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 Successor: Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin, and the Decline of Modern Russia
English Summary
The analysis argues that modern Russia has fundamentally declined from a democratic potential into an increasingly repressive autocracy under Vladimir Putin. This shift was facilitated by Putin capitalizing on popular disillusionment and anti-Western sentiment, which arose from the failures of the democratic reforms championed by figures like Boris Nemtsov. The regime has successfully channeled public frustration with the chaotic 1990s into support for centralized, authoritarian power. Policymakers should anticipate continued internal political instability and unpredictable geopolitical behavior, as the state prioritizes regime stability over democratic reform or Western integration.
中文摘要
該分析指出，現代俄羅斯已從民主潛能基礎上根本性衰退，轉變為一個日益壓迫的獨裁政權，其核心人物為弗拉基米爾·普丁。這種轉變的促成因素，是普丁利用了民眾的幻滅情緒和反西方情緒，而這些情緒源於像鮑里斯·涅姆佐夫（Boris Nemtsov）等人物推動的民主改革的失敗。該政權成功地將公眾對1990年代混亂局面的不滿，轉化為對中央集權、威權式權力的支持。政策制定者應預期持續的內部政治不穩定和不可預測的地緣政治行為，因為該國家將政權穩定置於民主改革或西方整合之上。
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