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.
Leave Europe to the Europeans
English Summary
The article argues that the United States must significantly reduce its military footprint in Europe to compel allies toward genuine self-reliance, a shift necessary given U.S. fiscal constraints and decades of European dependence. Currently, American dominance has fostered complacency, leading to strategic stasis despite geopolitical shocks. For this transition to succeed, the Pentagon should use its posture review to announce deep, scheduled cuts in forces (such as ground units) to signal seriousness. This managed withdrawal will force European nations to assume primary responsibility for their conventional defense, ultimately strengthening transatlantic stability without overextending U.S. resources.
中文摘要
本文主張，美國必須大幅削減其在歐洲的軍事部署（military footprint），才能迫使盟國轉向真正的自立能力。鑑於美國面臨財政限制以及歐洲數十年來的依賴狀態，這種轉變是必要的。目前，美國的主導地位反而助長了盟國的自滿情緒，導致儘管地緣政治出現衝擊，戰略上卻陷入停滯。為使這一過渡成功，五角大廈應利用其態勢審查（posture review）來宣布深度且有時間表規定的軍力削減（例如地面部隊），以傳達嚴肅的決心。這種管理式撤退將迫使歐洲國家承擔起其常規國防的主要責任，最終在不超出美國資源極限的前提下，強化跨大西洋的穩定性。
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