Key summary:

Trump’s Second Term: The Personalization of the Military and Implications for National Security - Georgetown Law - Center on National Security By Carrie A. Lee

Re-upping this piece I published last year on Trump’s efforts to not just politicize but personalize military leadership.

nationalsecurity.law.georgetown.edu/journal/2025...

Hegseth Fires Army Chief Amid Battle With Its Leaders

Firing senior officers for cause is one thing. Firing them repeatedly on this scale and with no explanation is unprecedented in our nation's history.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/u...

AEI is making a fired flags tracker so you can assess the replacements are more political. Coles out Monday.

Years ago our admin did a red and black report. It took salaries & how much $ each instructor made in tuition $ for classes we taught-you were in the red or black. They released numbers once & shut it down bc humanities were producing huge $ for uni & engineers, business and scientists were losing $

If you were surprised by the men’s Olympic hockey team locker room, you obviously weren’t watching any of the interviews during the competition. Patel’s presence with those guys is the least surprising thing about these Olympics.

My friend @gowder.io and his colleagues are brilliant and unflinching here. I’m sorry to be late to it but this is an outstanding piece of critical analysis that has lessons well beyond the current debate over birthright citizenship.

publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/20...

Was it worth it, Bridge? Was this dumpster-fire of a "strategy" document worth prostrating yourself for white supremacists and those committed to destroying almost every source of American strength? What a tragedy.

media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/23/...

Thus far, I've felt that ROK has been a model for how to both repulse would-be authoritarianism and enforce accountability, but this feels like a pretty extreme move that reveals more weaknesses in South Korean democracy than strengths.

Monkeys Are on the Loose in St. Louis, City Officials Say

There are an unknown number of monkeys of unknown origin on the loose in St. Louis. I'm sure this ends well.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/u...

Venezuela’s civil-military alliance is being stretched — if it breaks, numerous armed groups may be drawn into messy split How various factions respond to the Trump administration’s threat to be the de facto ruler of the country could quickly inflame domestic tensions and lead to conflict.

Outstanding summary of the civil-military tensions and issues at play in Venezuela right now by Rebecca Hanson and Veronica Zubillaga.

Summary: things are fragile right now.

Indeed, the greatest tell of whether someone has actually read/internalized Thucydides is if during times like this, they quote the Melian dialogue unironically.

Hint: it’s a warning not a celebration.

On Lawfare Daily, Loren Voss spoke to @kschake.bsky.social and @carriealee.bsky.social about how they assess a healthy civil-military relationship, the current state of civil-military affairs, potential unlawful orders, and what we should watch going forward. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

The US National Security Strategy: Implications for Europe and for Washington's Global Priorities This virtual briefing on the newly released US National Security Strategy will explore the document’s key priorities; their meaning for US engagement in the world; international reaction; and implicat...

Join us on Thursday morning for a discussion of the new National Security Strategy, the National Defense Authorization Act, and their implications for the Transatlantic relationship. Am excited to join my colleagues to discuss the future of transatlantic security!

www.gmfus.org/event/us-nat...

Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-19 on Karlin, The Inheritance H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Roundtable Review 17-19 Mara E. Karlin, The Inheritance: America’s Military After Two Decades of War. Brookings Institution Press, 2022.

Terrific new roundtable review for the H-Diplo Jervis Forum on Mara Karlin's outstanding book, The Inheritance. An all-star lineup of reviewers in Peter Feaver, @klkuzminski.bsky.social, @profjessblankshain.bsky.social, and Paula Thornhill! Read closely and in full!

issforum.org/roundtables/...

The Trump National Security Strategy is an act of vandalism against the things that actually make our country strong, safe, and prosperous.

Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.

6. NDS. I expected a lot of daylight between the NSS and NDS, particularly on China, because I assumed the NDS would be a much more serious document. But after Hegseth's RDF speech, I'm not so sure. If I were partners and allies in Asia, I'd be watching the NDS very closely. 13/13

The sovereignty sections of the NSS might as well have been CCP talking points. Hegseth's declaration that we must "respect" China's military modernization is a gift to Beijing. Together, it is the closest the US has come to outright capitulation to the PRC on every issue it cares about. 12/

5. China. The NSS barely mentions China's territorial ambitions in the IndoPacific, fails to name it as the single greatest threat to US security, and contains absolutely no mention of China's growing nuclear modernization. Hegseth's speech at RDF is similarly shocking. 11/

Given that Africa is set to have 3bn people by 2070, this is shockingly short-sighted. As for LA, the US has spent a century trying to recover from its 19thC exploitation and rebuild trust in the region. This NSS destroys all of that, and will have generational consequences for US-LA relations. 10/

4. Neo-colonialism. The sections on the Western Hemisphere and Africa are explicitly exploitative in orientation. The only value those regions have to the U.S., according to this doc, is there natural resources, while the people themselves are a security threat to the U.S. 9/

What's more, if I were reading this NSS from Taipei I'd be exploring all kinds of options for alternative security guarantees and arrangements. This is a document that, by describing Taiwanese value in terms of economic stability, opens the door to sell out the Taiwanese people. 8/

I have been skeptical of those who argue that we are in 1938, just waiting for the 3rd world war to start in the Pacific. But the NSS makes the likelihood that we are in fact in 1932 a far better analogy--but this time aided and abetted by the United States itself. 7/

They are being compelled to rearm and increase defense spending in response to the Russian threat while then also facing the extreme likelihood that they may then have to hand that powerful military over to Neo-Nazi groups intent on forcibly implementing white supremacy. 6/

3. Alliances. The NSS explicitly echoes the talking points of far-right Neo-Nazi parties that have begun to take hold in Europe, while simultaneously demanding that Europe re-arm. This points European leaders in an impossible and extraordinarily dangerous situation: 5/

2. The NSS offers a theory of security that is set on destroying the sources of American power. It spits on existing alliance structures, promotes Neo-colonialism through the exploitation of LA and Africa, and downplays the single greatest threat to US prosperity: the People's Republic of China. 4/

Watching so-called experts absolutely debase themselves by ignoring this central organizing principle in their analysis is one of the saddest and most offensive things I have seen in my career. The lack of moral courage and clarity is nothing short of astonishing. 3/

A National Security Strategy is meant to develop and identify a state's theory of security. This document clearly communicates that the Trump administration's theory of security is that the US is safer when it is run and dominated by white Christians. 2/

A few thoughts on the new NSS, expert responses, and upcoming NDS.

1. The first talking point for every expert should have been that this is an overtly white nationalist document that spits on every American ideal of meritocracy, the innate value of human life, and self-determination.

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