The nonpartisan ethic of the armed forces is at greater risk today than it has been in our lifetimes, and maintaining it is essential for the survival of American democracy.

General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (ret.), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been awarded the prestigious Order of Australia.

Every other Tuesday, early in the morning and no matter the weather, you can usually spot 17 National Security Fellows (NSFs) making their way from different parts of Boston to a Belfer Center third-floor conference room in Cambridge. They come from all military services, the Coast Guard, Office of the Secretary of Defense, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. Their research at the Center this year covers a broad range of national security issues from governance and corruption in multiethnic societies to defense technology, artificial intelligence, and space capabilities. They are as different as their professional backgrounds suggest, but on these Tuesday mornings they are united by their eagerness to hear directly from one of the most disciplined military thinkers of our times - General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (ret.). 

American troops and their allies have been conducting counter-terror operations and working to uphold the security of Afghanistan from Taliban extremists since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. A deal negotiated between the Taliban and the Trump administration in February 2020 called on Western nations to withdraw all their forces by May 1 of this year. This week, President Biden announced that U.S. troops will complete their exit from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. We reached out to several Belfer Center experts for their thoughts.  

The military dimension of the U.S.-China relationship "is only one dimension,  and by far a supporting dimension to the broader objectives that are both political and economic," General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (retired) said in an interview with Belfer Center Fellow Chris Li, writing for The Wire China.

Joe Dunford wore the Marine Corps uniform for 42 years, but the retired four-star general has swapped the battle space in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as political skirmishes in Washington, for a South Shore home a block from the ocean.