he said. "The military knows what civilian authority is and how to play along. But even if they're not being respected, the military will still do what it's ordered to do."
Herspring said that Rumsfeld didn't understand this when he wanted to cut two Army divisions, even as military leaders were saying they needed two more divisions just to carry out the missions that were already assigned to them. Yet, Herspring also concedes that Rumsfeld had a positive impact on the military when he pushed for a change from the division model to a brigade model, which is easier and more efficient to mobilize.
With "Rumsfeld's Wars," Herspring said that he also wants to show civilian leaders that their relations will be improved if they understand and respect military culture.
"It is not in politicians' interest to ignore military culture," Herspring said. "Conflict is good -- if it is regulated, and if you're working within the military culture, it can work very well. The military will have the feeling that regardless of what is decided, their opinions are being taken seriously."
"Rumsfeld's Wars: The Arrogance of Power" has earned Herspring praise from the likes of Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, former commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command, and national security authors like John A. Nagl, Stephen Biddle and Charles Stevenson. The book was published in April by the University Press of Kansas.
Herspring's other books include "The Pentagon and Presidential Authority, Civil-Military Relations from Franklin Roosevelt to George W. Bush," "Russian Civil-Military Relations: Past and Present" and "The Kremlin and the High Command: Presidential Impact on the Russian Military from Gorbachev to Putin."