Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, August 20
The centenary of the 19th amendment is a good moment to reflect on the struggle for women’s suffrage. GZero has a great graphic. I liked to brag that my home state of Colorado gave women the right to vote in 1893, long before the 19th amendment and second only to Wyoming. But a few years ago I did some research and learned that the main reason the law was changed was to dilute the voting power of single miners. Right thing for the wrong reason.
The Air Force is even going to redesign its aircraft to allow more female pilots.
NYT doubts that a President Biden would be able to build bipartisan coalitions in Congress. I certainly favor bipartisanship in foreign policy and the “regular order” [like the NDAA] for major legislation. But maybe the hyperpartisanship is too strong. We can talk about this in class.
NYT says an intelligence community assessment in June disagreed with an earlier DHS intelligence report and concluded that low level officials in Wuhan withheld key coronavirus information from Beijing.
Politico says SecState Pompeo illegally sought military housing, though the army eventually provided lodging at Fort Myer.
NYT has more on F35 sale to UAE, including Netanyahu’s non-denial denial of the sales’ connection to the recognition deal.
I agree with Alice Hunt Friend’s article questioning the need for the SecDef to have military experience.
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 18
– Bipartisan report from Senate Intelligence Committee details [966 pages!] Russian interference in 2016 elections. Here’s the document.
– Daily Beast says Trump secretly promised to sell F35s to UAE as part of agreement with Israel. Congress voted to block such sales in May, but Trump vetoed.
-WOTR details lots of foreign fighters in Sub-Saharan Africa.
– DHS official after 2 years under Trump details politicization of DHS.
-Is this an election year? Trump rejects proposed cuts in DOD health care.
– Future of JCPOA: Politico has explainer. FP says Europeans can keep agreement alive unti November.
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 17
– Speaker Pelosi is calling the House back from recess to vote to “save the Postal Service.” This is mostly for show, of course, because the House has already passed, in May, the HEROES Act, with $25 Billion more for USPS. The Senate has never taken up the House bill.
– SecDef Esper ordered DOD planners to cut $2.2 billion in defense health care costs.
– Joint Doctrine planners envision a future battlefield with no lines on the map.
– Planned trade review talks with China were cancelled.
– Putin is ready to help Belarus.
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
– Former Ambassador to Russia McFaul says President Xi is not a Stalin.
– Nominee as Ambassador to Germany is anti-Jewish and worse.
– Iran policy on hold with Hook’s departure.
– Take note: what Flournoy would do as SecDef.
– You probably have to access this piece through the SAIS library or similar site, but I urge you to read David Gompert’s article in the new Survival [from IISS] “Spin-on: How the US Can Meet China’s Technological Challenge.” I have long valued Gompert’s analyses of defense issues and agree the US needs to boost government R&D in key areas to match China. He has the numbers and the suggestions.
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 10
– Senators Cruz and Rubio among those newly sanctioned by China.
– SecDef Esper says US troop numbers in Afghanistan will be below 5,000 by November.
– Lawfare writer says use of IEEPA for TikTok stretches law to breaking point.
– Dan Drezner sees world collapsing around Mike Pompeo.
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 7
So I’m back from a few days by a river, relaxing and canoeing. What did I miss?
– The Saudis may be developing nuclear capability.
– CIA isn’t helping GOP investigation of the Bidens. But the real issue it seems to me is to preserve exclusive responsiveness to the intelligence committees.
– Congress may block Trump drone sale policy.
– Provocative US official’s visit to Taiwan.
– We are trying to get Syrian oil.
– Esper may move US troops from Germany to Romania, Baltics, Poland.
– New book by CNN reporter says Pentagon withheld military options from Trump.
– Fred Kaplan has a good piece on Hiroshima,
AEI’s Norm Ornstein laments changes in the GOP over the decades.
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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