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 to actually share America’s defense burden with allies
English Summary
The article argues that traditional burden-sharing based solely on increased spending is insufficient because modern adversaries target critical infrastructure, not just military assets. Adversaries are increasingly employing hybrid campaigns—using cyber and sabotage against energy, logistics, and digital systems—to achieve strategic paralysis without conventional conflict. Therefore, the U.S. must shift its focus to enhancing allied operational resilience by helping partners harden key physical and digital nodes. Policy implications require integrating cyber defenses into all planning, treating continuity of operations under duress as the core measure of deterrence across both Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
中文摘要
本文主張，僅基於增加支出進行的傳統負擔分攤模式已不足夠應對現代威脅。因為當前的敵對勢力不再只針對軍事資產，而是鎖定關鍵基礎設施。這些敵對勢力正日益採用混合戰役（hybrid campaigns），利用網路攻擊和破壞行為來癱瘓能源、物流及數位系統，從而達成戰略麻痺狀態，卻無需進行傳統的軍事衝突。因此，美國必須將重點轉移至提升盟友的作戰韌性（operational resilience），方法是協助夥伴加固關鍵的實體與數位節點。政策層面要求將網路防禦整合到所有規劃中，並將「在壓力下的持續運營能力」（continuity of operations under duress）視為橫跨歐洲和印太地區的核心威懾指標。
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