In his first public comments since U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan, former Secretary of Defense and Belfer Center Director Ash Carter joined Harvard Kennedy School Dean Doug Elmendorf for a wide-ranging discussion about Afghanistan during a JFK Jr. Forum event Wednesday, October 6. Their discussion ranged from national security and U.S. foreign policy over 20 years to the immense contributions and sacrifices made in Afghanistan and how best we can promote human rights going forward.

A complete video along with clips from the event are available here.  The transcript is accessible here.

Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld are the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense.

Speech by French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, at the Harvard Kennedy School on January 28, 2020.

In a country worried about its own internal divisions, public figures are increasingly calling for a return of the military draft, or at least some kind of mandatory national service. Wouldn’t it be good, they often reason, to reinforce for today’s young people the sense of common cause that animated the Greatest Generation? Universal service is a commendable effort to deepen citizenship that should appeal to all Americans. But a closer look at these ideas suggests deep flaws, writes former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

Jobs in finance, consulting, technology, or law are appealing to many graduates, and many recent graduates find that they can apply their spirit of public service to these private-sector roles. But few, if any, of these roles satisfy the deep hunger for career purpose as well as working for government.

The twenty-fifth Secretary of Defense takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, its vital mission, and what it takes to lead it.

Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elemendorf announced this week that Juliette Kayyem has been promoted to Senior Lecturer.