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.
How the United States uses multilateral channels for its aid
English Summary
The U.S. is drastically reducing core funding to multilateral institutions, withdrawing from numerous bodies due to perceived misalignment with national interests. While multilateral channels offer critical advantages—such as pooling resources for global public goods and managing risk in fragile settings—the U.S.'s funding remains heavily 'earmarked,' which effectively 'bilateralizes' the system and undermines shared burden-sharing. This practice, coupled with deep cuts, diminishes the multilateral system's effectiveness and efficiency, particularly in humanitarian aid. Policy recommendations suggest the U.S. must adopt a systematic, published strategy for aid channel choice and shift from restrictive project-level earmarking to broader thematic funding to restore global cooperation.
中文摘要
美國正大幅削減對多邊機構的核心資金投入，並因認為這些機構與其國家利益不一致，而退出眾多體系。儘管多邊渠道在為全球公共產品匯集資源和管理脆弱地區風險等方面具有關鍵優勢，但美國的資金投入卻持續高度「指定用途」（earmarked），這實質上「雙邊化」了整個系統，削弱了共同分擔責任的精神。這種做法，加上大幅削減，降低了多邊體系的有效性和效率，尤其是在人道援助領域。政策建議指出，美國必須制定一套系統化、公開的援助渠道選擇策略，並從限制性的項目層級指定用途，轉向更廣泛的議題性（thematic）資金投入，以恢復全球合作。
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