In August 2018, Greg Gottlieb’s keynote address, “Civ-Mil Relations: The Weight of Discussion” looked at the shifting weight of the humanitarian voice in civil-military relations. Viewing civ-mil from a Post 9/11 lens, Greg focused his talk on  Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan to show how the humanitarian voice is weakening as humanitarian relief becomes a tool of national security. This is diminishing the principles on which humanitarian action stands. With the Trump Administration’s national security team composed of more and more military personnel and fewer experienced humanitarian personnel, the imbalance in the U.S. is increasing at a rapid rate.

The event was sponsored by Brown University Humanitarian Innovation Initiative, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the Naval War College: Humanitarian Response Initiative, and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).