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.
Iran’s Trolling Caught the U.S. Off Guard. Here’s How to Push Back.
English Summary
Iran has developed an effective information campaign using culturally savvy memes, AI-generated videos, and sarcastic social media posts that exploit weaknesses in traditional U.S. counter-messaging approaches. Official Iranian accounts generated massive engagement (900 million views in 50 days), particularly through Lego-style AI videos depicting Iranian military victories and U.S. humiliation, demonstrating that entertainment-focused content is harder to counter than traditional deceptive propaganda since one cannot fact-check a joke. To respond, the U.S. should build real-time threat intelligence from AI labs, disrupt covert networks while accepting open messaging, leverage information about Iranian repression, and renew public service media to rebuild soft power—while avoiding the reputational costs of covert influence operations.
中文摘要
伊朗開發出了一種有效的資訊戰役，利用具有文化洞察力的迷因（memes）、AI生成影片，以及帶有諷刺意味的社群媒體貼文，來發掘傳統美國反制訊息策略的弱點。官方伊朗帳號透過這些內容產生了巨大的參與度（50天內達到9億觀看次數），特別是透過描繪伊朗軍事勝利和美國屈辱的Lego風格AI影片。這證明了以娛樂為導向的內容，比傳統的虛假宣傳更難應對，因為人們無法對一個笑話進行事實查核。為應對此趨勢，美國應從AI實驗室建立即時威脅情報，在接受公開訊息傳遞的同時，擾亂秘密網絡；利用有關伊朗壓迫的資訊；並重振公共服務媒體以重建軟實力——同時必須避免秘密影響行動所帶來的聲譽成本。
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