Press | 2020

In this episode, we learn more about the Clements Center namesake, William P. Clements, Jr. Clements negotiated a deal with President Richard Nixon where he reported directly to the president, despite serving as either the Acting or Deputy Secretary of Defense under Presidents Nixon and Ford. He served two non-consecutive terms as the first Republican…

General Robert Neller, our Distinguished Senior Fellow, has published an open letter on the American protests upon the death of George Floyd: “The time for being silent has passed,” he wrote.

Faculty fellow Jim Golby and Mara Karlin have written an article in Task and Purpose to discuss the politicalization of the US Military.  “We don’t want a military that is “apolitical”; we instead want a military that avoids partisanship, institutional endorsements, and electoral influence. Those topics should stay off limits, but politics are too critical…

Faculty Fellow Jim Golby discusses civ-mil relations in new United States Studies Center article from Sydney University: “The Role of the US Military in Quelling Domestic Protests.”

The new episode of “This is Democracy” examines the evolving role of the military in a democratic society and the limits on how leaders can deploy force. Hosted by faculty fellow Jeremi Suri and featuring our Associate Director, Paul Edgar.

Will Quinn, a Clements summer seminar alum and speaker from our February conference, and Jason Fritz, have published a new article on US Army base names and the calls for reform.   

In Spring 2020, the Intelligence Studies Project (ISP) piloted a national security course for undergraduates in the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) at the University of Texas at Austin.

Joining the discussion on how American Christians should approach nuclear weapons and arms control, Peter Feaver, William Inboden, and Michael Singh argue that the priority should be in improving the behavior of hostile regimes.

In this episode of Horns, William Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, and author and journalist Craig Fehrman, discuss his book, Author and Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote. In this fascinating conversation, Inboden and Fehrman examine the relationships between presidents and their ghost writers. In addition, they talk…

Our distinguished Senior Fellow General Vince Brooks has published “Dismay and Disappointment—A Breach of Sacred Trust,” discussing the use of military resources on American streets. 

Former CIA officer Stephen Slick joins UT Austin’s The Slavic Connection to talk about his nearly three decades in intelligence, spent largely overseas in Ukraine, the Balkans, and East Germany. Professor Slick also discusses his return Stateside to a position in Langley just one week before 9-11 occurred and his present role as an educator at the…

Do reputations matter in international politics? Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with professor Danielle Lupton to discuss her book, Reputation for Resolve: How Leaders Signal Determination in International Politics. Hodges and Lupton discus how reputations form and what results from these reputations. Lupton is professor at Colgate University and earned…

In the context of the global pandemic and China’s recent actions with respect to Hong Kong, Incoming Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor Sheena Greitens joins the Slate podcast “Political Gabfest” to discuss China, Hong Kong, and Authoritarian Politics. Her interview begins approximately 43 minutes in. 

Our Executive Director Will Inboden joined Avrel Seale and the University of Texas News team to discuss COVID-19 and its effects on Global Trends, including US-China relations, US domestic politics and grand strategy, and the benefits and limitations on democratic governments in major crises.

Take a look back at the Spring 2020 Semester by viewing our newsletter.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, talks with Dr. Erik Lin-Greenberg about his article, “Allies and Artificial Intelligence: Obstacles to Operations and Decision-Making,” which is featured in Volume 3 Issue 2 of TNSR. Dr. Lin-Greenberg is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry…

Our incoming Faculty Fellow Dr. Sheena Greitens has been quoted in the Associated Press article: “Tokyo Olympics followed up by 3 mega-events—all in China,” for her expertise on Chinese affairs. 

Our incoming faculty fellow, Dr Sheena Greitens, was quoted this week in the Washington Post for her expertise on United States and Chinese relations in the article: “As US – China rhetoric grows harsher, new risks emerge with Taiwan drawn into the mix.”

General Vincent Brooks, our Distinguished Senior Fellow, appeared this Saturday on Voice of America – Korea to discuss U.S. and R.O.K. military action in response to North Korean activity. General Brooks was able to share his knowledge and expertise from his time as the four-star general in command of all US Forces in Korea, where he…

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we participate in our first ever cross-podcast and listen in on a conversation that took place on the This is Democracy podcast about the U.S.-China relationship. Jeremi Suri, Clements Center Faculty Fellow and host of This is Democracy, sits down with Sheena Greitens, one of the newest additions to the…

Our new faculty fellow, Dr. Sheena Greitens, has published a new article in The National Interest titled Why North Korea-U.S. Relations Will Remain Stable Unless Kim Really Needs Coronovirus Aid.

Clements faculty fellow Jeremi Suri has co-authored a piece with Samuel J. Abrams, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, on how changing demographics and the COVID-19 crisis make “conditions ripe for a youth led political movement,” using history to examine current political trends.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of Texas National Security Review, takes a deep dive into “Coercion Theory: A Basic Introduction for Practitioners,” an article by author Dr. Tami Davis Biddle that appeared in Volume 3 Issue 2 of the publication. Dr. Biddle is a professor of national security at the U.S. Army War College, where she has taught since 2001. Her book, Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic Bombing, 1914-1945, was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2002 and was added to the Chief of Air Staff’s reading list from the Royal Air Force.

Austin, TX – As part of our efforts to recruit the top national security scholars and practitioners to the University of Texas at Austin, the Clements Center is excited to announce that Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens will be be joining our ranks later this summer. Dr. Greitens’ position is supported by a Chair established jointly by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center, and is the latest example of the cooperation of the two centers and the LBJ School in advancing the national prominence of UT in the realms of national security and foreign affairs. Dr. Greitens will be a Faculty Fellow with the Clements Center, in addition to her roles as a Distinguished Scholar with the Strauss Center for International Security and Law and an Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Clements Center Associate Director Paul Edgar sits down with for a wide-ranging discussion about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on European governance. Paul is joined by Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution,…

The Intelligence Studies Project of The University of Texas at Austin announces the sixth annual competition recognizing outstanding student research and writing on topics related to intelligence and national security.  The winner of the “Inman Award” will receive a cash prize of $5,000, with two semifinalists each receiving a cash prize of $2,500.  This competition is open to unpublished work by undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in degree programs at accredited U.S. higher education institutions during the 2019-20 academic year.  The deadline for submitting papers is June 30, 2020. 

Clements Executive Director Will Inboden joined The World and Everything in it to discuss the nature of the US and China’s relationship in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think the current crisis is accelerating what was already a deteriorating relationship between the United States and China, and likewise accelerating what was already growing global…

Executive Director, Will Inboden, has coauthored “In Defense of the Blob” with Hal Brands and Peter Feaver in Foreign Affairs on the perceived consensus in US Defense philosophy.

Incoming faculty fellow Sheena Greitens has published a new article in Brookings over the security and surveillance threat of Chinese technology exports. “Major questions remain about the implications and advantages that China could derive from these developments, including how dominance in this sector and access to data could shape the contours of strategic competition between…

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Clements Center Associate Director Paul Edgar sits down with retired Marine Gen. Robert Neller, the former 37th commandant of the Marine Corp., and retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea. Edgar, Brooks, and Neller discuss how the military is supporting civic authorities as…

Congratulations to our Graduate Fellow Ashlyn W. Hand for winning the William S. Livingston Outstanding Graduate Student Academic Employee Award from UT Austin! This award honors honor outstanding performance by graduate student academic employees. Ashlyn is a second-year doctoral student at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Her research interests involve the intersection of women’s political…

Incoming Clements faculty fellow Dr. Sheena Greitens published a new article with The Monkey Cage and the Washington Post analyzing the state of North Korea’s governance.  “News media reported late Monday that Kim Jong Un was in grave condition after heart surgery this month, setting off a flurry of debate among North Korea watchers. How believable are these reports?…