This is Democracy – Episode 101: The US Military and American Society

Today, Jeremi talks with Paul Edgar about the complex and evolving relationship between the US Armed Forces and the citizens it aims to protect. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “They Were Supposed to be Us, We Were Supposed to be Them.” Paul Edgar is the Associate Director of the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin. He holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Texas at Austin. Before entering academia, Paul served more than 22 years as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. Among many other missions, Paul deployed to Iraq during the 2006-2007 surge, serving as an infantry battalion operations and executive officer, conducting counterinsurgency and combat operations in both Fallujah and South Babil Province. In 2008-2009, as an infantry brigade operations officer, he deployed to Afghanistan and conducted counterinsurgency operations in Paktika, Paktia, and Khost provinces. After returning from Afghanistan, Paul served as the executive assistant to the commander of the Kingdom of Jordan’s Special Operations Command. He then commanded the 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry in The Old Guard where he supported official ceremonies and provided security for the President of the United States and other senior civilian, military, and foreign officials. In his final assignment for the Army, Paul was the political advisor for Israeli affairs to the United States Security Coordinator in Jerusalem. Paul is fluent in Modern Israeli Hebrew and is trained to read and conduct research in Akkadian, Hittite, Middle Egyptian, Classical Hebrew, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Syriac, Sumerian, and German.