The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Crime in COVID times
English Summary
The Brookings analysis argues that the dramatic surge and subsequent decline in US homicide rates during the COVID-19 pandemic were primarily driven by behavioral factors, rather than fundamental shifts in crime's economic costs or benefits. The pandemic's stress acted as a 'bandwidth tax,' compromising decision-making and increasing violent incidents, a lethality compounded by increased gun carrying. The paper concludes that conventional policy solutions, such as tougher sentencing or tackling root causes like poverty, are less effective than behaviorally informed strategies. Policymakers should instead focus on preventing regrettable decisions in high-stakes moments and implementing measures to reduce the means by which conflicts become fatal.
中文摘要
布魯金斯智庫的分析指出，美國在 COVID-19 疫情期間兇殺率的劇烈激增和隨後下降，主要歸因於行為因素，而非犯罪經濟成本或收益的根本性變化。疫情的壓力充當了「認知負荷稅」（bandwidth tax），削弱了決策能力並增加了暴力事件，而這種致命性又因槍支攜帶的增加而加劇。該論文結論認為，傳統的政策解決方案，例如加重刑罰或處理貧困等根本成因，效果不如行為學策略。政策制定者應轉而專注於預防在關鍵時刻做出錯誤的決策，並實施措施來降低衝突演變成致命事件的途徑。
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