An Interview With U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel

Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo/DoD

The Atlantic's Interview With Defense Secretary Hagel -- Steve Clemons, Defense One/The Atlantic

Recently, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent a 904-page book to Egyptian Army commander in chief Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, with whom he has had over 20 conversations since taking over at the Pentagon. The book, Washington: A Life, won the Pulitzer Prize for its author, Ron Chernow. Rather than suggesting he read it all, Hagel emphasized to General Al-Sisi the chapter on Washington giving up his power at the end of his presidential term and thus securing for the young nation one of the key pillars of leadership transition in a democracy run by civilian authority.

Hagel connected with the Egyptian general, who would later lead the anti-Morsi coup, when he toured the Gulf region bolting down a major U.S. arms sale in April of this year. Hagel and his Pentagon team had tied together Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirites, and Israel in a $10 billion deal bolstering these countries' defenses against potential Iranian aggression. Though each of the deals were particular to the specific countries, they knew that the cumulative impact would send a signal of resolve to Iran’s Supreme Leader. Given that the powerful lobby, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, was formed in part as a response to American’s 1981 effort to sell military aircraft to Saudi Arabia, the implicit cooperation between the Israelis and Saudis on the Hagel deal was unusual.

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