Faith and Fear: America at War

As the vicious, destructive wars in Ukraine and the Middle East rage on—and US policymakers debate continuing military support in both regions—it is worth considering America’s own relationship with war in the twenty-first century. What has driven our connections to war, not just from a policy perspective, but from a cultural one as well? Why do we assume war will deliver on its promise to solve nearly all our problems overseas? And why is it that the United States spends an inordinate amount of its resources on preparing for war, yet its citizens continue to fear what they deem a dangerous world? In a wide-ranging discussion, Texas A&M University professor and US Army retired colonel Gregory A. Daddis considers both our faith in war and our fear of war and how these tensions shape our very identity as Americans in the modern world.

Gregory A. Daddis is a professor of history at Texas A&M University and holds the Melbern G. Glasscock Endowed Chair in American History. A retired US Army colonel, he deployed to both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Daddis specializes in the history of the Vietnam Wars and the Cold War era and has authored six books. His latest is Faith and Fear: America’s Relationship with War Since 1945, published by Oxford University Press (2025). He has also published numerous journal articles and several op-ed pieces commenting on current military affairs, to include writings in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and National Interest magazine. He is the recipient of the 2022-2023 Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award, Pembroke College, University of Oxford.

Sponsored by the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences and the Veteran and Military Student Center.