News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. To compete with China and Russia, the U.S. military must redefine ‘readiness’
2. Why Operation Warp Speed worked
3. Great responsibility demands a great navy
4. Cyber espionage is not cyber attack
5. How to root out extremism in the U.S. military
6. The boogaloo bois have guns, criminal records and military training. Now they want to overthrow the government.
7. Why Gen. Mark Milley will probably keep his job as Joint Chiefs Chairman
8. House Democrat: screen troops’ social media for links to extremists
9. US State Secretary Blinken criticises Russia, weighs possible sanctions on North Korea
10. In China, how people are pushing back on surveillance state
11. Access denied? The future of U.S. basing in a contested world
12. Lawyers, guns, and Twitter: wargaming the role of law in war
13. The key foreign policy challenges facing President Biden
14. ‘Imposing costs’ on Beijing for bad behavior
15. Antony Blinken endorses refugee status in US for Hong Kong dissidents
16. Intel agency worker pushed his own drone company, report details
17. One data scientist’s quest to quash misinformation
18. China is a rising digital superpower. Europe and the U.S. must catch up - together.
19. A vast web of vengeance
20. The Army can't officially say who is an 'Army Ranger'
1. To compete with China and Russia, the U.S. military must redefine ‘readiness’
Washington Post · Charles Q. Brown Jr. and David H. Berger · February 2, 2021
I make the following comment and recommendation based on what a fellow retired SF officer said to me recently about think tanks, monographs, op-eds in the major papers, etc. Americans across the country are not reading all the research and commentary that is being done and written inside the Beltway. While it is great that two generals are making their argument in public in the Washington Post, they (and other leaders in the national security community) should consider writing op-eds in local papers throughout the US, writing specifically to the American people. They should add a paragraph or two on why their argument is important to regular Americans and put it in terms that have meaning to and resonate with them.
The bottom line is that national security practitioners need to start writing for the American people and not just for Congress, the White House, the Departments, the press, and each other.
They need to explain how national security affects the average citizen in ways that citizens can understand concretely. They make the argument as to why it is necessary to invest in national security.
As another smart think tanker and friend said to me, this might even be a better way to influence Congress - if constituents talk to their representatives about the issues they will have to address them. If issues are important to constituents, they have to be important to Congress (a little Sun Tzu and the indirect approach might be useful).
2. Why Operation Warp Speed worked
Wall Street Journal · Arthur Herman · February 1, 2021
Except that it proved easier to get the supplies produced by our great industrial base shipped to the European and Pacific theaters and employed against our adversaries than it has been to get the vaccinations distributed internally inside the US and to get the vaccines employed by John Q. Public to fight the enemy virus.
Yes, that is a snarky comment, but we need the American people to be as mobilized to fight the virus as we were to fight the Axis powers in WWII.
3. Great responsibility demands a great navy
US Naval Institute · James Holmes · February 2021
Yes, I am on a rant. Great argument here. What does it mean to the American citizen in Ohio, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Montana? Can we put this in terms that will resonate with our fellow citizens? Yes, navies need advocates in high places, but they also need the support of the American people.
Now I do not mean to be flippant here, but Professor Holmes is on the right track with his Spiderman reference. This is a start. Use cultural references for good effect. I would argue that the advocates in high places he references, the Roosevelts and Reagan, had one key characteristic in common: they could effectively communicate with the American people.
4. Cyber espionage is not cyber attack
C4ISR Net · James Van de Velde · February 1, 2021
A powerful conclusion. I am sure his arguments will create some important debate.
5. How to Root Out Extremism in the U.S. Military
Defense One · Heather Williams · February 1, 2021
Very carefully and with a scalpel and not a chainsaw. If we do this wrong, we might cause irreparable harm to military organizations.
But we have to be very careful about these recommendations. Some will play right into the extremist narrative.
And I would ask how this essay will play in Peoria? Does this make an argument that will resonate with the American people?
6. The boogaloo bois have guns, criminal records and military training. Now they want to overthrow the government.
ProPublica · A.C. Thompson, Lila Hassan, & Karim Hajj · February 1, 2021
This will stir things up on social media.
What I never see in these reports, or in the writings of the extremists, is their theory of victory and success. What do they mean by overthrow the government? What does that look like and how does it play out? I do not see any practical plan for armed insurrection other than fomenting chaos and unrest. What does that achieve? I would like to read something from these leaders that explains how they expect to "win."
I frankly think that there is no real leadership of these organizations that can achieve victory. All these leaders can do is fire people up in very dangerous ways, but they give them no practical plan of action. The leaders are nothing more than "romantic revolutionaries," who really do not know what they are doing or are only doing this for personal power, reward, and probably to feed their narcissistic personalities.
I would offer this description of the leaders of these extremist organizations:
In our class on “Unconventional Warfare for Policy Makers and Strategists,” we were discussing leadership in underground resistance movements and insurgencies. In our reading from “Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies” was this passage on evaluating one type of leader found in underground resistance movements (i.e. narcissism).
P. 98-99 “… Egocentricity is a normal component in infantile development; however, as a child develops into adolescence, he or she is supposed to become less self-absorbed and more cognizant of others. Narcissism is a psychoanalytic theory that holds that primary narcissism (or self-love) in the form of grandiose self does not diminish as the individual develops and expands his or her social network. If this fails to occur, regardless of reason, the grandiose self-image can result in individuals who are sociopathic, arrogant, and devoid of compassion for others. Some leaders demonstrate a marked desire for admiration and attention, a hallmark of narcissism. Their chosen methods of violence are often spectacular and attention grabbing, suggesting a more narcissistic clinical presentation.
There are also those who exhibit a narcissistic leadership style although they probably do not meet the clinical criteria for an Axis II disorder. In fact, this leadership style is heavily represented in the military, industry, and academia. Characteristics of the narcissistic leadership style include a vulnerability to biased information processing that results in an overestimation of their own strength and an underestimation of their adversary’s, a grandiose and self-serving disposition, a lack of tolerance for competition, difficulty relying on experts, and a desire for sycophantic subordinates. Often displaying superficial arrogance over profound personal insecurity, they actively seek admiration, are vulnerable to insults, slights, and attacks, and are prone to rage. Key observables that indicate this style are the leader’s sensitivity to criticism, surrounding themselves with sycophants, and overvaluation of his chances of success and an underestimation of the strength of an opponent.”
7. Why Gen. Mark Milley will probably keep his job as Joint Chiefs Chairman
Military.com · Oriana Pawlyk · February 1, 2021
8. House Democrat: screen troops’ social media for links to extremists
NBC News · Dan De Luce · February 1, 2021
This plays right into extremists’ hands. The Democrats need to be careful here or they will confirm the extremist narratives.
9. US State Secretary Blinken criticizes Russia, weighs possible sanctions on North Korea
Straits Times · February 1, 2021
SECSTATE has his hands full. He has literally had to hit the ground running.
10. In China, how people are pushing back on surveillance state
World Crunch · Frederic Schaeffer · February 1, 2021
Are there lessons to be learned? Can they be assisted from the outside? What is the resistance potential inside China due to the growing surveillance state?
11. Access denied? The future of U.S. basing in a contested world
War On the Rocks · Renanah M. Joyce & Brian Blankenship · February 1, 2021
Some thought-provoking ideas.
Although we did not describe the issue exactly this way, I think our recent monograph, Defending Forward: Securing America by Projecting Military Power Abroad, makes a similar argument.
12. Lawyers, guns, and Twitter: wargaming the role of law in war
War On the Rocks · Thomas J. Gordon IV et al. · February 2, 2021
13. The key foreign policy challenges facing President Biden
TIME · Ian Bremmer · January 30, 2021
14. ‘Imposing costs’ on Beijing for bad behavior
Asia Times · Grant Newsham · February 2, 2021
Make the leaders feel the pain. But is that easier said than done?
15. Antony Blinken endorses refugee status in US for Hong Kong dissidents
Washington Examiner · Joel Gehrke · February 1, 2021
16. Intel agency worker pushed his own drone company, report details
Defense One · Patrick Tucker · February 1, 2021
Oops.
17. One data scientist’s quest to quash misinformation
Wired · Sonner Kehrt · September 15, 2020
18. China is a rising digital superpower. Europe and the U.S. must catch up - together.
Washington Post · Carl Bildt · February 1, 2021
19. A vast web of vengeance
New York Times · Kashmir Hill · January 30, 2021
What a story. A cautionary tale, the dangers of the internet, and the power of someone online.
20. The Army can't officially say who is an 'Army Ranger'
This is getting entirely too much airtime (so I am guilty of contributing to it). I have always considered myself "Ranger qualified" and would not do otherwise out of respect for those Rangers who actually served in the Ranger Regiment. But that is inside Army baseball. This should not be a public controversy. And many senior Rangers have recently answered on this subject so we should leave it to them. We are pole vaulting over molehills.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
- Carl Jung
“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it."
- William Faulkner
"... there’s an enormous difference between democracy promotion by coercive and non-coercive means. Voice of America broadcasts and the National Endowment for Democracy cross international borders in a very different manner than the 82nd Airborne Division does."
- Joseph Nye