In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, John Amble is joined by retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. He began his thirty-seven-year career in the US Army as a platoon leader in Germany, and he finished that career serving in his last assignment, until 2017, as the commanding general of US Army Europe. And in between those bookends of his career, he gained a wealth of experience that makes him especially well suited to share his insights on the topic of this episode: European defense. We talk specifically about a range of issues that make European defense especially complex today and will make it even more so in the future.
Lt. Gen. Hodges, who currently holds the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis, is the coauthor, along with retired Gen. John Allen and Professor Julian Lindley-French, of Future War and the Defence of Europe. In the conversation you’re about to hear, he touches on everything from logistical challenges posed to NATO forces operating in Europe to allied interoperability and from the nuances of European defense politics to the implications of a rising China on European security.
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Image credit: Visual Information Specialist Jason Johnston, US Army