March 4, 2019 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Future Wars: A Conversation with H.R. McMaster

Episode 32
March 4, 2019 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Future Wars: A Conversation with H.R. McMaster

Episode 32

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About the episode

H.R. McMaster served as a U.S. Army officer for thirty-four years—including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan—before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He then served as White House national security advisor. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, he also chairs the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

He joins host Cliff May for a discussion about national security during a challenging and dangerous time —a time when the U.S. is threatened by a motley crew of rivals, adversaries and sworn enemies.

A U.S. Marine watches as an Osprey arrives at Forward Operating Base in Shukvani, Afghanistan. (Getty Images)

 

Episode highlights

Attribution

LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster to Clifford D. May in “Future Wars: a Conversation with H.R. McMaster” by FDD’s Foreign Podicy

 

On Syria

“Half the Syrian population is dead, wounded, or displaced. It is a humanitarian catastrophe of colossal scale.”

 

On Russia and China

“What China and Russia are trying to do is collapse the international political, economic order and replace it in a new order that’s more consistent with their objectives. Russia wants to regain national greatness. China wants to achieve national rejuvenation. And they, in large measure, want to do it at our expense.”

 

On the Hezbollah model

“What Iran is trying to do, I believe, is keep the Arab world perpetually weak so it can apply a Hezbollah model to the greater Middle East and to the Arab world — […] a weak government in place that is dependent on Iran for support, while they create militias and other armed groups that are outside of that government’s control and can be turned against that government if that government acts against Iranian interest.”

 

On U.S. military presence in Syria

“Remaining in the northeastern part of Syria gives the United States and our partners some significant leverage. So to have an enduring defeat of ISIS and other groups, to be able to stabilize that situation, address the humanitarian catastrophe, limit Iran’s influence, we need to exert our influence there alongside like-minded partners.”

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