“There is a pretty powerful strain in America today in which men feel some need to be violent and domineering to sort of prove their masculinity. And there’s sort of less intense but still prevalent strains that infect many other types of men.” — Jasper Craven

Today is Memorial Day — America’s annual celebration of its warriors and military ethic. But for Jasper Craven, author of God Forgives, Brothers Don’t: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood, it should be a day of muted self-reflection rather than bellicose celebration.

Craven’s argument is that from George Washington onwards, America has fused military manliness with a self-destructive masculine identity. Thus young men are trained at top military academies like West Point to be unthinkingly domineering and violent. But for Craven, America — a continent surrounded by oceans to the east and west and by friendly neighbours to the north and south — has no need for the unreflective militarism fetishised by its military academies and culture.

So what has West Point wrought? A nation of Pete Hegseths, Jasper Craven implies. Happy (ie: peaceful) Memorial Day everyone.

Five Takeaways

• Military Manliness and American Identity. From the Founding Fathers onwards, America has fused military identity with masculine identity. The archetype has been beefed up through the steroid era and into the Navy SEAL world. The result: men who feel the need to be violent and domineering to prove themselves. No relationship to actual national security needs.

• West Point and the Civil War. West Point was segregated into northern and southern companies before the Civil War — exacerbating tensions. Lee defected to the Confederacy. West Point officers killed each other in their thousands. Many lawmakers called for abolition. They were not heeded.

• Race and Integration: Partial Credit. Truman’s 1948 executive order was a genuine milestone. But integration at the institutional level didn’t eliminate the culture of violence and dehumanisation. Partial credit is still only partial.

• January 6 and the Politicised Officer Class. Mattis and Kelly held the line in Trump One. They were replaced by loyalists. The Pentagon went dark during the transition. January 6 was largely carried out by military veterans. 100+ senior retired officers supported Trump. In Trump Two: accelerating politicisation.

• ROTC, Not West Point. ROTC officers — trained alongside liberal arts education — are more well-rounded than West Point graduates. Introduce the humanities. Expose cadets to civilians. Break the silos. The military-civilian divide is as much the military’s creation as the civilian’s.

About the Guest

Jasper Craven is a military reporter whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s, The Baffler, and the New Republic. He is the author of God Forgives, Brothers Don’t (Atria/One Signal, May 19, 2026).

References

God Forgives, Brothers Don’t by Jasper Craven (Atria/One Signal, May 19, 2026)
Sebastian Junger, Tribe; Chris Hedges, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

About Keen On America

Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.

Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:

00:00:31 Brandon Webb vs Jasper Craven
00:01:44 Howard Zinn and the anti-war movement
00:02:58 Military manliness and American identity
00:05:39 America’s geography and the militarism problem
00:07:01 West Point and the Civil War
00:09:57 Robert E. Lee at West Point
00:11:50 Race and integration
00:38:30 Mattis, Kelly, and Trump One
00:40:31 January 6 and military veterans
00:41:56 ROTC vs West Point