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.
States enable, regions thrive
English Summary
The Brookings report argues that while modern economies are fundamentally regional in nature, effective governance requires states to align their authority and resources with empowered local cross-sector networks. Current state economic development systems are often fragmented and ill-equipped to manage structural shifts like AI or the energy transition. To modernize, policymakers must adopt a structured 'state-regional' model where states define strategic clusters and allocate capital, while regions coordinate execution using deep local knowledge. This approach has proven successful in catalyzing billions in private investment by ensuring state resources are deployed strategically across multiple sectors to achieve measurable economic growth.
中文摘要
布魯金斯智庫的報告指出，雖然現代經濟體本質上具有區域性特徵，但有效的治理需要國家將其權威和資源與賦能的在地跨部門網絡進行協調。現有的國家經濟發展系統往往是碎片化的，且缺乏應對人工智慧（AI）或能源轉型等結構性變革的能力。為實現現代化，政策制定者必須採用結構化的「國家—區域」模式：國家負責定義戰略集群和配置資本，而區域則利用深厚的在地知識來協調執行。此種方法已被證明成功，透過確保國家資源能策略性地部署於多個部門，從而在催化數十億美元的私人投資，並實現可衡量的經濟增長。
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