Military Review English Edition May-June 2014 | Page 53

Is There Room for Peace

Studies in a Future-Centered
Warfighting Curriculum?
Maj. Thomas G. Matyók, Ph.D., U.S. Army, Retired, and Cathryne L. Schmitz, Ph.D., MSW

A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.

—Thucydides

C

HANGING POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC REALITIES in the United States, as
well as the rest of the world, suggest that the Army will need to review how it accomplishes
future military-centric missions. In a 2012 article in Foreign Affairs, Chief of Staff of the Army
Gen. Raymond Odierno argues that today’s Army needs to transition in critical areas that affect
the size of the force, material, and training.1 Gen. Odierno also posits that the Army must assume
a broader definition of battlefield. Future missions may involve, for instance, assisting victims of
natural disasters, restoring order in collapsing or failed states, or confronting nonstate forces. For
successful on-the-ground peace development, an expanded skill set is needed. This paper contributes to an emerging narrative about the proper role of conflict transformation and conflict management education within a military context.
Maj. Thomas G. Matyók, Retired, is an associate professor and graduate studies director of the Program in Conflict and
Peace Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is currently a visiting research professor at the
U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. He holds a B.A. from Montclair State College and master’s
degrees from Chapman University and the University of Saint Mary. His Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution is from
Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. Cathryne L. Schmitz is a professor and the director of the Program in Conflict and Peace Studies and a professor in
the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has an MSW from the University
of Washington and a Ph.D. in social work from Ohio State University.
MILITARY REVIEW May-June 2014

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