On Thursday, 23 January 2014, Georgia Tech’s Center for European and Transatlantic Studies (CETS) and the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy (CISTP) jointly hosted a panel discussion on Transatlantic Perspectives on Civil-Military Relations featuring Lieutenant Colonel Thomas K. Harland, Chief, German Army Liaison Staff and Armor Liaison Officer to the US Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCOE) and Major Nathan M. Hubbard, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (ID), US Army. Both officers are stationed at Ft Benning near Columbus GA.

A wide range of topics from the scholarly-theoretical to the practical were brought out in the course of the discussion and in response to questions from the audience. Both speakers began their comments noting that their families are part of the local Georgia communities in which they live. Similarities and differences in the way that societies view the role of the military in general due to institutions, history, and the role of technology in Europe and the United States were explored.

Civilian control and oversight over the military are among the chief hallmarks of liberal democracies. The panel illuminated for many in the audience who have little or no direct interaction with uniformed military, the ways that civil-military relationships manifest, interact, and affect the domestic and international policies of western democracies.

This event was organized as part of the Georgia Tech Initiative on Strategy, Technology, and the US Military.