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 Autonomous Weapons Debate (Still) Has a Definition Problem
English Summary
The debate surrounding autonomous weapons (LAWS) is currently hampered by semantic confusion, as the terms are used interchangeably despite referring to vastly different levels of capability. The core finding is that autonomy is not a binary state but a spectrum, requiring policymakers to ask 'How autonomous is it?' rather than 'Is it autonomous?' Effective regulation must therefore adopt a functional taxonomy, classifying systems based on the division of labor between human and machine (i.e., target selection, engagement, and supervision). This framework is crucial because it allows for the precise definition of control points, ensuring that human commanders retain ultimate legal authority over the decision to use force, regardless of the system's technological sophistication.
中文摘要
圍繞自主武器系統（LAWS）的辯論目前受困於語義混淆，因為這些術語被互換使用，儘管它們指涉的能力層級卻大相逕庭。核心發現指出，自主性並非一個二元狀態，而是一個連續的光譜。因此，政策制定者應當提問「其自主程度如何？」而非「它是否自主？」有效的監管機制必須採用功能分類法（functional taxonomy），根據人與機器之間的勞動分工（即目標選擇、交戰和監督）來對系統進行分類。這一框架至關重要，因為它能夠精確界定控制點，確保無論系統技術有多麼複雜，人類指揮官始終保留使用武力的最終法律權限。
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