Tag: Civilian/military relations
Stevenson’s army, January 5
Georgia Senate races will determine control of the Senate, though we might not know for a while if the vote is as close as seems likely. Surprising to me: Democrats plan a big ground game, despite the pandemic, Daily Beast reports.
Slate details the QAnon and other conspiracy believers behind Trump’s fraud charges.
FP hears new HFAC chairman’s plans.
Fred Kaplan quotes me in discussing SecDef letter.
Lawfare writers suggest new limits if Austin is granted SecDef waiver.
Clip & save: Truth be told, I often include a long article in these messages before I have fully read them. Now that I have read the Golby & Feaver article on civil-military relations under Obama, Trump and Biden, I strongly recommend a close reading and saving for future referral. So I’m linking it again today.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, January 4
Prof. Edelman and Dean Cohen organized the statement signed by all living former Secretaries of Defense calling for acceptance of the election results and keeping the military out of elections. Here’s the statement.
Pres. Trump pressured Georgia officials to “find” enough votes to give him the election. Here’s the transcript and audio.
DOD reversed course and now says the Nimitz will stay in the Middle East.
China’s new law transfers war powers from the cabinet to the military commission.
Jim Golby & Peter Feaver suggest Biden tackle civil-military relations.
In parliamentary systems cabinets expand to reward partners with special portfolios. I think Speaker Pelosi secured her 4-vote victory by creating some special committees, including Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth and the renewed Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. See at the end of the new House rules.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, September 21
- I agree with this Lawfare piece arguing that civilian control of special operations has weakened and should be strengthened.
- SAIS Prof Vali Nasr describes Iran’s response to Trump sanctions.
- Jamelle Bouie says Facebook is undermining democracy worldwide.
- Former HASC chairman Thornberry describes NDAA negotiations.
- WOTR piece says we have too many myths about Chinese nuclear weapons.
- NYT says Cuba has a food crisis. [Remember, Cuba is an issue in this week’s exercise.]
- New book argues that most presidents criticize, manipulate, and restrict the press. Looks like a good book.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, August 13
– Axios has a great piece listing voting rules and deadlines for all states.
– Defense News reports how key members of Congress have blocked arms sales to Turkey through their informal powers.
– Both Kori Schake and Fred Kaplan criticize the Nagl-Yingling letter urging CJCS Milley to prevent Trump from challenging an electoral defeat. I agree with the criticism.
– To try to get UNSC approval of Iran sanctions, US has cut its draft resolution from 35 paragraphs to four.
– SAIS honor grad Akshai Vikram is key author of report on US-Russia nuclear arms race.
– HuffPost says Trump has basically stopped taking intelligence reports.
– Politico has unredacted copy of State IG report on Pompeo and arms sales. Note: it’s “Sensitive But Unclassified”.
– WSJ says Xi is shifting Chinese economy inward.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, July 28
– House Democrats target SecState Pompeo for leadership failures at State.
– Richard Haass of CFR blasts his China speech.
-Trump wants top send “renegade colonel” to Germany.
-Meanwhile, ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
– I have a piece in National Interest on the militarization of American foreign policy, including the effect of the NDAA.
-Adam Tooze reviews several books on China and the new world order
-Lawfare has a good piece explaining the congressional notification process for arms sales.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, July 15
In presidential election years, think tanks produce numerous reports suggesting an “Agenda for the Next Administration .” I send links to many of them, some because they’re representative of a school of thought, others because they seem interesting and worthwhile. AEI’s Derek Scissors, for example, has clear suggestions on how a partial economic decoupling from China might work.
This week, I’ve noticed a lot of big reports that strike me as job hunting in a possible Biden administration. Remember, there are a lot of smart people who expected to work in a Hillary Clinton administration who are now jockeying for jobs with Biden. Michelle Flournoy at CNAS has a comprehensive defense strategy, and she’d like to be SecDef. Bill Burns is obviously marketing himself for Secretary of State. There are already inner and outer circles of foreign policy advisers to Biden, so watch for the stream of published articles to burnish their resumes. Pete Buttigeig now has a piece in FP.
In other news, I was troubled to see this academic article on civil-military relations citing polls which show that opinion on basic questions now lines up with partisanship. With Trump as president, Democrats believe presidents should do whatever the military recommends; when Obama was president, the parties switched on military advice.
There’s a bidding war for Space Force HQ — 26 states! Decision due in Jan 2021 — before or after the 20th??
Dan Drezner reviews Trump’s economic statecraft.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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