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"Admiral William H. McRaven"
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Democracy, the Military, and America’s Future: A Conversation with Admiral McRaven
Wed, June 24th, 2026
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM (EDT)
Live Online
Invalid video URL
“The America that they believed in was under attack, not from without, but from within,” wrote Admiral William McRaven for the New York Times in 2019, reflecting on what he sensed from his military colleagues during the first Trump administration. In that op-ed, McRaven stressed the importance of American values in the face of the erosion of institutions and norms that underpin the strength of United States abroad.
What do the challenges to those values look like today? How does the increasingly partisan and polarized environment, and an unprecedented aggrandizement of presidential power, impact a military designed to be above politics? Can the U.S. military be expected to help defend democracy or is this the purview of Congress, courts and civil society?
Join Aaron David Miller as engages Admiral McRaven in a wide-ranging discussion of the state and fate of the American republic at home and abroad, on the next Carnegie Connects.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Event Speakers
Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program
Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.
Admiral William H. McRaven
United States Navy (Ret.)
Admiral William H. McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy Four-Star admiral and the former Chancellor of the University of Texas System. During his time in the military, he commanded special operations at every level. His career included combat during Desert Storm and both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The forces under his command were responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips and the mission to get Osama bin Laden. His final assignment was the commander of all U.S. special operation’s forces.