Tag: Japan

Stevenson’s army, November 4

For only the 4th time since the Civil War, we won’t know the winner of a presidential contest within a day or two. In 1876, a congressionally established commission  decided between competing electoral slates from 3 states in February. In 1916, Charles Evans Hughes waited until November 22 to concede to Woodrow Wilson. In 2000, the Supreme Court stopped the vote count in Florida in mid- December.And now we await final returns and possible recounts — and maybe additional legal challenges — in five states. The Senate majority is also uncertain — and may not be resolved until Georgia runoff election[s] on January 5.
WaPo says Cybercom ran an operation against Iran before the election .
A US general says US troops might be sent to Senkaku Islands.
WOTR has a provocative piece saying US military is wrong to plan against a fait accompli in the Baltics or Taiwan.

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 1

Please join me in celebrating the anniversary of my home state’s admission to the Union in 1876, just in time to provide 3 electoral votes to the GOP presidential candidate, Rutherford Hayes, who won 185-184.
– NYT has more on the problems in the Postal Service that could mess up the elections.
-GOP speechwriter David Frum tells more about the post-election war game.
-FP reveals Biden has 49 working groups on foreign policy, involving 2000+ people.
-Politico says DOD will play a lead role in vaccine distribution.

Africom says it’s moving its HQ. Just don’t know where.

– WSJ says Japan is moving toward a “preemptive” [i.e. first] strike option.
CNAS has a good study on informal tools Congress has to influence defense policy.Conf
– FP says new NDAA has provision to reduce money laundering.

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 29

SFRC Democrats blast Pompeo for hurting State. Their report.
– Former DHS head Chertoff says agency has been “hijacked” for political purposes. New Yorker has close look at DHS budget.
-US cooperates with Japan on East China Sea
-Jim Steinberg co-authors critique of China policy.
-James Palmer offers Asian war metaphors to supplant Thucydides.
CNAS has new proposals for 5G.
– Army War College prof defends strategy of “not losing.”
– Retiring Army officer says retired 4 stars shouldn’t make political endorsements.
– Dean Cohen urges us to memorize poems.

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 10

– WSJ says the HHS official in charge of preparedness planning for pandemics expected a war or bioterror, not a pandemic, and thus misplanned.
– NDAA conference will face competing plans for Navy — ships or subs.
– Japan has a robust office planning for economic statecraft. [I wish we had one.] BTW, the full article, from IISS’s Strategic Comments publication, can be viewed via SAIS library.
– In Pakistan, the Army is even stronger over the civilian government now.
– In a first, House Democrats have released their Caucus rules. GOP did so years ago. Both available here.
– NYT has good summary of Esper-Milley hearing.
– A law prof has found proof of legislative logrolling that undermines claims of Originalist lawyers that Congress endorsed a Unitary Executive in 1789.

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, April 12

The Covid-19 pandemic is exposing weaknesses in the US Government similar to those seen in recent years in national security matters. We should be able to learn from this crisis. Stories this weekend provide valuable data.
The NYT has a lengthy and detailed account of missed opportunities and avoidable delays in the US response. The editors supplement that story with takeouts on key email messages between officials and a kind of summary story with “key takeaways.”
Some excerpts: The National Security Council office responsible for tracking pandemics received intelligence reports in early January predicting the spread of the virus to the United States, and within weeks was raising options like keeping Americans home from work and shutting down cities the size of Chicago. Mr. Trump would avoid such steps until March.
By the last week of February, it was clear to the administration’s public health team that schools and businesses in hot spots would have to close. But in the turbulence of the Trump White House, it took three more weeks to persuade the president that failure to act quickly to control the spread of the virus would have dire consequences.
The earliest warnings about coronavirus got caught in the crosscurrents of the administration’s internal disputes over China. It was the China hawks who pushed earliest for a travel ban. But their animosity toward China also undercut hopes for a more cooperative approach by the world’s two leading powers to a global crisis.

The chaotic culture of the Trump White House contributed to the crisis. A lack of planning and a failure to execute, combined with the president’s focus on the news cycle and his preference for following his gut rather than the data cost time, and perhaps lives.

From the time the virus was first identified as a concern, the administration’s response was plagued by the rivalries and factionalism that routinely swirl around Mr. Trump and, along with the president’s impulsiveness, undercut decision making and policy development.

Faced with the relentless march of a deadly pathogen, the disagreements and a lack of long-term planning had significant consequences. They slowed the president’s response and resulted in problems with execution and planning, including delays in seeking money from Capitol Hill and a failure to begin broad surveillance testing.

WaPo has its own story about the confused arrangement of “task forces” that have failed to coalesce on a single plan and course of action.

In theory, the task forces are all working toward the same goal: defeating the novel coronavirus and getting the nation back to work — and life — as quickly as possible. But the reality is far more complicated: a bureaucratic nesting doll of groups with frequently competing aims and agendas.

As a result, an administration that has lagged behind at nearly every step of the pandemic still has no consensus plan for when or how to reopen parts of the economy, even as the president and many advisers push to do so as soon as May 1. There is still no concerted plan for getting vital medical supplies to states, which are left to fight among themselves or seek favors from Trump. There is also no developed plan for what happens if cases or deaths spike as people begin to return to work, or how to respond if the coronavirus surges again in the fall, as many public health experts and administration officials fear.
Despite the debates, few actual decisions are made. Instead, Pence tries to reach a consensus and then bring it to the president for approval. Decisions made in the room are often undermined by Trump, and some discussions, such as guidance on wearing masks, stretched on for weeks.
WaPo  also has an interesting story comparing the US and European safety nets.
Dana Milbank attributes US failures to the success of the “drown government, no new taxes” movement from the 1980s.
BTW, a report says Japan wants to force its businesses to relocate from China  because of the virus consequences for supply.

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, December 24

– NYT says US plans major drawdown from west Africa.
– Pro-foreign aid group lists details of budget agreement on function 150 spending.
– Administration has new cyber security R&D plan.
– Xi brings Abe and Moon together.
– BBC says ISIS is rebuilding in Iraq.
PS: Merry Christmas!

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. If you want to get it directly, 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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