LexNextThe Lexington
Policy Blog
- Growing Cyber Threats Require U.S. Allies To Implement A Zero Trust Strategy (From RealClearDefense)
The U.S. military cannot fight a high-end conflict without a coalition of friends and allies. In order to conduct effective joint operations, all parties must be able to share information rapidly across secure networks. Unfortunately, adversaries such as China and Russia are conducting continuous cyberattacks on critical allied networks, often with significant success. For the U.S. to have confidence in [ Read More…]
- Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D
- The President’s Power To Launch Nuclear Weapons Highlights A Troubling Paradox In U.S. Strategy (From Forbes)
The U.S. president possesses sole authority to launch the nation’s nuclear weapons. That power is absolute; there is no test of competency, and no one beneath the president in the chain of command has the authority to countermand a launch order. Conversely, even in an extreme emergency, not one has the authority to countermand an order not to launch. The [ Read More…]
- Paul Steidler
- U.S. Department Of State And The Upcoming Universal Postal Union Extraordinary Congress
At today’s meeting of the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Postal Delivery Services, Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler applauded the State Department for its work in advocating for reform at the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and urged it to continue to do so. His remarks are below and in the PDF here. Let me begin by giving strong [ Read More…]
- Comments On Draft Merger Guidelines To FTC And U.S. Department Of Justice
Below are comments filed by the Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler to the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice’s docket on proposed new merger guidelines. The comments are also in the PDF document here and online as part of the docket here. The proposed merger guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice are disconcerting and indeed dangerous because they are so broad and hostile to business combinations that lead to economic growth, substantial innovation, job [ Read More…]
- The FDA’s Troubling Plans To Dispose Opioids Via The U.S. Mail
Read the full study as a PDF here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to launch a program in 2024 that will put hundreds of millions of opioid pills in the U.S. mail as consumers mail unused narcotics back to drug companies for destruction. At best, this will be an expensive, inefficient way to dispose of these highly addictive substances. It is quite likely a significant amount of opioids will be stolen and sold illegally, resulting in many [ Read More…]
- Five Reasons Navy Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers Will Play A Key Role In A War With China (From 1945)
In an age of global surveillance and long-range precision strike weapons, recent wargames have reanimated an old argument about the survivability of aircraft carriers. Critics have long asserted that large surface ships, especially aircraft carriers, are too vulnerable to play an effective role in a high-end conflict with China. But reality is much more complex than what wargames can reflect. The military forces on both sides are currently in a state of flux. The U.S. military is investing heavily in [ Read More…]
- The Army’s Most Important Warfighting Tool Isn’t A Weapon, It’s A Network (From Forbes)
The U.S. Army is in the midst of a generational transformation that will carry it from the industrial age into the digital era. The centerpiece of this shift isn’t a weapon system, it’s a warfighting network that enables what the service calls “multi-domain operations.” Without such a network, soldiers won’t know where enemy forces are or which weapons are best suited to defeating them. But it isn’t enough just to have a network; it has to be accessible, flexible, resilient [ Read More…]
- Army Heeds Lessons Of Ukraine, Rethinks How Abrams Tank Will Fight And Win Tomorrow’s Wars (From Forbes)
On July 28, Army acquisition chief Douglas Bush signed a decision memorandum signaling that his service will embark on an aggressive upgrade of the Abrams tank. When it begins fielding, the M1A3 variant of Abrams will be more lethal, more mobile, more survivable and more sustainable than any other main battle tank in the world. It has to be to fight and win in the kind of warfare the world is seeing today in Ukraine. I have written a commentary [ Read More…]
- Lessons From Ukraine: Command Posts Must Be More Agile (From 1945)
Without question, the war in Ukraine is full of lessons for observers and analysts willing to learn. Many of the takeaways focus on the impacts on warfare of new or advanced technologies and systems. These include the effects of long-range precision strike systems, the growing role of unmanned systems, the importance of air and missile defenses, and the need for highly sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities. One lesson for which sufficient data already exists is the vulnerability of traditional command posts (CPs). [ Read More…]
- Postal Service Must Immediately Fund Employee Pension Obligations (From FEDweek)
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is legally obligated to provide $5 billion in funding for its employees’ pensions by September 30. If it fails to do so, employees’ retirement benefits are at far greater risk, and a terrible precedent will be set that could seriously erode the value of these plans and even what employees receive. It would also send a clear signal that USPS’s finances are again in major trouble. As such, USPS’s Board of Governors, postal labor unions, [ Read More…]
- SNC Celebrates 60 Years As A Defense Industry Disruptor (From Forbes)
This year marks the 60th anniversary since the Sierra Nevada Corporation was founded. Halfway through the intervening timespan, it was taken over by Eren and Fatih Ozmen, who transformed it into one of the Pentagon’s most unusual suppliers–a privately-held, woman-owned business capable of competing with companies many times its size. As the company, which now prefers to call itself SNC, has piled up competitive wins, it has gradually taken on more ambitious projects. Now, it is positioning to win two [ Read More…]
- Celebrate This Labor Day, And Thank A Techie (From RealClearMarkets)
This year America should celebrate Labor Day with reckless abandon. While it is always appropriate to honor workers’ many contributions to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being, it is imperative now. All honest work deserves recognition and respect. Yet, America’s work ethic is under assault and ridicule on multiple fronts, with a growing number of politicians and academics aligning with old-fashioned hedonists. America’s tech sector, which has powered jobs and opportunities for tens of millions of Americans, is also under relentless [ Read More…]
- A War On Big Tech Is A Mistake: The FTC Is About To Repeat Mistakes Made During AT&T Breakup (From 1945)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), under the leadership of Lina Khan, has essentially gone to war against U.S. big tech. In the center of their target circle sit leading U.S. firms such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. These companies are driving the U.S. economy to new heights, creating tens of thousands of smaller businesses and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. They develop new technologies, provide unique and vital capabilities to the U.S. military and its intelligence community, and enhance [ Read More…]