Session Abstract

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the growth of Chinese economic and military power and the onset of an era of increasing fiscal constraints have provoked increasing debate regarding the purpose of officer professional military education (PME) in the United States. This panel considers the role of history in American PME, particularly at the intermediate and senior levels. Based on their experiences teaching history and strategy at the staff-college and war-college levels, the members of this panel examine three different aspects of this issue. Dr. Douglas Peifer considers the different views of the purpose of historical studies held by military professionals and academics at PME institutions. Dr. Alexander Lassner contrasts the Skelton Commission’s emphasis on the importance of military history in PME with the pressures that threaten its place in the curriculum today. Dr. Nikolas Gardner examines the challenges associated with teaching Clausewitz’s On War, a body of military theory produced in historical circumstances very different to today, to an audience of contemporary military officers. Collectively the panel will point to several threats to the study of history and “classical” military theory in American PME that will likely intensify in the context of budgetary cutbacks in the coming years. Given the widely acknowledged value of historical study for professional military officers, these issues warrant careful attention. The panel will be of interest to military and diplomatic historians as well as those interested in the role that leading scholarship in the field of history plays in the education of American military officers.