"'At this point, the say-do gap is the problem,' said Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official who played a key role in developing the national defense strategy during the Trump administration. 'We have had prioritization of China for several years. But not enough has been done to translate that into reality, and the problem is alarmingly urgent…'" Read the full article here: Full Article
"'The rest of Syria’s problems are not going to go away,' said James Jeffrey, a former career foreign service officer who served as Trump’s point person on Syria. Putin won’t open the lifelines for free, Jeffrey warned… "Jeffrey recalled Russian negotiators attending previous bilateral talks with the United States over Syria with a long list of its own requests, including freezing sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and halting efforts to block other countries and international development agencies from investing in [...]
"Several NATO allies may be shifting nervously in their seats when President Joe Biden takes the floor at the alliance’s upcoming June 14 summit. Rather than deliver the usual lecture on the importance of equitable burden sharing and increased defense spending, the new U.S. president is more likely to reflect on NATO’s founding principles. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed in his first visit to NATO headquarters, 'We also have to hold one another [accountable] to the values at [...]
Michèle Flournoy discusses U.S. readiness in a renewed era of great power competition. Listen to the full podcast here: Full Podcast
"Michèle Flournoy, a senior defense official during the Obama administration, said military literature suggests that 'one of the most dangerous moments in any campaign is during a retrograde or a withdrawal under fire…'" Read the full article here: Full Article
"It seems fair to ask, then: Why is it necessary to define a president’s foreign policy 'doctrine' at all? Isn’t dealing with some 200 countries, not to mention transnational threats like climate change and terrorism, complicated enough to defy easy summarization? Why do pundits try so hard to impose order on the messy reality of governing? "'I don’t know, honestly,' said Michael Singh, a Middle East specialist who served in former President George W. Bush’s National Security Council. 'Maybe we’re trying [...]
"During the first decade of the 21st century, the U.S. defense department prioritized counterterrorism and counterinsurgency measures the Middle East and across the globe. A major shift in strategy began slowly but surely in 2012, driven partly by China’s more aggressive behavior and new military capabilities, including cyber and electronic weapons and precision missiles developed specifically to exploit US vulnerabilities. "Despite this shift in strategy, experts suggest that the Pentagon has not made the changes necessary to meet the threats posed [...]
"Sometimes you want to hear from the very top, and sometimes you want to get into the details. In the last couple of weeks, the U.S. Congress has done both, and each one teaches us something important about the way the Department of Defense (DoD) is planning to deal with climate change early in this Administration…" Read the full article here: Full Article
"The Defense Department’s (DOD) secretive artificial intelligence task force called Project Maven is moving to a new home within the Pentagon’s intelligence and security apparatus. Now Defense officials are looking for an industry partner to manage the transition and provide ongoing support for the program… "Project Maven, formally known as the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (AWCFT), was established in 2017 to 'accelerate the DOD’s integration of big data and machine learning,' then-Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work wrote in a memo. Maven’s [...]
"The Middle East has a way of imposing itself on American presidents and their administrations. Just ask President Joe Biden. With six phone calls to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, he understood, whatever his hopes, that his personal involvement was necessary to help produce the ceasefire. And, while a trip to the Middle East had not been on his agenda at this time, Secretary [...]