LexNextThe Lexington
Policy Blog
- Lexington: April 19, 1775
On April 19, the Lexington Institute honors our namesake historical event. On April 19, 1775, a company of 70 defiant Massachusetts militiamen met the British redcoats at Lexington and in the battle fired the “shot heard round the world.” The Minute Men militia been alerted, of course, by express riders Paul Revere and William Dawes. Dr. Joseph Warren, leader of [ Read More…]
- Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D.
- Washington Asked Beijing To Control Tehran (From CBS Radio)
Just last week, the State Department was calling their counterparts in China asking Beijing to use its influence with Iran to call off its attack on Israel. While the US had terrific intelligence and knew about the attack, which took place on Saturday, ahead of time, the State Department spent additional time trying to persuade China to convince Iran not [ Read More…]
- Robert J. Pedersen
- Key Takes On The U.S. Postal Service’s Turnaround Plan
The full text is below and can be found in the PDF here. By Robert J. Pedersen, Former USPS Finance Executive Three years ago, just nine months into Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s tenure, the Postal Service (USPS) unveiled its Delivering for America (DFA) plan, with forecasts of key financial indicators for 10 fiscal years,[1] 2021 through 2030. Annual data provide [ Read More…]
- Israel’s Near-Perfect Missile Success Had A Special Line Of Defense (From Fox News)
Diplomacy and deterrence failed, but on Saturday the U.S. military stepped in to help protect Israel against the unprecedented attack from Iran. A near-perfect missile defense, beginning with U.S. planes and warships, brought down 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles. Years of work on technology and training came together with a lot of tactical lessons learned from operations in the Red Sea since last fall. Young military officers and enlisted personnel from the U.S., Great Britain, France and Jordan just carried out [ Read More…]
- US Is ‘Not As Prepared’ As We Should Be Amid Israel-Iran Conflict: Arnold Punaro (From Fox Business)
Due to conflicts and tensions on multiple fronts around the world, the US military has to significantly enhance its deterrence capability. Not only that, the US has to reestablish credibility that it will actually use its deterrence measures. It is not enough for Iran to be told “Don’t” by President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Military leaders should never take options off the table. Watch the full video here.
- ‘Khanservatives’ Have Radical Economic Beliefs
The full text is below and can be found in the PDF here. By Paul Steidler Is there common ground among the most progressive elements of the Biden Administration and Senator Josh Hawley, Senator J.D. Vance, Congressman Matt Gaetz, and other Republicans? There is indeed. A lengthy and at times gushing March 25 Wall Street Journal article from Molly Ball and Brody Mullins, “Biden’s Trustbuster Draws Unlikely Fans: ‘Khanservative’ Republicans,” discussed the conservative members’ support for Lina Khan, Chair of the [ Read More…]
- Unexpected But Welcome: US Navy’s Amphibious Warship Plan Supported Across Political Parties & Government Branches (From Marine Link)
Here’s some good news for America’s sea power. While the U.S. Navy has initiated another review of its 30-year shipbuilding plan in the face of widespread dissatisfaction, one element within that plan has been praised: the decision to provide funding for continued construction of amphibious warfare ships. These vessels offer unmatched flexibility and the capability of transporting, deploying, and supporting ground combat forces – typically U.S. Marine Corps – to conduct amphibious assaults, humanitarian operations, or disaster relief missions. This [ Read More…]
- 5 Reasons Why A Top Chinese Hacker Gang And Their Friends Could Wreak Havoc On US (From Fox News)
You may never have heard of Threat Actor Storm-0558, but this top Chinese hacker gang broke into the State Department computer systems via Microsoft Exchange Online last spring and read emails for several weeks before Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Beijing. They also got to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, Rep. Don Bacon of Illinois, and 391 other Americans plus other government offices in the U.S. and Europe. Homeland Security is plenty mad at China [ Read More…]
- Low Earth Orbit Is A High-Value Domain (From RealClearDefense)
Low Earth Orbit – known as LEO – is the future for communications satellites. It’s also a high-value domain for national security. And it’s getting crowded. Elon Musk’s Starlink has over 5500 satellites on orbit and just launched 23 more Friday morning. Amazon is putting $10 billion into its LEO constellation named Kuiper that will build out to 3,236 satellites. To get half the constellation up by 2026, Amazon just carried out the largest-ever block buy of satellite launches. Then there is [ Read More…]
- Lina Khan’s “National Champions” Canard
We are pleased to announce the launch of our newsletter, LexNext Innovation Examiner which analyzes issues in the tech and national security nexus. The first edition, which reviews a major speech by Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to the Carnegie Endowment can be found in the PDF here. The text is also below. Lina Khan’s “National Champions” Canard Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan has launched a troubling, strange, and fundamentally misleading campaign against America’s leading defense and [ Read More…]
- USN: Carrier-Based Military Diplomacy Works (From CBS Eye On The World With John Batchelor)
Lexington Vice President Rebecca Grant discusses the Ford-class carriers with John Batchelor. Carrier deterrence is more important than ever as shown by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s deployment of two carriers to the Mideast in the Gaza crisis. China is building its Fujian-class for local air superiority around the South China Seas. US carriers are still survivable against Chinese missiles; speed and tactics of US carriers will keep them in the fight. Future carriers will also fly a lot more drones. Listen to [ Read More…]
- Army Budget Invests In Lessons From Ukraine With Focus On Deterring China (From Defense Opinion)
As Ukraine’s valiant fight against Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion enters its third year, the U.S. Army’s newly released fiscal 2025 budget incorporates the top lessons from combat in Ukraine and sends a powerful message as a deterrent against possible conflict with China. Here are four key insights about the budget starting with munitions, air defense and armored vehicles and culminating with the rising dominance of deep sensing, which is the collection of data to support targeting, situational awareness and decision-making.
- Against All Odds, Army Making Solid Progress On Modernization (From RealClearDefense)
Today the United States and the U.S. Army are once again positioning for a two-front war, as we did in the Spanish American war, World War Two, and during the Cold War. The U.S. is the chief outside architect of the assistance to Ukraine as it battles Russia. Meanwhile, we and our friends in Asia prepare for what many believe will be an inevitable clash of arms with China. While some think the U.S. Army should not become a big [ Read More…]