This project aims to explore the impact of the culture on the development of effective military organizations and therefore its impact on security from 1861 to the present. The effectiveness of military organizations is dependent on a number of components, among them organization, doctrine, training, weapons technology, leadership, morale, discipline and cohesion, endurance, and the ability to adapt to volatile and uncertain combat environments. Underlying these factors is organizational culture, a vital wellspring of the effectiveness of armies, navies, and air forces throughout history. Yet organizational culture has been largely understudied as a component of military effectiveness. This project aims to fill that void. Organized by Peter Mansoor, Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/militaryorgs

Jennifer Lerner is professor of public policy and management at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and co-founder of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory. Her research examines human judgment and decision making. Together with colleagues, she has developed a theoretical framework that successfully predicts the effects of specific emotions on judgment and choice outcomes. At this event, Lerner will present a series of studies from her lab revealing that incidental anger systematically biases judgment and decision making by heightening perceptions of controllability and certainty, decreasing perceptions of risk, and increasing risk taking. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/lernerj

Sean Kay is Robson Professor of Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan University. He is also an associate at the Mershon Center. Kay has published widely on international security issues including  NATO and the Future of European Security (1998); Global Security in the Twenty First Century: The Quest for Power and the Search for Peace (3rd edition, 2015); America's Search for Security: The Triumph of Idealism and the Return of Realism (2015); and Rockin' the Free World! How the Rock and Roll Revolution Changed America and the World (2017). At this event, Kay will present his new book which uses interviews with more than 60 American and international rock and roll performers, songwriters, producers, managers, and non-profit activists to show how rock and roll has been a platform of power advancing progress. Live music included! Read more and register at  go.osu.edu/kays

Michael Fischerkeller is a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses, where he supports U.S. regional and functional and multinational force commanders, including deployments to U.S. Pacific Command, Iraq and Afghanistan. He earned a Ph.D. in international relations and research methods from Ohio State and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Mershon Center. This presentation will offer the bases of an argument that, within cyberspace, the protection or advancement of national interests cannot rest on deterrence as the central strategy but can be realized through a strategy that captures and takes advantage of unique characteristics of the domain - a strategy of persistence. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/fischerkellerm

James D. Fearon is Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and professor of political science at Stanford University. His research focuses on political violence - interstate, civil, and ethnic conflict in particular. In addition he has worked on aspects of democratic theory and the impact of democracy on foreign policy. Fearon was elected member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2012 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002. In this presentation, Fearon will argue that arms are useful not only for deterrence or taking territory, but also because they influence the resolution of a set of disputed issues. It is shown that states can cooperate on the issues by limiting military competition, but only as far as a "war constraint" allows. Read more and register at go.osu.edu/fearonj

The United States initially sent military forces into Afghanistan following the devastating attacks on September 11, 2001, in an attempt to dismantle al-Qaeda and dispel global terror. Sixteen years and three administrations later, U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan without any plans of withdrawal, making the war in Afghanistan the longest in U.S. history. Please join us as we discuss the ongoing conflict and examine the nation's plans for the future with Peter Mansoor, Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History, in an event moderated by Scott Levi, associate professor of history. For those of you unable to attend, this event will be streamed via Facebook Live on the Glenn College Facebook page. The room will be equipped so our audience can listen and participate remotely. Read more and register

In June 2017, Secretary of Defense Mattis in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee identified North Korea aggressively improving its nuclear and missile capabilities as one of the five top threats to peace and security and the international order. What do we know about North Korea's nuclear capabilities and intentions? Are we on the brink of war on the Korean peninsula? What are the key factors influencing the United States' relationship with Russia and China right now? Will the nuclear agreement with Iran hold? What are the implications for the region and for the global community? Lori Esposito Murray, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will help us put these critical topics into context. Read more and register