For almost two decades policymakers, intelligence analysts,\ndefense planners and warfighters have focused on strategies and priorities\nbirthed on September 11, 2001. \u201cToday is\nSeptember 12, 2001\u201d was a sign posted in many offices and field operations. It\u2019s not September 12 anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There has been a generational shift in America. National security professionals whose mindset\nwas radically recalibrated with the 9-11 attacks have moved on or evolved. The country has moved on. The national attitude post 9-11 is gone. The popular focus is not on external threats\nbut on internal divisions. The Congress\nthat created the Department of Homeland Security is long gone. The Congress that approved the transfer of\nmilitary equipment to local and state police to prepare for terrorist threats\ninside the United States is long gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current narrative is that the United States needs to\nattend to internal problems. Some\nbelieve security and police forces are no longer essential to protecting America\nbut are threatening America. Of course,\nwe\u2019ve been here before–as any aging hippie will recall from the 60\u2019s and\n70\u2019s. Likewise those dubbed the \u201cSilent\nMajority\u201d by Richard Nixon have an opposing view. (Coincidentally, at the time, I stumbled upon\nthe use by Homer of \u201csilent majority\u201d in\nthe Odyssey but he was referring to the dead in contrast to the living. Somehow that stuck with me.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American internal unrest may be seen as a vulnerability to\nbe exploited and fanned by our enemies (do not doubt that we still have\nsuch). International security dynamics\nhave clearly changed. The threat of\nterrorism and the American Global War on Terror no longer the dominant defense\nplanning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are, or course, plenty of security risks. Curiously, many also echo of the 60\u2019s and\n70\u2019s. Russia is back as a real threat\nand even more so is \u201cRed China\u201d (or the \u201cChinese Communists\u201d). Fortunately, nuclear war has not re-emerged\nas the risk it once was. Screwing up\ninternational security management during the cold war could have incinerated the\nplanet (and in some cases nearly did). \nAnd Greta Thunberg would have had no issue\u2014nor have been afforded the\nopportunity to chastise all who preceded her by shrieking, \u201cHow dare you?\u201d Yes, Greta, it could have been worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we find ourselves with risks that derive from nation\nstates as well as global risks that can only be addressed by nation\nstates. China spent the decade of the\n2000\u2019s expanding its GDP at 10% a year. \nAmerica spent trillions (when a trillion was a lot) of dollars on\neconomically wasteful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, the happy face painted on\nglobalization was found to mask some major downsides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the mass of enthusiasm to respond to 9-11 is over. There will be divisive domestic infighting\nwith the upcoming elections and serious doubts will be fanned concerning the\nlegitimacy of the American system. The\npatchwork of groups and \u201ccommunities\u201d who all have leaders demanding to get\nwhat they deserve from the great American pie. \nSacrificing for the country is less fashionable now. Congress, reacting to the pandemic financial\ncrisis and eyeing the coming elections will spend like there is no tomorrow\n(giving Greta & Company another reason to say \u201cHow dare you?\u201d). These are times when Washington discounts the\nfuture pretty heavily\u2014but not permanently. Lurking beyond our shores, are growing\nexternal threats that can diminish the pie for everyone. They will not go unnoticed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may be appear that\nAmericans are consumed with demanding what their country can do for them and\nnot what they can do for their country. \nHowever, strategic planners in Beijing and Moscow should be careful in\nassessing American weakness. The\nunifying principles of America are not gone. \nChina and Russia will find that the United States will coalesce around\npolicies and strategies that serve the critical interests and principles\nAmerica and its allies share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For almost two decades policymakers, intelligence analysts, defense planners and warfighters have focused on strategies and priorities birthed on September 11, 2001. \u201cToday is September 12, 2001\u201d was a sign posted in many offices and field operations. It\u2019s not September … Continue reading