More than a week ago, the Pentagon used this specific example of McCarthyist harrumphing to justify its decision to withdraw from the Aspen Security Forum, a yearly gathering that has long been attended by academics, policy analysts, business executives, military officers, foreign officials, and top government officials from both parties, including numerous former secretaries of defense. Sean Parnell, the spokesperson for the Defense Department, used the Hegseth Pentagon’s current sacred words as a precaution: He claimed that the department’s initiatives to “increase the lethality of our war fighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project peace through strength on the world stage” were not in line with the Aspen forum.
The meeting in Aspen is not precisely a covert Communist nest. Among the many speakers this year were former CIA Director Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who was appointed by Trump, and a representative from the office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and current Navy Secretary John Phelan were also scheduled to attend.
Furthermore, Hegseth is not satisfied with merely keeping America’s intellectual adversaries at bay in the Rockies: Last week, the Pentagon suspended the Defense Department’s involvement in all of these events, effectively prohibiting any communication with think tanks or other civilian organizations that host conferences, organize panels, and invite speakers. According to the New York Times, Hegseth personally gave the order to withdraw from Aspen.
Furthermore, the broader prohibition seems to apply “to gatherings hosted by nonprofit military associations, such as Sea Air Space, which is led by the Navy League, the military service’s largest veteran organization, and Modern Day Marine, a similar trade show for the Marine Corps,” as Politico first reported. Additionally, the Pentagon “specifically banned attendance at the Halifax International Security Forum, which takes place in Nova Scotia each winter and where the Pentagon chief is typically a top guest.”
Canada, take that.
Nobody appears to know exactly how this new policy operates at this time. Perhaps some defense officials will eventually attend conferences after their requests have been reviewed, as Hegseth seems to have suspended all such participation pending further review by the Pentagon’s general counsel and public-affairs office. I wish the first Pentagon employee to emerge from their cubicle and ask for a pass to attend such meetings luck in that endeavor. This ban will most likely be lifted soon, but why was it put in place in the first place by Hegseth’s Pentagon?
I will make an educated guess based on my experience as a former Defense Department employee who attended (and spoke at) numerous conferences at different think tanks and other organizations throughout my career: The primary causes are fear, insecurity, and resentment.
Resentment, the most common explanation, existed before Hegseth. Government service isn’t exactly a luxury, and many trips are special benefits that lead to internal complaints about who gets to go, where they get to stay, and other things. (These trips aren’t particularly opulent either, but I discovered during my time in the federal service that some federal employees get upset when other employees receive complimentary plane tickets to visit desirable locations.) Hegseth, who appears hesitant to attend such events himself, might have been persuaded that these meetings are nothing more than boondoggles and that nobody should go by someone who has never been invited to one of these events.
However, bureaucratic pettiness is insufficient justification. The fact that Aspen, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, and the Halifax conference are full of exceptionally intelligent people presents a risk for individuals like Hegseth and his lieutenants. Even seasoned and knowledgeable participants must be alert and prepared when speaking on stage and in group settings. Unqualified individuals in senior government positions run a very high risk of being outclassed, humiliated, or simply in over their heads.
Hegseth himself chose to show videos of himself exercising with the troops rather than attend the Munich Security Conference, which is typically a good venue for a new secretary of defense. Although we can all respect Hegseth’s midlife commitment to maintaining his physical fitness and setting an example of a rigorous exercise routine for the troops (who are required to exercise due to their military duties), America and its allies would likely gain more from having a secretary with a little extra cash who could actually stand at a podium in Munich or London and explain the administration’s military plans and strategic vision.
Hegseth and his deputies, many of whom lack significant defense-related experience, have an excuse to avoid embarrassment by avoiding conferences altogether.
Fear, however, is arguably the most evident and Trumpian explanation for the Pentagon’s brainpower lockdown. Hegseth would have been fired months ago if incompetence had been a reason for termination, but officials in this administration are aware that the biggest threat to their careers has nothing to do with job performance. The possibility of saying something in public that causes the speaker to side with Trump and shift his vile gaze across the river to the Pentagon poses a far greater risk.
Last week, a Republican political strategist and former Aspen attendee told The Hill, “I think it’s pretty clear that the Trump administration doesn’t like dissent.” “And they dislike opposing viewpoints at conferences.”
The issue for Trump officials is that “dissent” can mean almost anything because the president’s mood, his complaints, and his interactions with other people—including foreign leaders—determine the strategic direction of the United States. A single post on Truth Social has the power to alter everything. It is dangerous to speak up in public and say anything meaningful because the White House is an authoritarian bubble, and like the Kremlin in the former Soviet Union, the person in charge has the power to declare what is policy today to be heresy tomorrow.
See: When Pete Hegseth’s time at the Pentagon began to take a turn for the worse
Like so much else in this administration, the decision to forbid attendance at meetings where defense officials can share ideas with other intelligent people is ultimately motivated by self-defense and pettiness, a strategy to keep the Pentagon quiet and prevent anyone from speaking up or making a mistake.
However, this directive will harm ties between the military, defense officials, academics, business leaders, and regular Americans if it remains in effect for even a few years.
The American civil-military relationship includes public conferences. Other gatherings at different nongovernmental organizations help citizens understand what exactly their government is doing. Occasionally, these are events like Aspen, where senior officials present policies or engage their critics under national scrutiny. Members of the defense community gather ideas, debate, discuss, and occasionally make connections for future research and exchanges at academically oriented meetings.
According to retired Army Colonel Jeffrey McCausland, who was the dean of the Army War College and a member of the National Security Council staff, the Pentagon’s lack of foresight may hinder crucial civil-military discussions regarding national defense. He questions the extent of such restrictions. Is it possible that the new directive will prevent the “guy who teaches history at West Point or a war college,” for instance, from attending a history conference and becoming a better history professor?
Perhaps someone is upset that they were unable to travel to Canada or Colorado; perhaps someone else is concerned that accepting an invitation might mean giving up their career. Under both party administrations, the Pentagon has somehow been able to participate in these events in a positive way for decades.
However, following a series of humiliations—McCausland cites Signalgate’s residual “radioactivity”—Hegseth has seemingly decided to put safety first. Sadly, the secretary still needs to make public appearances, and there’s a good chance that he and his staff will make more mistakes. However, he will at least be able to reassure the American public that morally upright Pentagon employees will not be courted by politically dubious individuals.
