General Mark Milley: How to Avoid a Great-Power War | The Foreign Affairs Interview

Foreign Affairs invites you to listen to its podcast, The Foreign Affairs Interview. This episode with General Mark Milley was originally published on May 2, 2023.
As the Biden administration continues to provide massive amounts of military and economic support to Ukraine, it also has its eyes on China. What will it take to deter Beijing from attempting to seize Taiwan someday? What is the best strategy to avoid a great-power conflict? How can the United States maintain its technological edge on the battlefield?
These are the questions that occupy the Pentagon’s leadership, including U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before becoming chairman, the president’s top military adviser, he served as chief of staff of the U.S. Army. He has deployed all over the world, including multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We discuss the battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, how concern over escalation has shaped Western support for Kyiv, and how the United States can avoid a great-power war in the future.
SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE:
“What’s Really Going on Between Russia and China” by Alexander Gabuev
www.foreignaffairs.com/united...
“How China Could Save Putin’s War in Ukraine” by Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/...
“The Myth of Multipolarity” by Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth
www.foreignaffairs.com/united...
“The West Needs a New Strategy in Ukraine” by Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan
www.foreignaffairs.com/ukrain...
“Don’t Panic About Taiwan” by Jessica Chen Weiss
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/...

Пікірлер: 122

  • @ttrestle
    @ttrestle Жыл бұрын

    I honestly wish this interview was twice as long.

  • @feels6233
    @feels6233 Жыл бұрын

    a general that doesn’t see war as a good option is exactly the general we need

  • @anjosfeio4129
    @anjosfeio412911 ай бұрын

    Tank you General Milley for your mission...

  • @margaretateodoru8250
    @margaretateodoru8250 Жыл бұрын

    Fenomenal asi fi vrut să aud m-ai multe gen Mark Milly

  • @milkaoverdose1194
    @milkaoverdose1194Ай бұрын

    I was just looking for an English channel on this type of subject. Good interview

  • @CuriousPersonUSA
    @CuriousPersonUSA Жыл бұрын

    Very informative discussion. The idea of future war being decided in cities/urban areas is disturbing.

  • @dianatortolini7842
    @dianatortolini7842 Жыл бұрын

    Milley makes a point of sharing the anecdote of the elderly WWII veteran and his humble request to never let a great war happen again. I completely recognize that our perspective here has changed due to loss of institutional memory, but notable, credible people say failure to provide more materiel, long range weapons and jets to Ukraine makes that great war more likely, not less. Good interview, but I would have liked to have seen more of these contradictions (or at least controversies) addressed.

  • @BenjaminFractalin
    @BenjaminFractalin10 ай бұрын

    I could listen to Milley all fucking day long.

  • @JRay2113
    @JRay2113 Жыл бұрын

    Now I know why he’s the chief of staff

  • @richardjackson5277
    @richardjackson5277 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent interview!

  • @Mr.Altavoz
    @Mr.Altavoz Жыл бұрын

    Great interview... thanks 👍🇨🇱

  • @psnaris
    @psnaris11 ай бұрын

    Well, he's been brilliant so far.

  • @nathanspreitzer6738
    @nathanspreitzer6738 Жыл бұрын

    Very articulate man, we are in good hands

  • @captjacksparrow7520
    @captjacksparrow7520 Жыл бұрын

    Very good video thank you!

  • @CollectiveWesterner
    @CollectiveWesterner9 ай бұрын

    Deepest respect for General Milley. Truly a man of honor and integrity, who we are extremely lucky to have in our military's leadership.

  • @rebelmango2141
    @rebelmango2141 Жыл бұрын

    I enjoy listening to Milley

  • @Barnaclebrothers
    @Barnaclebrothers Жыл бұрын

    Excellent interview.

  • @mikebel9169
    @mikebel9169 Жыл бұрын

    Curious - at 24:26, what Milley/defense establishment consider the "about 20 other technologies" are. Could certainly venture a few obvious educated guesses, but would be interested some of the ones that might not be on my radar.

  • @adenirperini9950
    @adenirperini9950 Жыл бұрын

    Você é fantástico..vc fala muito bem..gosto de ouvi-lo

  • @ShottoKatha
    @ShottoKatha Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant analysis by the Gen.

  • @SafeSpaceCafe
    @SafeSpaceCafe Жыл бұрын

    Very enlightening, Gen Miller has taken flack but he got to his position through hard brains...

  • @user-pn4ew7yp8u
    @user-pn4ew7yp8u Жыл бұрын

    Thanks,General👍

  • @ulfwokurka7510
    @ulfwokurka7510 Жыл бұрын

    A refreshingly sober account of the status quo.

  • @sowelie1
    @sowelie110 ай бұрын

    Very eloquent for an army officer.

  • @moonbalancedd
    @moonbalancedd Жыл бұрын

    I love it when a general actually discusses war theory and tactics with lead echelons and terrains. Usually you only get to see them in public forums with rhetoric speeches about valued partners and cooperation.

  • @christineabercrombie7316

    @christineabercrombie7316

    11 ай бұрын

    interesting.

  • @anthonynicoli
    @anthonynicoli Жыл бұрын

    Excellent episode. I just found your channel last week and I am impressed with the quality of each interview Thank you very much!

  • @davidjones6389
    @davidjones6389 Жыл бұрын

    Never let it happen Again.

  • @72seeker72
    @72seeker72 Жыл бұрын

    Very candid discussion. Thanks.

  • @inkmore9395
    @inkmore9395 Жыл бұрын

    I love listening to General Milley speak, very informative..

  • @XxlKMWlxX
    @XxlKMWlxX Жыл бұрын

    Is there a transcript for this interview?

  • @stacey_1111rh
    @stacey_1111rh Жыл бұрын

    This was a breath of fresh air type interview. Thank you for interviewing him. What a solid military leader we have. I am proud and impressed

  • @W.Khairi
    @W.Khairi Жыл бұрын

    To the point, indepth and insightful discussion, Thanks for sharing.

  • @clivebrown400
    @clivebrown400 Жыл бұрын

    A real insight into America's military capabilities. This man is reassuring.

  • @canitbu6217
    @canitbu6217 Жыл бұрын

    What an absolute hero of American reality takes, and contemporary analysis, for Our military, and for a unified political perspective, aspiring to survive, with dignity, security, and compassion, for all, of which even the enemies of the American way of life, must consider when tasking for longevity in the policies they embrace.

  • @suttonmatthew
    @suttonmatthew Жыл бұрын

    Brilliance. Thank you, Chairman Mark Milley.

  • @paulmcdonald2742
    @paulmcdonald2742 Жыл бұрын

    á la Quora..."Thanks sent"

  • @ZhAlexie
    @ZhAlexie Жыл бұрын

    General Milley is a man of wisdom, as a Chinese I'm not on the same side with him but he have my respect.

  • @wouterke9871
    @wouterke9871 Жыл бұрын

    Again a nice guest, with interesting information, thx for the interview.

  • @LowenKM

    @LowenKM

    Жыл бұрын

    You bet, he knows his stuff! He also makes a good point re: the importance of a unified and 'motivated' population like Ukraine, compared to Taiwan, where as much as a quarter of the Taiwanese are still 'ambivalent' (at best) re: the prospect of defending against 'reunification'.

  • @paulmcdonald2742
    @paulmcdonald2742 Жыл бұрын

    Art thou a prophet... Some notes: "Convergence of technologies… AI + Quantum computing + robotics Combine that with cyber, space… …there’s a lot of things happening undersea. And just like in the past: the country that optimizes those technologies for the conduct of warfare, that country is going to have a decisive advantage at least at the beginning and the opening shots of the next war. I would argue that the future operating environment will be extraordinarily more lethal than that which we’ve seen in the past. Because you can see better, sense the environment better, hit it with precision better, you can probably hit with speed better. Decision in future war will probably occur in highly dense urban areas. Firstest with the mostest! A future force will need to be lots of small entities…constant states of movement in order to survive in a highly lethal environment. Invisible either though technology or basic cover and concealment. A third of that force will need to fundamentally transform in order to outpace…anything that can be thrown at us." "General, never let it happen again."

  • @PoiPoi5189
    @PoiPoi5189 Жыл бұрын

    Cool.

  • @privatevendetta
    @privatevendetta11 ай бұрын

    Compare him to McMaster. It is incomprehensible that both are colleagues

  • @RobertHempazPhDTrichometry
    @RobertHempazPhDTrichometry Жыл бұрын

    Has the #USA ever had such a well educated Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman as Gen. Milley?

  • @saul890
    @saul890 Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting interview , we learned a lot.

  • @jackcheng7437
    @jackcheng74379 ай бұрын

    Gen. Mark Milley want to keep US is # 1 in the world, and use right way……

  • @thefisherking78
    @thefisherking78 Жыл бұрын

    Milley is an amazing leader 😁 I always appreciate his perspective

  • @nathanngumi8467
    @nathanngumi8467 Жыл бұрын

    Great insights!

  • @Mike-mm4mx
    @Mike-mm4mx Жыл бұрын

    listening to this General carefully I think we can safely say he is the right person at the right time for the right job

  • @BreezeTalk
    @BreezeTalk Жыл бұрын

    28:54 so we are using espionage ?

  • @George4Greece
    @George4Greece Жыл бұрын

    Absolutely phenomenal episode

  • @jackcheng7437
    @jackcheng74379 ай бұрын

    🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

  • @steve-real
    @steve-real Жыл бұрын

    Great interview. I worry about the US army lately. I’ve been a longtime observer of the US military. I am a total peacenik. All war is a crime. That said, I want my team to have the ability to go toe to toe with any great power and I don’t see us lasting any longer than 6 months if all stupidity breaks out. We just don’t have the stuff we need to grind. It’s a national security crisis. That’s my call and I’m sticking to it.

  • @darrenbolam1798
    @darrenbolam179811 ай бұрын

    🇦🇺👍

  • @russcastella
    @russcastella Жыл бұрын

    Lots of respect for this man. Thank you for service, General.

  • @markb8468
    @markb8468 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent guest! You just gained a subscriber.

  • @thomasmccloskey3664
    @thomasmccloskey3664 Жыл бұрын

    Home run on this interview/………….

  • @stanleydeczynski6203
    @stanleydeczynski6203 Жыл бұрын

    It would seem nuclear weapons are forgotten but not gone ...

  • @johnalwang
    @johnalwang Жыл бұрын

    Hat off for Gen. Milley for his well done job in the office. It's always the politician who want to start a war, and let's stop them.

  • @Mrqwerty2109
    @Mrqwerty2109 Жыл бұрын

    The single smartest American take on the war.

  • @alirezamatin578
    @alirezamatin578 Жыл бұрын

    ❤❤❤thank you General Milley ❤ from Denmark

  • @Paxientas
    @Paxientas Жыл бұрын

    Wish the discussion was longer and in more detail. Gen Milley asserts that since we have larger cities and more people living in them, a future war will be decided in the streets, but I want to hear this idea explored further. Starting with, what would be the planning objectives of a US-China war for either side? Would it even be necessary to capture and hold most cities? I think maybe not since our cities are more vulnerable than ever to siege tactics due to their huge demand for non-local sources of food and energy. Far more likely that a conventional US-China war would focus first on rapid neutralization of the opponent's kinetic capabilities (C2, airbases, and naval yards, mostly) and second on seizing or denying strategic resources (dams, refineries, railways, commercial ports), with the overall goal of knocking the opposing superpower down a peg on the world stage.

  • @extraterrestrialfascisti7625
    @extraterrestrialfascisti7625 Жыл бұрын

    How to avoid a big power war is to get proxies to do it.

  • @MM-pm6he
    @MM-pm6he Жыл бұрын

    Respect from Poland.

  • @andrewlm5677
    @andrewlm5677 Жыл бұрын

    He seems like a very smart guy and his analysis of our current situation rings true.

  • @davidwoodard8878
    @davidwoodard8878 Жыл бұрын

    Wisdom personified

  • @claytonmunsey9740
    @claytonmunsey9740 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent, thank you very much.

  • @tomaszjantomasz9671
    @tomaszjantomasz9671 Жыл бұрын

    Very good discussion.

  • @stevenjohns-savage7024
    @stevenjohns-savage7024 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you. That's one intelligent solid Rock 😊

  • @blue_ish4499
    @blue_ish449911 ай бұрын

    By sending more weapons cuz muhhh democracy

  • @zacnewman7140
    @zacnewman7140 Жыл бұрын

    I had a moment there when he talked about Russia and China having the ability to hit precise targets from long ranges. Russia might technically have the capability to produce such weapons, but they sure haven't demonstrated that they've done so in anything resembling relevant quantities.

  • @arktseytlin
    @arktseytlin Жыл бұрын

    Speak softly and carry a big stick

  • @timknin
    @timknin Жыл бұрын

    I like the part where General Milley said.... Ukraine will Win!!!!!

  • @adenirperini9950
    @adenirperini9950 Жыл бұрын

    GOD BLESS 🙏🙏🙏

  • @jarrettbobbett5230
    @jarrettbobbett5230 Жыл бұрын

    General Milley is a titin of a man, Much Respect for him. I for one think Ukraine would love to have some allies join the fight against Russia. Also Ukraine is not a land locked country. I know what he meant though. Form a Army Generals view Ukraine has like No navy worth mentioning except new drones & it plays a Very small role in the conflict.

  • @anjosfeio4129
    @anjosfeio4129 Жыл бұрын

    My respect General Marc Milley!

  • @mgronich948
    @mgronich948 Жыл бұрын

    Gen Milley has clearly thought about this 100 times more than the politicians in our Congress and executive branch. But I heard Scott Ritter say the same for Gen Colin Powell, but Ritter said Powell as honest and honerable as he was still lied to congress about WMDs in Iraq. We have great men and women in our military, not just courage but also wisdom. But our politicians don't listen.

  • @andresgil1449
    @andresgil144913 күн бұрын

    Taiwan has paid for military weaponry from the USA that hasn’t even arrived so how do they bulk up their military weaponry?

  • @JoseLopez-gf8ct
    @JoseLopez-gf8ct Жыл бұрын

    He's good at being right no questions about moge

  • @user-jl1yq4cz6y
    @user-jl1yq4cz6y Жыл бұрын

    Why Seoul?

  • @matthewhead-ye3qz
    @matthewhead-ye3qz Жыл бұрын

    I like General Mark Milley

  • @MarkJones-sk6vk
    @MarkJones-sk6vk Жыл бұрын

    When small scale wars are conducted between robots, the next logical step seems to be wars fought only in simulations. This would happen when the cost of war is too high and simulations predict the outcome prior to the first shots.

  • @NamGungEun
    @NamGungEun Жыл бұрын

    General Mark Milley: How to Avoid a Great-Power War | The Foreign Affairs Interview

  • @josechavezboggio8963
    @josechavezboggio8963 Жыл бұрын

    Extremely intelligent...why this intelligence is used to divide human beings instead of uniting us?

  • @adenirperini9950
    @adenirperini9950 Жыл бұрын

    Devia durar mais tempo sim..

  • @Light-Eater
    @Light-Eater Жыл бұрын

    That's gold.

  • @MikeUIibarri
    @MikeUIibarri Жыл бұрын

    It's been great having him at that particular helm. Calling out the insurrectionists like a BOSS.

  • @davidqin7033
    @davidqin7033 Жыл бұрын

    Politics is not general Miley's concern and his task is to plan for battles, train his soldiers and prepare logistics to win a war. He talks too much about politics and diplomacy.

  • @xz2bzy804
    @xz2bzy80411 ай бұрын

    Sky net

  • @napoleon9970
    @napoleon9970 Жыл бұрын

    Mark needs to understand that the military alliance between Russia and China has happened. If he doesn’t think it happened now then he needs to accept that it will and prepare for it

  • @bardigan1
    @bardigan1 Жыл бұрын

    I'm grateful America has men such as Gen. Milley protecting us.

  • @bettymiller7974
    @bettymiller797410 ай бұрын

    What is going on you are attacking him he has no crystal ball to see how things will happen you can’t do his job by any means.

  • @stevenmisiura524
    @stevenmisiura524 Жыл бұрын

    Miley must be a great general. He has more ribbons across his chest than General Washington, General Grant and General Eisenhower combined.

  • @dmp1520
    @dmp1520 Жыл бұрын

    how about a conversation between MARK MILLEY AND DOUGLAS MCGREGOR!??? OR MILLEY AND MEARSCHMEIR! THAT would be a chat for the ages!! Thank You Foreign Affairs.

  • @righteousbyfaithinChrist
    @righteousbyfaithinChrist Жыл бұрын

    Not by sacrificing other people

  • @user-hc9bo3ny2k
    @user-hc9bo3ny2k Жыл бұрын

    Pay nothing but respect! Good job, General Milley!

  • @jenniferkruse7269
    @jenniferkruse726911 ай бұрын

    In the Cold War China was a great power (see Foreign Affairs circa late 1980's, the editions were chock full of stories about the Three Great Powers: US, USSR, China). This is a miscalculation and isn't accurate to Chinese history. I hope we aren't communicating this messaging to partners, and more importantly, to the Chinese. Thanks.

  • @erikvynckier4819
    @erikvynckier4819 Жыл бұрын

    Tip no. 1: stay out of Ukraine.

  • @davidqin7033
    @davidqin7033 Жыл бұрын

    Miłley is a military beaurocrat and don't think he will be a good war-time general. He is way too soft for being the US top soldier, but he will retire soon anyway.

  • @SCHRUBBE1966
    @SCHRUBBE196611 ай бұрын

    Just loose in Afghanistan 🇦🇫 placate China. He will retire to some gulf club and speak on T.V. Say how he lost by following orders. Pathetic 😢

  • @swastiksh
    @swastiksh Жыл бұрын

    Equation of virtusity coming all the way

  • @robbie_
    @robbie_11 ай бұрын

    I don't think it involves wokery and hiring people based upon immutable characteristics rather than competence. Talk about projecting weakness. Absolute fool isn't he.