𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A former US Marine officer is fighting a new battle to heal the divisions at the heart of the United States so emerging leaders can resist tyranny and confront this century’s greatest challenges with courage and unity. Rye Barcott served across North Africa, Bosnia and Iraq but now he is battling the partisan animosity in Washington DC which has brought gridlock to the superpower. He has founded With Honor, an organisation which helps veterans who pledge to work with “civility, integrity, and courage” get elected as both Republicans and Democrats.

American voters have staged a peaceful revolution, handing both houses of the US Congress to the Democrats. A priority for the former officer is ensuring his nation stands strong with Ukraine in resisting Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

“I absolutely do not think that Russia can win in Ukraine,” he says. “I think even if they occupy that country they will not win in the long haul. I do think that Ukrainians can win.”

He “loves the fact” that in this country both the flags of the United Kingdom and of Ukraine fly from Government buildings in a sign of solidarity.

“We need to do more in Ukraine to support those brave heroes who are on the front lines and resist the autocracy that Putin is bringing to that country,” he insists.

With Honor takes both Republicans and Democrats to Ukraine, where they glimpse the carnage that new military technology can unleash. Just weeks ago, he was in the embattled country and saw a petrol station that had been attacked by a Russian weapon system that “did not have a human in the loop” and operated solely using Artificial Intelligence.

“Warfare is dynamic, and the advantages that one side has over another can shift pretty rapidly, and we are in a time of stunning technological change,” he says.

The US is in throes of change with the Middle East once again in turmoil. The electoral earthquake triggered by American voters in the mid-terms may in large part be down to the surge in the cost of living in the wake of the conflict in Iran.

Barcott describes his own bewilderment at the petrol pump: “I drive an electric vehicle, so I don’t pump gas that much, but I went to visit my mother [and] my gas bill for filling up her Dodge Caravan went over a hundred bucks. And I thought, like, how is this possible?”

This son of a Vietnam veteran came to prominence with his memoir, It Happened on the Way to War. It describes how, shortly before commencing service with the Marines, he spent a summer In Nairobi’s Kibera slum. He helped found CFK Africa, which nurtures young leaders and works to improve public health. He has now authored the bestseller Courage Can Save US, which profiles five Republicans and five Democrats who have fought to overcome a “culture of contempt”. A donor has provided funding for hundreds of thousands of copies of the book to be distributed in schools.

Some of the toughest acts of courage, he says, are ones “that really risk ones reputation”. American democracy has become notorious in recent decades for the intense hostility between Republicans and Democrats, and working across party lines can require bravery. Barcott describes how US politicians are today incentivised to “pick a culture war and and throw a bomb and then raise money off of it, as opposed to doing the hard work of developing real relationships and then trying to get something done”. The easy option is for politicians to make “outlandish statements” and “demonise the opposition”. They face the temptation of tapping into fears for political benefit but Rye describes such tactics as the “opposite of courage”.

The share of US Congressmen who have served in the military has fallen since the days when the legislatures were dominated by the World War II generation and those who had fought in Korea. That shared experience in the armed forces, he argues, “set a tone for leadership” which transcended party lines. He admires how they could have policy differences but were still able to “talk to one another, to trust one another, and to work on really tough [issues] and find some common ground”.

“We see a lot less of that these days in in our politics in the United States, but I think most Americans want to see more of it,” he claims.

The political polarisation in Washington DC has consequences far beyond the US. As he puts it: “If we can’t govern ourselves, we can’t make decisions that impact the world.”

The first US president, George Washington, warned against the creation of political factions in his farewell address. Barcott believes there is a “lot of truth” in the idea that internal divisions pose the greatest threat to the country. This is why With Honor strives to build a coalition that crosses party lines, bringing together people who will “make decisions that might risk their career because it’s the right thing to do”.

They pledge to work with colleagues from the other side of the political divide. As new senators and Congressmen arrive in Washington DC, will this be a moment where America steps back from the brink?

“I think it could be,” he says – though he acknowledges the Trump administration and the Democratic leadership face major decisions about how they respond to the political transformation.

We speak shortly before he is due to meet future UK Army officers at Sandhurst. He praises the “political courage” of Labour MP Al Carns to quit as armed forces minister in protest at the under-funding of the military. Courageous leadership, he says, can be “hard” and “may cost you your time in office. But he argues “that’s okay”. He wants to see politicians who are prepared to “stand for something” – even if it means they might lose an election.

He points to the example of Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick who lost his seat after calling for an investigation into why the Starshield satellite system used by Ukrainian troops was recently disrupted. Barcott notes this was “not a particularly popular position to take within his party” but adds that although he is not coming back to Washington “he can sleep well with his conscience and his soul”.

The Trump administration, he argues, has “not treated our allies well” and he is particularly disturbed by its actions towards Canada, which has been whacked with tariffs. He insists it is “not okay to denigrate our friends”.

His decision to write a book profiling courageous leaders triggers memories of Profiles in Courage, the 1956 work by future president John F Kennedy. Does Barcott harbour political ambitions of his own?

He is not a registered member of any party and, because of the cross-partisan work of With Honor, he insists it is “really important to not be”. It is easy to imagine this charismatic author, activist and leader on the campaign trail but for now he is energised promoting a vision of government which is about “serving others, not yourself”.

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