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 New Energy Stalemate in Ukraine
English Summary
The conflict has entered an energy stalemate, where both Ukraine and Russia are adapting to mutual infrastructure damage and shifting international support. While Ukraine demonstrates resilience through distributed power generation and sustained drone strikes that have significantly reduced Russian refining capacity, Russia counters with massive, relentless attacks and resource management strategies. The analysis concludes that energy strikes alone are unlikely to force a decisive victory for either side, as both must protect and repair complex national networks around the clock. Therefore, future conflict success hinges not on offensive capability, but on defensive ingenuity and the ability to sustain critical infrastructure under continuous, multi-faceted attack.
中文摘要
衝突已進入能源僵局，烏克蘭和俄羅斯兩方都在適應相互的基礎設施損害和國際支持的轉變。雖然烏克蘭透過分散式發電和持續的無人機攻擊展現了韌性，顯著削弱了俄羅斯的煉油能力；但俄羅斯則以大規模、不懈的攻擊和資源管理戰略進行反制。分析結論指出，單純的能源攻擊難以迫使任何一方取得決定性勝利，因為雙方都必須全天候保護和修復複雜的國家網絡。因此，未來衝突的成敗將不取決於攻勢能力，而是取決於防禦的創造力以及在持續、多層面攻擊下維持關鍵基礎設施的能力。
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