A blog covering ethical leadership issues relevant to
military operations, national security, and domestic politics.

The Center will consider submissions of 750-2000 words.
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The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of
the Naval Academy, Department of the Navy, or Department of Defense.

Stockdale Blog Editorial Board:
Dr. Michael Robillard
Dr. Joe Thomas
Dr. Ed Barrett
RADM William Byrne  USN (ret) 

Embracing the Future: Overcoming Path Dependence and Risk Aversion in AI Adoption

Over the past several years, the United States Naval Academy has served as a micro-laboratory for the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Initially, the conversation was confined to Generative AI, machines mimicking human... Read more

Forged in Tradition: The Chief’s Season and the Making of Enlisted Leaders

The Season of Becoming Every year, the Chief’s Season reminds me why the Navy’s backbone isn’t built in classrooms or through instruction manuals — it’s forged through challenge,... Read more

Leveraging Coaching to Support Midshipmen: A Research Review

Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy undergo a critical period of growth and change marked by academic challenges, significant personal development, intense physical training, and the promotion of ethical leadership. Over their four... Read more

Like Spartans

Shall we be Athens or Sparta? As long as there have been service academies, this comparison has been trotted out in debates over their proper form and function. For just as long, it has been a false dichotomy. Citing a 1979 work by John... Read more

The USNA Coaching Community

The practice of coaching has long been valued at the U.S. Naval Academy. Coaching can be found in places like the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) since at least 2013. Starting in... Read more

Does Terminator Have Rights?

Within contemporary discourse on the ethics of AWS (autonomous weapons systems), one of the most popular in-principle moral arguments against the use of such technologies is the so-called ‘responsibility gap’... Read more

Great Power, Responsibility, and Killing in War

"[T]he current surge … in robotic warfare is being driven by the promise of efficiency and control and the hunger for what militaries have tasted in Nagrorno-Karabakh and in Ukraine: the power of universal... Read more

The Yugoslav Wars and the Dangers of an Emotion Fueled Media Environment

Introduction In 1992, Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia, following in the footsteps of Croatia and Slovenia, who had done the same the previous year. Bosnian Muslim control over the new government immediately upset the large... Read more

This Kind of Academy

“The problem is to see not what is desirable, or nice, or politically feasible, but what is necessary.” T.R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War Fehrenbach, as usual, has it right.  Those examining the purpose of... Read more

Reflections on Stockdale a Quarter-Century Later

As a newly hired ethics instructor at the Stockdale Center, I think it somewhat appropriate at this moment in time to share some of my thoughts and reflections on the man whom this center is named after, his legacy, and my specific... Read more

Neither Athens nor Sparta—Reconsidering the Mission of the Naval Academy

Since the COVID pandemic, the word unprecedented has been used constantly—almost always, I believe, incorrectly. There’s a precedent for just about everything if you examine history carefully enough. Alongside this... Read more

The Liberal Arts and the Formation of the American Military Officer

  In the education of a military officer, it is not sufficient to cultivate technical competence alone. One must also nurture judgment, moral discernment, and a steadfast devotion to the constitutional order the officer is... Read more

Remembering the Primary Mission of Our Academies

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Moral Education & Development

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Law and War

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Technology, AI, and the Ethics of Modern Warfare

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

War, Strategy, Political Theory, and International Relations

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Military & Professional Ethics

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Normative Ethical Theories & Moral Tradition

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Moral Psychology & Human Moral Experience

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Leadership, Character, & The Warrior Ethos

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Just War Theory & Military Ethics

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more

Philosophy and History

The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While... Read more