News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.
1. Washington's attempt to exploit QUAD to contain China will not succeed
2. Opinion | George Shultz will be remembered as one of the most influential secretaries of state in our history by Condoleezza Rice
3. Biden: China should expect `extreme competition' from US
4. US stages joint Guam drill with Australia and Japan as it looks for ways to make it harder for China to 'wipe out' air forces with missile strikes
5. The biggest lesson of GameStop
6. Is Pentagon prepared for its "extremism" stand-down? Six ideas that might help
7. US moves to rejoin UN rights council, reversing Trump anew
8. The Military Doesn't Bar Troops from Being Members of Hate Groups. That Could Change
9. US Army contingent arrives in India for military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas 20'
10. Getting to Ethical Readiness
11. Exclusive: Navy CNO On Rooting Out Extremists
12. Vladimir Putin's Russia is destabilising itself from within
13. Countering China, Biden rightly doubles down on the Quad
14. The Fracturing of the American Ideal
15. Special Operations News Update - Monday, February 8, 2021
1. Washington's attempt to exploit QUAD to contain China will not succeed
globaltimes.cn · by Global Times
Warning from the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece. Note how China is trying to split India from the Quad. It would appear China assesses it is the weakest link.
Note the comparison between free and open INDOPACIFIC and Belt and Road:
Excerpt: Such a misjudgment is a serious strategic blunder. The US advocates a "free and open Indo-Pacific." It's only an umbrella term to justify US attempts to mobilize all possible forces it can to prevent China from controlling the region. But the fact is, China has no strategic intention or plan to dominate the region at all. It just peacefully advocates the Belt and Road Initiative. This is one of the most fundamental misjudgments of the US. If the US continues to uphold such a false reading, it may lead to a severe strategic confrontation between China and the US.
Actually a very interesting conclusion: Facing pressure from Washington, Beijing has to improve relations with all countries. It must deal with New Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra. When all these countries consider China a threat, the possibility that they will form a multilateral alliance with the US might grow. China now needs to unite all forces that can be brought together and improve relations so that they can perhaps sit at the same table to talk. This is the most critical point to safeguard China's external environment.
2. Opinion | George Shultz will be remembered as one of the most influential secretaries of state in our history by Condoleezza Rice
The Washington Post · by Condoleezza Rice · February 7, 2021
I think we can say he had a life well lived.
3. Biden: China should expect `extreme competition' from US
AP · February 7, 2021
Excerpts:
“The new administration, however, is unlikely to significantly alter U.S. policies on trade, Taiwan, human rights and the South China Sea that have angered Xi's increasingly assertive government.
Biden, in the interview taped Friday, said he has said to Xi " all along, that we need not have a conflict." But, Biden added, there will be "extreme competition. And I'm not going to do it the way that he knows. And that's because he's sending signals as well."
Biden said he will not pursue U.S.-China relations in the way that Trump did but will focus on "international rules of the road."
4. US stages joint Guam drill with Australia and Japan as it looks for ways to make it harder for China to 'wipe out' air forces with missile strikes
SCMP· by Teddy Ng · February 7, 2021
5. The biggest lesson of GameStop
amp-ft-com.cdn.ampproject.org · by Rana Foroohar · February 7, 2021
Excerpts:
“While apps and social media have led more people to trade shares, that has not made our system of market-driven capitalism stronger. Our economy is largely based on consumer spending, and that consumption rests on asset price inflation which can now be brewed up by teenagers in their bedrooms. If current employment trends continue, many of the latter will end up working gig economy jobs without a safety net to catch them when their portfolios collapse.
That is neither sustainable nor supportive of liberal democracy. That is why I applaud Joe Biden's core economic promise to move the US economy from one that prioritises "wealth" to one that rewards work.
The details of the GameStop debacle should be parsed and any villains punished. But we must not lose sight of the main lesson: an economy in which individual fortunes are so closely tied to the health of the stock market rather than income growth is fragile. Speculation, no matter how widely shared, isn't democracy.”
6. Is Pentagon prepared for its "extremism" stand-down? Six ideas that might help
sites.duke.edu · by Charlie Dunlap, J.D. · February 8, 2021
Probably the most thorough and substantive recommendations I have seen.
7. US moves to rejoin UN rights council, reversing Trump anew
AP · by Matthew Lee · February 8, 2021
This organization is problematic and requires a lot of work to fix.
Excerpts:
“In addition to the council's persistent focus on Israel, the Trump administration took issue with the body's membership, which currently includes China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela, all of which have been accused of human rights abuses.
One senior U.S. official said the Biden administration believed the council must still reform but that the best way to promote change is to "engage with it in a principled fashion." The official said it can be "an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world" and the U.S. presence intends to "ensure it can live up to that potential."
8. The Military Doesn't Bar Troops from Being Members of Hate Groups. That Could Change
military.com · by Gina Harkins · February 6, 2021.
Again, we need to do this right or we will only confirm the narratives of the extremist organizations.
We have to ask ourselves what takes precedence: our civil liberties and constitutional principles or defense against hate groups? We must not sacrifice our values and principles.
9. US Army contingent arrives in India for military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas 20'
timesofindia.indiatimes.com · by Ajay Sura / TNN / · February 7, 2021
10. Getting to Ethical Readiness
warontherocks.com · by John Huntsman · February 8, 2021
Excerpts:
“To prepare troops to make ethical decisions with a level of understanding that goes beyond mere rule compliance, a nontraditional education in philosophic ethics is warranted. Above all, philosophic ethics should integrate and engage all members of an organization. From theory to practice, this can include anything from introducing concepts during unit-level or small-group discussions, amid dialogue, to making difficult moral decisions during battlefield training scenarios.
Why does ethical misconduct occur? Broadly conceived, the number of potential risk factors posited to explain or portend uniformed misconduct abound. Explanations include the view that an unrealistic volume of training requirements has led to a culture of systemic dishonesty and self-deception, the notion that too much emphasis has been placed on mission outcomes and not enough on the enculturation of virtues, and the allegation that toxic leadership is to blame. One strong suggestion is that past military cases of "egregious behavior" may have resulted from the corrosive or enervating effects of combat fatigue and the relentless demands of continuous war. Others have pointed to the changing character of war, which could be a harbinger of new ethical challenges to come.
11. Exclusive: Navy CNO On Rooting Out Extremists
breakingdefense.com · by Paul McLeary
Excerpts:
“Kirby told reporters on Jan. 28 that the FBI opened 143 investigations into troops and veterans in 2020, 68 of those for domestic extremism.
Austin met with the Joint Chiefs on Wednesday to give them direction on how to move out on the issue. "He was very clear that he wants commands to take the necessary time" to figure out how to handle it.
Gilday said the problem needs to be directly addressed now, but also cautioned that the services need some time to shape their approach for the long haul. "The services are working together with OSD so that we have a consistent approach here," he said. "And we've been pretty good at doing that. If you think of how we've dealt with COVID...we've learned together and stumbled together and have improved together. And we need to do the same thing with extremist behavior or extremist groups within the ranks as well."
12. Vladimir Putin's Russia is destabilising itself from within
Financial Times · by Tatiana Stanovaya · February 7, 2021
13. Countering China, Biden rightly doubles down on the Quad
Washington Examiner · by Tom Rogan · February 7, 2021
Conclusion: Top line: any early Quad leaders summit would be good news. Facing an evolving geopolitical environment in which traditional American allies are bending the knee to Beijing, the United States must consolidate better allies wherever possible. The Quad must be the cornerstone of that effort.
14. The Fracturing of the American Ideal
National Review Online · by Andrew A. Michta · February 7, 2021
A sobering conclusion:
“Today the process of re-racializing American history has nearly reached its climax. We are poised to begin to decompose as a nation along geo-ideological lines, reflecting the territorial alignment of exclusive ideologies, or to witness the triumph of the American Left over a progressively disenfranchised citizenry. If the decline is not stopped soon, the final outcome is likely to repeat the experience of other nations that at some point in their history veered in the direction of group-based social engineering as a pathway to an allegedly more just society.
No one can predict how the abandonment of the American ideal of the individual citizen's rights under the law will ultimately play out, but one thing is certain: When rhetoric and reality fundamentally misalign, chaos reigns.”
15. Special Operations News Update - Monday, February 8, 2021
sof.news · by SOF News · February 8, 2021
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"War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men."
- Georges Clemenceau
"When my brother and I built the first man-carrying flying machine we thought that we were introducing into the world an invention which would make further wars practically impossible."
-Orville Wright, 1917
"Air Power is, above all, a psychological weapon-and only short-sighted soldiers, too battle-minded, underrate the importance of psychological factors in war."
- B. H. Liddell-Hart