2/1/2021 News & Commentary – National Security
News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Duncan Moore.
1. Defending forward to confront China’s military aims
2. Facebook knew calls for violence plagued ‘groups,’ now plans overhaul
3. Sub-threshold maneuver and the flanking of U.S. national security
4. As Xi professes a commitment to ‘multilateralism,’ the U.S. counters with a dose of reality
5. Solorigate attack – the challenge to cyber deterrence
6. How we lose against China: social media and internal political extremes could undermine the United States
7. Russia protesters defy vast police operation as signs of Kremlin anxiety mount
8. Biden to ‘build on’ Trump’s anti-China coalition
9. We need to inoculate military servicemembers against information threats: the case for digital literacy training
10. The CIA fine-tunes its hiring pitch to millennials and gen Z
11. The challenge of abstraction: assessing Cold War analogies to the present period
12. WHO teams visits Wuhan food market in search of virus clues
13. National Freedom Day: deepening our resolve to fight human trafficking
14. A super-max failure and the case for going irregular: recalibrating US policy toward Iran
15. Direct participation in hostilities in the age of cyber: exploring the fault lines
16. U.S. needs to deny, not dominate, China in the Indo-Pacific
1. Defending forward to confront China’s military aims
Real Clear Defense · Craig Singleton · January 30, 2021
From my FDD colleague, Craig Singleton.
2. Facebook new calls for violence plagued ‘groups,’ now plans overhaul
Wall Street Journal · Jeff Horwitz · January 31, 2021
How to balance free expression with safety and security? While I do not want (excessive) government regulation, I certainly do not trust big tech (and the likes of Zuckerberg). This is a critical dilemma we have.
3. Sub-threshold maneuver and the flanking of U.S. national security
Mad Scientist Laboratory · Dr. Russell Glenn · February 1, 2021
From my friend and mentor, Dr. Russ Glenn. Russ was my SAMS seminar leader (Seminar 4 – The House of Pain) at Leavenworth more than two decades ago! My, how time flies. This essay reminds me of what every day was like in SAMS and why I always recommend SAMS to any officer who wants to think deeply about the profession of arms.
A lot of food for (deep) thought in this essay. The complete essay from which this is derived can be accessed here.
4. As Xi professes a commitment to ‘multilateralism,’ the U.S. counters with a dose of reality
Foundation for Defense of Democracies · Thomas Joscelyn · January 28, 2021
From another of my FDD colleagues, Thomas Joscelyn.
5. Solorigate attack – the challenge to cyber deterrence
C4ISR Net · Jan Kallberg · January 30, 2021
6. How we lose against China: social media and internal political extremes could undermine the United States
National Review · Robert D. Kaplan · January 21, 2021
7. Russia protesters defy vast police operation as signs of Kremlin anxiety mount
New York Times · Anton Troianovski et al. · January 31, 2021
8. Biden to ‘build on’ Trump’s anti-China coalition
Chosun Ilbo · Kim Jin-myung & Lee Ha-won · February 1, 2021
Korea is going to have to step up and decide if it is going to be a great middle power or remain a shrimp among whales. I know all my professional friends (diplomats and military) from Korea know the right way ahead. The question is whether the politicians will take the right path.
9. We need to inoculate military servicemembers against information threats: the case for digital literacy training
War On the Rocks · Peter W. Singer & Eric B. Johnson · February 1, 2021
Digital natives, digital immigrants, and digital aliens. You would think our young military personnel would all be digital natives and have grown up with the proper concepts of cyber hygiene and cyber defense. But alas, I think we have a long way to go to inculcate a sense of cyber civil defense into our schools and among the population. Maybe if we get it right in the military it will serve as a positive example.
10. The CIA fine-tunes its hiring pitch to millennials and gen Z
Wall Street Journal · Krithika Varagur · January 31, 2021
The CIA is adapting.
11. The challenge of abstraction: assessing Cold War analogies to the present period
Divergent Options · Brandon Patterson · February 1, 2021
12. WHO teams visits Wuhan food market in search of virus clues
Washington Post · Emily Wang Fujiyama & Zen Soo · January 31, 2021
No easy answers.
13. National Freedom Day: deepening our resolve to fight human trafficking
US Department of State · Antony J. Blinken · February 1, 2021
A true scourge that must be stopped. This has to be among the very worst crimes against humanity.
14. A super-max failure and the case for going irregular: recalibrating US policy toward Iran
Modern War Institute · Alex Deep · January 29, 2021
But any irregular warfare approach must be nested in a political warfare approach at the national level. Irregular warfare is one military contribution to political warfare.
15. Direct participation in hostilities in the age of cyber: exploring the fault lines
Harvard Law School National Security Journal · Brig. Gen. (ret.) David Wallace, Col. Shane Reeves, and Maj. Trent Powell · February 1, 2021
The full 34-page article can be downloaded here.
16. U.S. needs to deny, not dominate, China in the Indo-Pacific
Bloomberg · Hal Brands · January 31, 2021
An interesting critique from Hal Brands.
“A man is morally free when, in full possession of his living humanity, he judges the world, and judges other men, with uncompromising sincerity.”
– George Santayana
“Take the civil service out of government and the country will collapse. Take politics out of government and the country will flourish.”
– Abhijit Naskar
“To change a political system, the majority of the thinking citizens must unite, speak with one voice, and stand firm like one leg.”
– Dr. Ahmed Padia Binkatabana
