TIME and the Center for a New American Security have just launched Command Post, a series of regular video conversations on the key national-security challenges of the 21st Century. The joint effort by the magazine and the Washington-based national-security think tank begins with a week-long series of videos examining President Obama’s evolving strategy for Afghanistan.
Now that the post 9/11 wars are winding down and the Pentagon is under increasing financial pressure, it’s the right time to begin such an enterprise, asserts yours truly, one of the hosts. My Command Post partner agrees. “The Center for a New American Security is pleased to work with TIME Magazine in this new joint venture that analyzes important national security topics for a broad audience,” says CNAS President John Nagl, retired Army officer and author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam. “Command Post will work to inform the American people about principled, pragmatic defense and security policies that will keep the country strong and safe.”
The video series, produced by Craig Duff, TIME.com multimedia director, will examine key national-security issues, with a new angle explored each day in brief video chats between the co-hosts and noted defense experts. The inaugural Afghan series features Dave Barno, retired Army lieutenant general and former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Dr. Nora Bensahel, a military strategist and counter-insurgency expert at CNAS. Beyond Afghanistan, future topics for discussion are slated to include a variety of global hotspots and major pending weapons-system choices, as well as thorny issues like cyber warfare, veterans care and concerns, military personnel policies and missile defense.
Be interested in your reaction, as well as any additional items you’d like to see addressed in future airings of Command Post.