Janowitz and Huntington—Better Together: A Response

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Thomas Crosbie,Damon Coletta
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X20988556
• Subject Matter: Commentary

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X20988556

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(3) 723 –729

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X20988556

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Commentary

Commentary

Janowitz and

Huntington—Better

Together: A Response

Damon Coletta

1

and Thomas Crosbie

2

Abstract

Suzanne Nielsen and Hugh Liebert recently published “The Continuing Relevance of

Morris Janowitz’s The Professional Soldier for the Education of Officers” in which they

argued that officer education is too enamored with Samuel Huntington’s aging

theory of civil–military relations from Soldier and the State. Huntington’s ideal of

objective control grants senior military advisors autonomy within their professional

sphere, and it best ensures that unvarnished military expertise survives politically

charged national security decision making processes intact, regardless of which party

controls the White House. While these features explain Huntington’s traditional

popularity with the military, Nielsen and Liebert warn that Huntington’s separation

between military and civilian matters in theory engenders wishful thinking in prac-

tice, so much so that officers neglect, to the detriment of national policy, Morris

Janowitz, Huntington’s cofounder of the modern study of civil–military relations.

However, the civil–military community should reconsider banishing Huntington in

order to appreciate Janowitz.

Keywords

civil–military relations, military politics, military education, Janowitz, Huntington

Armed Forces & Society (AF&S) recently published an article on the continuing

relevance of society founder Morris Janowitz’s seminal work The Professional

1

Department of Political Science, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO, USA

2

Institute for Military Operations, Royal Danish Defence College, Copenhagen, Denmark

Corresponding Author:

Damon Coletta, Department of Political Science, U.S. Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Drive Suite

6L116, CO 80840, USA.

Email: damon.coletta@usafa.edu