Strategic empathy is one of many capabilities the US Army War College seeks to enhance in its students, who are rising senior leaders in their respective armed forces and agencies. Government actors become more effective when they apply strategic empathy and thereby more fully understand the nuanced perspectives of their allies, partners, competitors, and adversaries.

Colonel Dena Goble will share her insights regarding the importance of strategic empathy as a US Army Reserve military police and civil affairs officer recently responsible for leading 800 soldiers during US resettlement operations for Afghan refugees. Brigadier General Bhat from the Indian Army will give the audience an opportunity to improve their own strategic empathy for India as he candidly explains the historical challenges, current dilemmas, and emerging opportunities for India as it navigates the great power competition between the United States and China.

Panelists

Brigadier General Atul Bhat is a senior officer in the Indian Army with 30 years of service. His various assignments, including command of an infantry company during counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir, command of an armored regiment and an armored brigade, and as deputy commander of an armored brigade at extreme high altitude in the Himalayas.

Colonel Dena Goble has over 35 years of Army Reserve service with expertise in military policing, detainee operations in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, and civil affairs operations enhancing the integration of women into the Jordanian military, supporting intergovernmental coordination for the Syrian refugee crisis, and resettling Afghan evacuees in the United States.

Presented by the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies