Small Wars Journal

7/9/2020 News & Commentary – National Security

Thu, 07/09/2020 - 9:50am

News & commentary by Dave Maxwell. Edited and published by Daniel Riggs.

1. FBI Opens a China-Related Counterintelligence Investigation Every 10 Hours

2. The Political Logic of China's Strategic Mistakes

3. China's Confucius Institutes Attempt to Rebrand Following Backlash

4. China challenges U.S. to cut nuclear arsenal to matching level

5. Seven Candidates Battling for WTO Leadership

6. Opinion | How Trump is losing Asia

7. Election Experts Warn of November Disaster

8. Practicing What We Preach: Committing to the Women, Peace, and Security Strategy Here at Home

9. Diversity is America's Untapped Competitive Edge

10. Is free speech under threat from 'cancel culture'? Four writers respond

11. A global strategy for shaping the post-COVID-19 world

12. Army Was Reviewing More Than Confederate Base Names, Officials Reveal

13. Want Better Strategists? Start With a Better Definition of Strategy

14. History Shows That Sustained, Disruptive Protests Work

15. Trump Pushed CIA to Give Intelligence to Kremlin, While Taking No Action Against Russia Arming Taliban

16. Is Taiwan the Next Hong Kong?

17. The Limits of Intuition: Army Intelligence Should Embrace Analytic Tradecraft Standards

18. The U.S. Is Trying to Turn China Into the Next Iran

 

1. FBI Opens a China-Related Counterintelligence Investigation Every 10 Hours

defenseone.com · by Frank R. Konkel· July 8, 2020

That is a jarring statistic to me.  When does the FBI have any time to investigate the cases?  We have seen the reports of China pressing hard to obtain information from our universities and research institutions to help with the pandemic.

 

2. The Political Logic of China's Strategic Mistakes

project-syndicate.org · by Minxin Pei · July 8, 2020

I certainly hope China keeps making mistakes.  But this is quite an assessment.  Yes Minxin Pei says the problems stem from over-concentration of power in Xi's hands but adds this: "a more important reason for the Chinese government's self-destructive policies: the mindset of the Communist Party of China (CPC)."  He goes on to provide a description of the CPC (CCP) world view and what it means.

 

3. China's Confucius Institutes Attempt to Rebrand Following Backlash

National Review Online · by Zachary Evans · July 8, 2020

No amount of rebranding should be able to remove the subversion and propaganda stick of the Chinese Communist Party.

 

4. China challenges U.S. to cut nuclear arsenal to matching level

Reuters · by Yew Lun Tian · July 8, 2020

I suppose 300 or so nuclear weapons is still enough to destroy the world.  But all this means is that China has no intention of participating because they know the US is not going to agree to the kind of demand or condition for negotiation. 

 

5. Seven Candidates Battling for WTO Leadership

english.chosun.com  · July 9, 2020

 

6. Opinion | How Trump is losing Asia

The Washington Post · by  Robert D. Kaplan

This is one of the strongest critiques of our policies and actions in Asia.  He provides these two critical conclusions: " What is now tethering the United States' Asian allies to Washington is less confidence in the United States than outright fear of China" and "It is all about geography: China's very size and proximity make a sturdy and unquestioning U.S. regional order essential for the power balance in Asia."  We need our alliance system.  We need the right trade agreements.  We need forward presence.  We need engagement with our friends, partners, and allies.  We need to demonstrate strategic reassurance and strategic resolve.

 

7. Election Experts Warn of November Disaster

defenseone.com · by Matt Vasilogamrbos

We should learn from the primary experiences this year.

The federal, state, and local governments, along with every election official and both the Republican and Democratic parties must do everything within their power, expend all necessary resources, and implement all the correct safeguards to ensure the absolute legitimacy of our election process.  to do anything less is the height of irresponsibility.  Our election process is under attack from outside and from within and it will take an integrated national, state, and local effort to defend against those threats.  To do anything less than our best is to undermine our federal democratic republic and our democratic processes.


8. Practicing What We Preach: Committing to the Women, Peace, and Security Strategy Here at Home

realcleardefense.com · by Mackenzie Eaglen

Rep. Mike Waltz is stepping up.  

Mackenzie Eaglen makes a key point here: "But in order to increase policymaker engagement, there must first be awarenessDespite its history, the Women, Peace and Security agenda is hardly an issue that the American public engages with frequently or passionately."  I was made aware of these efforts some years ago by my good friend Robert Egnell from Sweden who is one of the few men to work on these issues. He now heads the Swedish National Defense University (he is the rector).

 

9. Diversity is America's Untapped Competitive Edge

inkstickmedia.com · by Laicie Heeley · July 8, 2020

Perhaps we should think of diversity as joint-ness.  Joint-ness does not equal sameness.  We bring the incredible capabilities of the joint force together to fight and win.  We need to bring together the diverse capabilities of Americans to support our national security.

This article also critiques our broker human capital system and the security clearance process.  And this author concludes with this important statement: "This isn't a partisan issue - it is a national security imperative. Not only because it's right or fair, but because diverse teams are smarter, faster, and more innovative - in other words, better."

 

10. Is free speech under threat from 'cancel culture'? Four writers respond

The Guardian · by Nesrine Malik · July 8, 2020

The Harper's letter did have a lot of interesting signatories. The letter can be accessed here: https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/. It has stirred up quite a bit of controversy.

 Below is some critical food for thought in response to the letter.

 

11. A global strategy for shaping the post-COVID-19 world

atlanticcouncil.org · July 7, 2020

The graphic at the end asks and answers the question of why save a rules based order? 

 

12. Army Was Reviewing More Than Confederate Base Names, Officials Reveal

defenseone.com · by Kate Bo Williams

Was the Army thwarted from doing the right thing by a tweet?

 

13. Want Better Strategists? Start With a Better Definition of Strategy

realcleardefense.com · by Jeffrey Meiser and Patrick Quirk

I am surprised the authors do not reference the late Terry Deibel of the National War College and his seminal work on strategy. (see chapter one of his book Foreign Affairs Strategy, Chapter 1 Introduction - Defining Strategy:  )

But they are right that there is not a commonly accepted definition of strategy

 

14. History Shows That Sustained, Disruptive Protests Work

YES! Magazine · by Kevin A. Young

We are at an inflection point in US history. We just had the largest civil protests in our history.  Can those protests be turned into positive change?

Some interesting analysis below to which I am sure many will take exception.  But it is important to understand the author's thesis in today's context when there are some reports of polling that shows a majority of Americans actually support many of the goals of the protests (though some of those goals cause hard push back from some of the partisan tribes in the US).

 

15. Trump Pushed CIA to Give Intelligence to Kremlin, While Taking No Action Against Russia Arming Taliban

justsecurity.org · by Ryan Goodman · July 8, 2020

 

16.  Is Taiwan the Next Hong Kong?

Foreign Affairs · by Michael Green and Evan Medeiros · July 8, 2020

I certainly hope not. I think it could cause conflict.  This situation should be different in that despite its ejection from the UN and the One China Policy, Taiwan is de facto a sovereign state or at least it is more sovereign than Hong Kong ever was.  But as the authors note China seems to be more willing to take risks.

 

17. The Limits of Intuition: Army Intelligence Should Embrace Analytic Tradecraft Standards

warontherocks.com · by James Kwoun · July 8, 2020

I would add Clausewitz' concept of coup d'oeil (and the inward looking eye!) which is based on education and experience that allow commanders to make decisions in the fog and friction of war with less than perfect information.  As he said: "When all is said and done, it really is the commander's coup d'œil, his ability to see things simply, to identify the whole business of war completely with himself, that is the essence of good generalship." 

 

18. The U.S. Is Trying to Turn China Into the Next Iran

Bloomberg · by Eli Lake · July 9, 2020

The title is clickbait. But I think the subtitle sums it up. 

 

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"I've spent the last 25 years studying genocide. I've learned that the belief that human society is perfectible through the zealous application of ideology tends not to end well."

- Alex Bellamy

 

"When proven wrong, the wise man will correct himself and the ignorant will keep arguing."

- Ali ibn Abi Talib

 

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." 

- Robert Heinlein

 

Categories: News