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 Case for Economic Espionage
English Summary
The article argues that the U.S.'s long-standing policy prohibiting economic espionage is dangerously outdated, particularly given the nation's increasing reliance on private-sector frontier technologies. This prohibition has disadvantaged the U.S. by failing to counter the systematic and aggressive intellectual property theft, especially from China. To maintain technological supremacy and national security, the U.S. must formally lift this ban, allowing intelligence agencies to collect commercial secrets and deliver that intelligence directly to vital private firms. However, this strategic shift requires establishing robust oversight rules to ensure the intelligence serves the national interest and does not become politicized.
中文摘要
本文論述美國長期禁止經濟間諜活動的政策已過時且存在風險，尤其考量到美國日益依賴私營部門的前沿技術。此禁令已使美國處於不利地位，未能有效應對系統性且激進的智慧財產盜竊，特別來自中國的盜竊行為。為維持技術霸權和國家安全，美國必須正式解除此禁令，允許情報機構收集商業機密，並將這些情報直接提供給關鍵私營企業。然而，這一戰略轉變要求建立強健的監督規則，以確保情報服務於國家利益，而非被政治化。
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