Generals in the classroom: Joint professional national security education in Israel and the United States

AbstractThe national security realm poses great challenges to senior military officers and civilian officials. These leaders oftentimes attend designated Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) institutions as a prerequisite for their futrue appointments. The article examines how these colleges and universities instill in their graduates the intellectual capacity to effectively engage and solve macro-level and acute strategic challenges as well as employ critical thinking skills to ensure intellectual agility and flexibility. The article compares the Israel National Defense College (INDC) and the National Defense University (NDU) to identify the differences and similarities between the two institutions and explain what it says about the Israeli and the American strategic culture and approach to the future of national security. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Barış Seçkin, “Cohesion of NATO Reinforced by Russian President,” Anadolu Agency, March 4, 2022. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-crisis/cohesion-of-nato-reinforced-by-russian-president-defense-college-commandant/2524426 (accessed March 6, 2022).2 “Given their gravity, Henry Kissinger Had jointly addressed the two consequential events,” in Crisis: The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003).3 Carl von Clausewitz (ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret), On War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976), 146.4 John B. Hattendorf, “The Conundrum of Military Education in Historical Perspective,” in Military Education: Past, Present, and Future, edited by Gregory C. Kennedy, Greg Kennedy, and Keith Neilson (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002), 7.5 John Wesley Masland and Laurence I. Radway, Soldiers and Scholars: Military Education and National Policy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957), 50.6 Martin Dempsey, Joint Education: White Paper (July 2012), 4. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/concepts/cjcs_wp_education.pdf?ver=2017-12-28-162044-527 (accessed April 18, 2020).7 Joan Johnson-Freese, Educating America's Military (London: Routledge, 2013), 2–3.8 We define “senior military officers” as Lt. Col. and above as well as their civilian equivalents.9 Correlli Barnett, “The Education of Military Elites,” Journal of Contemporary History 2, no. 3 (July 1967): 28.10 Karen Guttieri, “Professional Military Education in Democracies,” in Who Guards the Guardians and How: Democratic Civil-Military Relations, edited by Thomas C. Bruneau and Scott D. Tollefson (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006), 244.11 Royal College of Defence Studies, https://www.da.mod.uk/colleges-and-schools/royal-college-of-defence-studies/ (accessed August 5, 2021).12 Victoria Syme-Taylor and Duraid Jalili, “Professional Military Education,” in Routledge Handbook of Defence Studies, edited by David J. Galbreath and John R. Deni (London: Routledge, 2018), 98.13 Joan Johnson-Freese, Educating America's Military (London: Routledge, 2013), 90.14 Howard J.Wiarda, A Clash of Cultures: Military Brass vs. Civilian Academics at the National War College (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2011), 42.15 See for example Wiarda, A Clash of Cultures, chap. 7.16 Quoted in Brian J. Doyle, Integrating Critical Thinking in the Curriculum of the Command and General Staff College (Unpublished Master’s Thesis: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2008), 51–2.17 The classification of retired military officers that now work as civilian instructors is not without criticism given they tend to lack terminal degrees or experience teaching in univerities or colleges outside the military. See for example Jennifer Mittelstadt, “Too Much War, Not Enough College,” War Room, June 20, 2018. https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/too-much-war-not-enough-college/ (accessed March 5, 2023).18 Florina C. Matei, “NATO, the Demand for Democratic Control, and Military Effectiveness, Romania,” in The Routledge Handbook of Civil-Military Relations, edited by Thomas C. Bruneau and Florina C. Matei (London: Routledge, 2013), 326.19 Authors’ email correspondence with the New Zealand Command and Staff College, April 21, 2020.20 On origins and evolution of the INDC, see Shlomit Keren, “The National Defense College in Historical Perspective,” National Defense Studies 1 (2001): 129–63 (in Hebrew).21 This criticism appeared in the report that was prepared prior to the reopening of the College in 1976. See Keren “The National Defense College in Historical Perspective,” 146–7.22 “The National Defense College Reopened,” Maariv, September 2, 1977 (in Hebrew).23 Keren, “The National Defense College in Historical Perspective,” 156–60.24 Interview with Professor Gabriel Ben-Dor and Professor Arnon Sofer, August 11, 2021.25 Yosi Peled, Soldier (Tel-Aviv: Ma’ariv, 1993), 247. (in Hebrew)26 Interview with Professor Gabriel Ben-Dor and Professor Arnon Sofer, August 11, 2021.27 See for example Zeev Schiff, Ehud Yaari, Israel's Lebanon War (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984).28 The intensity of the military component of the program only allowed students to earn half of the academic credits needed but they were allowed to complete their studies at any Israeli university after their graduation.29 Doron Rubin, My Own Way On (Hevel Modi’in: Kinneret, Zmora Bitan, 2018), 133–7; Peled, Soldier, 273.30 Moshe Shamir, “The Barak Program for Field Commanders from Early Beginnings until Today,” in 50 Years Jubilee to the IDF Command and General Staff College, edited by Hagai Golan (Tel-Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 2004), 26–8 (in Hebrew); Zeev Drory, Dan Shomron—Subtle Leadership (Rishon Le’Zion, Yediot Achronot, 2016), 323–32; Authors interview with Prof. Arnon Sofer, August 11, 2021.31 Keren, “The National Defense College in Historical Perspective”; Martin Van Creveld, The Sword and the Olive: A Critical History of the Israeli Defense Force (New York : Public Affairs, 1998), 251. Authors’ interview with Gabriel Ben-Dor, August 11th, 2021.32 Amir Rapaport, “There Is Room for Concern,” Israel Defense, September 12, 2013 (in Hebrew).33 Gershon Hacohen, “The Curriculum in the Israel National Defense College: What Should Be Studied?” Journal of National Security 14 (September 2011), 14–15 (in Hebrew).34 Sofer served in various positions at the INDC, including leading the study tours program, and head of the research division for several years. See Arnon Sofer, The Privilege and Attempt to Influence in Tempestuous Times (Haifa: Heiken Geostrategy Cathedra, 2017), 103–4. (in Hebrew)35 Arnon Sofer, “INDC Program: What Should Be Learned? An Answer to Maj .Gen. Hacohen,” Journal of National Security, no. 18 (September 2012): 5–20.36 Yossi Baidatz, “Strategy as a learning Process: An Israeli Case Study for the New Administration,” Markaz, Brooking Institute, November 29, 2016 available online at https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/11/29/strategy-as-a-learning-process-an-israeli-case-study-for-the-new-administration/ (Accesses March 5, 2023)37 Yossi Baidatz, “Thoughts about Learning in National Security,” Israel National Security Doctrine in honor of 25 years of security programming at Haifa University" May 21st, 2013. (in Hebrew)38 “Goals of the INDC”, INDC Handbook, No. 43–No. 47 (2015–2020).39 INDC, Call for Applications, January 11, 2023. (in Hebrew) Available online: https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/national-security-college-course-na/he/national-security-college-course-na.pdf (accessed September 26, 2023).40 “Goals of the INDC”, INDC Handbook No. 47 (2020).41 Collected from the Israel National Defense College Alumni Association (INDCAA) database. See https://www.amutatmabal.org.il/?CategoryID=161 (accessed May 9, 2022).42 On the “special relationship” as a national security asset, see: Charles D. Freilich, “Can Israel Survive Without America?” Survival 59, no. 4 (August–September 2017), 135–50.43 The current CMC recently addressed this kind of complex learning in a short speech he gave during a reception in honor of the academic journal “Society, Military and National Security” (in Hebrew). A recording of the comments is available online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNWlQtJ3g0g&t=375s, (accessed June 1, 2022)44 Interview with authors, May 12, 2022.45 Ibid.46 Yaacov Amidror, Introduction to National Security (Ben Shemen: Modan and Ministry of Defense, 2002), 9–10.47 On the broad societal dimensions of Israeli national security, see Charles D. Freilich, Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), chap. 5. On the connection between Israel’s multiethnic society and national security, see for example Sammy Smooha, “Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution: National Security and the Arab Minority,” in National Security and Democracy in Israel, edited by Avner Yaniv (Boulder: Lynn Rienner, 1993), 105–27.48 Yizhak Rabin, Israeli Parliament Minutes, July 13, 1992 (in Hebrew).49 The report remains classified but some of its content can be found in Dan Meridor and Ron Eldadi, Israel’s National Security Doctrine: The Report of the Committee on the Formulation of the National Security Doctrine (Meridor Committee), Ten Years Later (Tel Aviv: Institute for National Security Studies, 2019).50 Ze’ev Schiff, “Top Secret Report: Iran Could Tempt Other Mideast States to Go Nuclear,” Ha’aretz, April 24, 2006. Shaul Mofaz, My Israeli Journey (Tel-Aviv: Yediot Books, 2022), 350–1.51 Office of the Chief of the General Staff, IDF Strategy (August 2015) (in Hebrew). https://www.idf.il/media/cdqpafku/%D7%90%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%92%D7%99%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%A6%D7%94%D7%9C.pdf. The English translation is available online at: https://www.inss.org.il/he/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/IDF-Strategy.pdf (accessed September 26, 2023).52 Ben Caspit, “Eisenkot Diaries,” Maariv, January 21, 2022. [in Hebrew]. https://www.maariv.co.il/news/military/Article-892274 (accessed February 12, 2022).53 Office of the Chief of the General Staff, IDF Strategy (April 2018) (in Hebrew). https://www.idf.il/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%90%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%92%D7%99%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%A6%D7%94-%D7%9C/ (accessed September 26, 2023).54 IDF strategy, 2015; IDF Strategy 2018, Ibid. For the English version, see https://www.belfercenter.org/israel-defense-forces-strategy-document#!chapter-i (accessed September 26, 2023).55 Amir Oren, “Israeli Army Chief Eisenkot: Iran Isn’t the Main Threat to Israel,” Ha’aretz, August 15, 2015.56 Yaacov Amidror, Introduction to National Security (Ben Shemen: Modan and Ministry of Defense, 2002), 10.57 See for example: Janine Davidson, Lifting the Fog of Peace: How Americans Learned to Fight Modern War (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010), chap. 3.58 U.S. Department of Defense, Committee on Excellence in Education. The Senior Services Colleges: Conclusions and Initiatives (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), 18.59 Marmaduke G. Bayne, “The National Defense University–A Strategic Asset,” Strategic Review 4 (Fall 1976), 28.60 Interview with authors, August 17, 2021.61 NDU, “Padilla Becomes 15th President of National Defense University,” November 19, 2014. https://www.ndu.edu/News/Article-View/Article/572648/padilla-becomes-15th-president-of-national-defense-university/ (accessed August 18, 2022).62 Federal Register, The United States Government Manual, 1984/85 (Washington, DC: General Services Administration, 1984), 234.63 National Defense University, Vision and Mission. https://www.ndu.edu/About/Vision-Mission/ (accessed October 10, 2021).64 Emphasis added. See National Defense University, Vision and Mission. https://www.ndu.edu/About/Vision-Mission/ (accessed October 30, 2021).65 Change announced in FY 2015 and implemented in FY 2017.66 “Joint Force Development,” https://www.jcs.mil/Directorates/J7-Joint-Force-Development/ (accessed August 18, 2021). JPME is a subset of PME that reflects a focus on interservice and interagency jointness and collaboration.67 JCS, The National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2015 (June 2015), 14. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Publications/2015_National_Military_Strategy.pdf (accessed August 18, 2021)68 H.R.3622—Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, Sec. 603.69 10 U.S. Code § 153. See also JCS, Joint Planning, December 1, 2020, II-1. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp5_0.pdf (accessed August 19, 2021).70 Aaron Mehta, “The Pentagon’s National Military Strategy Is Done, and It’s Unclear If the Public Will Ever See It,” Defense News, February 13, 2019. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/02/13/the-pentagons-national-military-strategy-is-done-and-its-unclear-if-the-public-will-ever-see-it/ (accessed August 21, 2021).71 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction, Officer Professional Military Education Policy (May 2015), E-D-1. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Library/Instructions/1800_01a.pdf (accessed April 22, 2020).72 Joint Staff, National Defense University Policy, 2.73 Ibid., D-B-2.74 Department of Defense, 2018 National Defense Strategy (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2018), 8.75 CJCS, “Officer Joint Professional Military Education Policy,” December 1, 2018. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/education/jf2030/cjcsi_1800_01_opmep.pdf?ver=2018-11-30-094145-917 (accessed September 1, 2021).76 David Stegon, “New National Defense University president Assumes Command,” FedScoop, July 12, 2012. https://www.fedscoop.com/new-national-defense-university-president-assumes-command/ (accessed August 27, 2021).77 Gregg F. Martin and John W. Yaeger, ““Break Out”: A Plan for Better Equipping the Nation’s Future Strategic Leaders,” Joint Foreces Quarterly 73 (2014), 39–43.78 Office of the Provost, “Policy Guidance for AY 2020-2021 Curriculum,” February 6, 2020, p. 2. https://www.ndu.edu/Portals/59/Documents/BOV_Documents/2020/NDU%20Provost%20Memo%20For%20Deans%20of%20Faculty%20Feb%206%202020.pdf?ver=2020-05-11-110745-077 (accessed September 2, 2021).79 CJCS, “Special Areas of Emphasis for Joint Professional Military Education in Academic Years 2020 and 2021,” May 6, 2019. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/education/jpme_sae_2020_2021.pdf (accessed August 17, 2021).80 Office of the Provost, “Policy Guidance for AY 2020–2021 Curriculum,” February 6, 2020, p. 1.81 National Defense University, Electives Program Catalog (Washington, DC: National Defense University, 2014–2015, 2016–2017, 2020–2021, 2021–2022).82 Office of the Provost, “Policy Guidance for AY 2020–2021 Curriculum,” February 6, 2020, p. 3.83 National Defense University, Joint Education Transformation Initiative (Washington, DC: National Defense University, 2014), 3.84 Office of the Provost, “Policy Guidance for AY 2020–2021 Curriculum,” February 6, 2020, p. 3.85 On the contribution of interagency to national security in general and operations in particular, see: Joint Staff J7, Interorganizational Cooperation (Suffolk, VA: Deployable Training Division, April 2018).86 Joint Staff, National Defense University Policy, A-7.87 National Defense University, Annual Report for Academic Year 2016-2017 (Washington, DC: National Defense University, 2017), 27, 34, 44, 51, 57. National Defense University, Annual Report for Academic Year 2012–2013, 6.88 Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, “National Defense University Convocation,” August 5, 2014. https://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech/Article/605598/national-defense-university-convocation/ (accessed September 22, 2021).89 JCS, The National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2018, 3. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Publications/UNCLASS_2018_National_Military_Strategy_Description.pdf (accessed September 21, 2021).90 Thomas A. Keany, “The War Colleges and Joint Education in the United States,” in Military Education, edited by Kennedy and Neilson, 161.91 Kate Exley and Reg Dennick, Small Group Teaching: Tutorials, Seminars and Beyond (London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004), 3.92 JCS, Developing Today's Joint Officers for Tomorrow's Ways of War (May 2020), 6. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/education/jcs_pme_tm_vision.pdf?ver=2020-05-15-102429-817 (accessed November 1, 2021).93 Email correspondence with authors, October 19, 2021.94 Interview with authors, October 18, 2021.95 National Defense University, Annual Report for Academic Year 2016-2017, 18.96 See the data in the various annual reports released by the NDU. https://www.ndu.edu/About/Institutional-Data/ (accesses September 27, 2021)97 John T. Fishel, American National Security Policy: Authorities, Institutions, and Cases (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017).98 Charles D. Freilich, Zion's Dilemmas: How Israel Makes National Security Policy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012), 3.99 Yaakov Amidror, “Israel’s National Security Doctrine,” July 18, 2021. https://jiss.org.il/en/amidror-israels-national-security-doctrine/ (accessed May 12, 2022).Additional informationNotes on contributorsAnat SternDr. Anat Stern (anatstern1@gmail.com) is a teaching faculty member at Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, The Open University of Israel’s. She specializes in IDF legal and military history. Her research interests and teaching focus on military history, national security and civil-military relations in Israel. Between the years 2012–2020, Dr. Stern served as an Academic Adviser and Head of Research at the Israel National Defense College and the IDF Command and Staff College. She was also a Visiting Mosse Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison history department (2012). Her recently published book titled Combatants on Trial: Military Jurisdiction in Israel during the 1948 War (Hebrew), is the winner of the Yad Ben Zvi—Ish-Shalom best first book in Israel Studies and was awarded an honorable distinction for best book in Israel Studies by the Association of Israel Studies (2021).Illai Z. SaltzmanDr. Ilai Z. Saltzman (saltzman@umd.edu) is the Director of the Gildenrhon Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland at Collge Park. His scholarship and teaching focus on international security, Israeli foreign and security policy, US foreign policy, and political psychology. Dr. Saltzman is the author of Securitizing Balance of Power Theory: A Polymorphic Reconceptualization (2012). He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, and of commentaries in the Los Angeles Times, Ha’aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and other prominent outlets. Dr. Saltzman earned his Ph.D. in International Relations in 2010 from the University of Haifa, and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Security Program (ISP), Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2009–2010).