Show Notes
Host John Hamre interviews Stephen Preston, a senior lawyer in Washington. In government service, Stephen was the head lawyer for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. In this episode, Stephen discusses how democracies authorize the use of lethal force and how democracies control military and covert activities once initiated. This is a special challenge for democracies where the use of force must be consistent with democratic principles. Stephen offers a powerful tutorial on this vital dimension of American democracy.
More from 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.