Four Guardians: A Principled Agent View of American Civil-Military Relations

Right up there with Samuel Huntington and Carl Builder, Col Donnithorne has accomplished something that is rare amongst his fellow Air Force officers - the ability to describe the individual US Armed Services' respective heritage and culture using the same language, metaphors, and historical examples that those services use themselves. I found his narrative descriptions of the historical development of individual service cultures to be even more compelling than his original contribution of bringing principled agent theory to bear on predicting their modern preferences, but both really serve the same purpose - to help us better understand the value that diverse service perspectives and capabilities bring to the whole of the joint force. Presented at the perfect time, as the US services seek to redefine their respective roles in "multi-domain operations" and "dynamic force employment", with Congress once again asking them to explain and justify their roles and missions - highly recommend this book.

This book has been an incredibly helpful text in teaching the core 'Strategy, Policy, and Military Operations' curriculum at Georgetown University. For those who have little to no exposure to the military or individual services, Jeff Donnithorne does an excellent job of explaining the origin of the services, their ethos, and culture in a way that has allowed students to quickly grasp what is a very complex history and background. The style of writing makes it an enjoyable read, and as someone who has taught around this subject for the past seven years, I found this book extremely helpful and insightful to how I think about the services and their cultures.

Four Guardians presents a new view of the psychology of America's military services and how they interact with each other and their civilian masters. While this book is incredibly useful to students and practitioners of civil-military relations, it's also a great read for anyone wanting to understand how our nation's guardians perceive their sacred duty. In particular, chapters 2 through 5 should be required reading for all Americans. Donnithorne both contributes meaningfully to the academic literature and gives average readers a rare and piercing view into the distinct military minds of the four services. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Since I first read The Masks of War almost a decade ago I have hungered for an update of that seminal work on service cultures. This svelt volume not only satisfied my craving, but also provided much more than an update by expanding insights into institutional decisionmaking along new axes. It also opens new dimensions of the debate about the role of the military in democratic governance. I made room on my bookshelf between The Soldier and the State and The Masks of War for this gem, which is perfectly placed between those masterworks,