Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, November 24
NYT reports on China’s tactics to set the rules for the globalized economy.
CRS has new report on China’s RCEP.
WSJ says Trump plans new actions against China.
Since Biden has not yet made a SecDef appointment, FP notes previous clashes between Biden & Michele Flournoy.
Last spring I alerted everybody to the “strategic consulting” firm [they say they stop short of lobbying — or having to register] founded by Tony Blinken & Flournoy. Politico has a new story.
Atlantic runs a 2 year old piece by the new NSA Jake Sullivan.
Prof Mahnken urges new types of operational training.
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, November 23
WaPo had the news first, now everybody discusses Biden’s choices for SecState, NSA and UN Ambassador.
Trump exits Open Skies Treaty.
Netanyahu met not-so-secretly with MBS.
Brookings Fellow writes of the politics of Biden’s foreign policy.
Hollow Pentagon: 40% of top jobs lack confirmed officials.
Pollster acknowledges ultra low response rate.
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, November 20
Look how bad aircraft readiness rates have been, as reported by GAO.
A think tank reports on Japanese efforts to influence US policies
FP says Ethiopia risks becoming the new Yugoslavia..
Kori Schake warns against an attack on Iran.
Politico says Senate Republicans may approve Biden cabinet.
AP report on NDAA negotiations misses key context. It correctly notes that the bill contains a 3% military pay raise, but that in fact is the only reason an authorization bill is necessary. [Permanent law would give a smaller raise.] It fails to note that a presidential veto because of base names would be no real problem. Every other time the NDAA has been vetoed, a revised version has been quickly passed, deleting the criticized provisions.
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, November 19
– The acting SecDef signed an order elevating the Special Forces to a status equal to the Service secretaries. There’s confusion as to what this means in practice.
– A GMU institute has some ideas on the defense industrial base.
– Many voices have criticized the administration’s abrupt drawdown from Afghanistan. Andrew Bacevich offers a contrary view.
Politico offers some wise words on Sen. McConnell:
MCCONNELL HAS A MAXIM, though, and it’s quite easy to discern from watching the Capitol: If you can beat him, beat him. MCCONNELL is driven by power. If you have the votes to stop him from exerting his will, then do it, and if you can’t, then that’s too bad. He doesn’t care for letters urging him to do things, or press conferences calling him the devil. To call it bare-knuckle politics would be kind.
DEMOCRATS ARE EAGER TO REMIND that they don’t play MCCONNELL’S game. And that couldn’t be more evident.
MCCONNELL’S strength is that he has a united Senate GOP Conference at nearly all times. They follow him, and trust him. So, the road map for BIDEN here is quite clear. He has two general options: Can BIDEN create an environment in which he has a governing coalition willing to split with MCCONNELL? Or, more likely, can BIDEN — the self-styled master legislator — act quickly to move on areas in which the two sides have shared legislative priorities: Covid relief and perhaps a government funding deal, if that doesn’t get done this month.
ANOTHER THING THAT WILL DRIVE Republicans is a tough 2022 map. There are a bunch of potentially competitive states Republicans will have to wage races in, including FLORIDA, GEORGIA, IOWA, KANSAS, MISSOURI, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA and WISCONSIN.
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, November 18
The Acting Defense Secretary announced cutbacks in US troops overseas. The press noticed that the CJCS was not present at the briefing.
Stars & Stripes says US will leave Somalia but stay in Djibouti
Micah Zenko notes that, even with the cuts in Afghanistan, there will be 22K civilian contractors..
NYT says foreign countries are signing up US lobbyists with Biden ties.
The Post’s Dave Weigel summarizes the gerrymander consequences of the elections. GOP ahead; Dems fell short.
Another think tank group releases its plan for State Dept reform.
Interesting suggestion for a special China directorate on NSC.
And strangely, the State Dept policy planning staff has released a heavily footnoted paper on the China challenge.
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, November 17
NYT says Trump sought military options against Iran in a meeting last Thursday. His advisors counseled against the idea, but we’ll see. [Last summer I argued , citing US history, that Trump would not “wag the dog” by launching a major military operation before the election. Now, who knows? Even conservatives are warning about the inexperience of new appointees.]
Everybody says Trump will speed up US troop reductions from Afghanistan, Iraq & Somalia, so the administration must be giving briefings. NYT has the most comprehensive story.
WaPo also has details.
There are also dueling China stories. WaPo says Biden will likely follow many of Trump’s policies. Axios has administration officials bragging at how much they’ve done, calling it irreversible.
A former official warns of cuts in defense attache postings.
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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