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.
Between Two Orders
English Summary
The global system is in a 'Gramscian interregnum,' driven by two tectonic shifts: a rapid redistribution of global power from the West to the East and South, and the socioeconomic dislocation caused by the digital age and automation. This confluence of factors is fueling great power competition, unraveling globalized markets, and spiking domestic inequality in developed democracies. For the U.S. to stabilize, its grand strategy must adopt a dual focus: promoting pluralistic cooperation to anchor the transition to a multipolar world, and fundamentally redesigning its social contract to prepare citizens for the digital economy and rebuild the political center.
中文摘要
全球體系正處於一個「格拉姆齊式的間期」（Gramscian interregnum），其驅動動力來自兩場結構性巨變：一是全球權力從西方向東方和南方快速重新分配；二是數位時代與自動化所導致的社會經濟失序。這兩股力量的匯合，正在加劇大國競爭、瓦解全球化市場，並推高已開發民主國家內部的不平等。對於美國而言，若要實現穩定，其宏觀戰略必須採取雙重重點：一方面，推動多元合作以錨定邁向多極世界的轉型；另一方面，根本性地重塑其社會契約，以使公民為數位經濟做好準備，並重建政治中心。
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