Stan McChrystal has spent a long career considering questions of risk, leadership, and the role of America’s military, having risen through the Army’s ranks ultimately to take command of all US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, a force representing 150,000 troops from 45 countries. Retiring as a four-star general in 2010, he has gone on to lecture at Yale and launched the McChrystal Group, where he taps that experience to help organizations build stronger teams and devise winning strategies. His latest book, which he tells Tyler will be his last, is called Risk: A User’s Guide.
He joined Tyler to discuss whether we’ve gotten better or worse at analyzing risk, the dangerous urge among policymakers to oversimplify the past, why being a good military commander is about more than winning battlefield victories, why we’re underestimating the risk that China will invade Taiwan, how to maintain a long view of history, what set Henry Kissinger apart, the usefulness of war games, how well we understand China and Russia, why there haven’t been any major attacks on US soil since 9/11, the danger of a “soldier class” in America, his take on wokeness and the military, what’s needed to have women as truly senior commanders in the armed forces, why officers with bad experiences should still be considered for promotion, how to address extremists in the military, why he supports a draft, the most interesting class he took at West Point, how to care for disabled veterans, his advice to enlisted soldiers on writing a will, the most emotionally difficult part and greatest joys of his military career, the prospect of drone assassinations, what he eats for his only meal of the day, why he’s done writing books, and more.
Visit our website: https://conversationswithtyler.com
Email: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cowenconvos
Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/cowenconvos/
Follow Tyler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylercowen
Follow Stanley on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StanMcChrystal
Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/cowenconvos
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://go.mercatus.org/l/278272/2017-09-19/g4ms
Thumbnail photo credit: Leading Authorities, Inc.
Coleman Hughes on Colorblindness, Jazz, and Identity
Peter Thiel on Political Theology
Jonathan Haidt on Adjusting to Smartphones and Social Media
Fareed Zakaria on the Age of Revolutions, the Power of Ideas, and the Rewards of Intellectual Curiosity
Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Interpretation, Calvinist Thought, and Religion in America
Marc Andreessen on AI and Dynamism
Marc Rowan on Financial Market Evolution and University Governance
Masaaki Suzuki on Interpreting Bach
Ami Vitale on Photojournalism and Wildlife Conservation
Rebecca F. Kuang on National Literatures, Book Publishing, and History in Fiction
Patrick McKenzie on Navigating Complex Systems
Conversations with Tyler 2023 Retrospective
Fuchsia Dunlop on the Story of Chinese Food
John Gray on Pessimism, Liberalism, and Theism
Jennifer Burns on Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand
Brian Koppelman on TV, Movies, and Appreciating Art
Githae Githinji on Life in Kenya
Harriet Karimi Muriithi on Life in Kenya
Stephen Jennings on Building New Cities
Jacob Mikanowski on Eastern Europe
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast