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.
The U.S.-China AI Race is Changing the Stakes for Taiwan
English Summary
The intensifying U.S.-China race for global AI dominance has made Taiwan's advanced semiconductor supply chain an indispensable asset for the American technology industry. U.S. AI leaders are critically dependent on Taiwan's chip manufacturing capacity, significantly raising the stakes for any potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait. This economic dependence means that a conflict would severely undermine American technological and military leadership. Policymakers must leverage this dependence by building a domestic case for Taiwan's security, developing contingency plans, and signaling to Beijing that aggression would incur massive, prohibitive costs to the U.S. economy.
中文摘要
隨著美中爭奪全球人工智慧（AI）主導權的競爭日益激烈，台灣先進的半導體供應鏈已成為美國科技產業不可或缺的資產。美國的AI領先企業極度依賴台灣的晶片製造能力，這大幅提升了台海發生衝突的風險。這種經濟上的高度依賴性意味著，若發生衝突，將會嚴重削弱美國的科技和軍事領導地位。政策制定者必須利用這一依賴性，一方面建立台灣安全性的國內論述，另一方面制定應對預案，並向北京傳達訊號：任何形式的侵略行為，都將使美國經濟承擔巨大且難以承受的成本。
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