The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Nigeria’s Islamist Reckoning
English Summary
The article argues that recent terrorist attacks in southwestern Nigeria—including student abductions and teacher executions—reveal an Islamist insurgency with explicit theological goals rather than isolated criminal acts. Key evidence includes symbolic beheadings, demands for Sharia law implementation, and attacks in non-pastoral areas with no farmer-herder conflict history, undermining the prevailing "farmer-herder clash" explanation. The Tinubu administration's increased defense spending and U.S. military collaboration have yielded tactical successes, including elimination of ISIS's second-in-command, but defeating an eschatological enemy seeking abolition of the secular state will require sustained international cooperation, realistic timeframes, and coordinated action with Sahelian neighbors.
中文摘要
該文章主張，奈及利亞西南部最近的恐怖襲擊事件——包括學生綁架和教師處決——揭露了具有明確神學目標的伊斯蘭主義叛亂，而非孤立的犯罪行為。關鍵證據包括象徵性斬首、對實施伊斯蘭法的要求，以及在無牧民與農民衝突歷史的非牧區的襲擊，這削弱了盛行的「農民與牧民衝突」解釋。廷烏布政府增加的國防支出和美國軍事合作已取得戰術成功，包括消滅伊斯蘭國第二號人物，但要擊敗尋求廢除世俗國家的末世論敵人，將需要持續的國際合作、現實的時間框架，以及與薩赫勒鄰國的協調行動。
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