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 Next Phase of China’s Minority Crackdown
English Summary
China has fundamentally shifted away from its historical policy of granting cultural and territorial autonomy, institutionalizing forced assimilation through new national legislation. The passage of the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity mandates Mandarin Chinese as the primary language and requires all public life—from education to heritage sites—to display standardized 'shared' symbols, effectively dismantling distinct minority identities. This move signals that Beijing views diversity as a threat, relegating cultural differences to mere spectacle while closing the door on peaceful coexistence. Strategically, this indicates an increased internal zero-sum political risk and suggests that any future engagement with China must account for heightened social instability.
中文摘要
中國已根本性地偏離了其歷史上授予文化和領土自治的政策，透過新的國家立法制度化強制同化。頒布的《促進民族和諧法》規定普通話為主要語言，並要求所有公共生活領域——從教育到文化遺址——必須展示標準化的「共享」符號，實質上瓦解了各個群體的獨特身份認同。此舉表明北京已將多元性視為威脅，將文化差異降格為單純的觀賞物，並關閉了和平共存的大門。從戰略角度來看，這預示著內部零和政治風險的增加，並暗示任何未來與中國的互動都必須考慮到加劇的社會不穩定性。
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