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.
How I Got My Career in Foreign Policy: David J. Scheffer
English Summary
David J. Scheffer's career demonstrates how individual commitment transformed international norms around accountability for atrocity crimes, from accepting impunity in 1993 to making justice a permanent policy fixture. Working under Madeleine Albright at the UN, Scheffer pioneered the creation of five major war crimes tribunals (Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, and the ICC) that shifted accountability from a marginalized concept to a core international law principle. His on-the-ground experiences witnessing mass atrocities' immediate aftermath—including traumatized victims in Sierra Leone and Rwanda—deeply motivated his persistent efforts despite significant government resistance and UN Security Council reluctance to fund repeated institutions. The article illustrates how post-Cold War cooperation enabled the development of international justice mechanisms that now permanently factor into policy deliberations, though enforcement challenges remain against powerful actors like Russia. Scheffer's legacy underscores both the transformational potential of institutional innovation in international law and the ongoing struggle to translate accountability norms into actual justice.
中文摘要
大衛·謝弗（David J. Scheffer）的職業生涯展現了個人堅定承諾如何改變國際社會對暴行罪責的規範，從1993年接受有罪不罰的現狀轉變為將司法制度作為永久性政策支柱。謝弗在馬德琳·奧爾布賴特的領導下於聯合國工作期間，開創性地推動建立了五個主要國際戰爭罪法庭（前南斯拉夫、盧旺達、塞拉利昂、柬埔寨和國際刑事法院），使問責制從邊緣概念轉變為國際法的核心原則。親身經歷大規模暴行的直接後果——包括在塞拉利昂和盧旺達目睹創傷倖存者——深刻激勵了他的持續努力。儘管面臨政府的重大阻力和聯合國安全理事會對設立多個機構的資金不足態度，他仍未放棄。該文表明，冷戰後的國際合作推動了國際司法機制的發展，這些機制現已成為政策審議中的永久要素，儘管對俄羅斯等強大行為體的執法仍面臨挑戰。謝弗的遺產強調了國際法制度創新的變革潛力，以及將問責規範轉化為實際司法的持續鬥爭。
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