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.
A Review of Coast Guard Waterways Safety Risk Assessment Tools
English Summary
The U.S. Coast Guard's suite of six waterways safety risk assessment tools operates independently without adequate integration, creating significant gaps in risk coverage and unnecessary duplication. Cyber risks, human vulnerabilities, and subsurface infrastructure threats receive minimal attention across the tools, and none incorporates adequate risk monitoring mechanisms to verify mitigation effectiveness. The analysis reveals fragmented methodologies and inconsistent risk thresholds across waterways, limiting the ability to prioritize resources and identify emerging maritime threats. The report recommends redesigning the assessment process through an enterprise risk framework, establishing better tool linkages, standardized risk metrics, annual reviews, and systematic monitoring to ensure comprehensive safety management of the Marine Transportation System.
中文摘要
美國海岸防衛隊的六套水路安全風險評估工具各自獨立運作，缺乏充分整合，造成風險涵蓋範圍出現重大缺口並導致不必要的重複。網路風險、人為脆弱性和水下基礎設施威脅在各項工具中受到的關注最少，且沒有任何工具納入充分的風險監測機制，以驗證風險緩解措施的有效性。分析顯示各水路間存在碎片化的方法論和不一致的風險臨界值，限制了優先分配資源和識別新興海事威脅的能力。報告建議通過整體風險框架重新設計評估流程，建立更好的工具連結、標準化風險指標、年度審查及系統性監測，確保海事運輸系統的全面安全管理。
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