US National Security Research Articles

Cold War 2.0? Navigating economic development under increased geopolitical tensions

ABSTRACT In December 2017, the US National Security Strategy introduced the notion of a “new era of strategic competition,” describing its once-close economic partner, China, as an “adversary,” “rival” and “strategic competitor.” Some foreign policy analysts point to a looming second cold war – this time between the United States and China. This paper synthesizes the emerging literature in this area, acknowledges the ongoing debates on whether a new cold war has dawned, and draws on insights from the first cold war precisely to establish key differences in contexts. It concludes by outlining some initial policy guidelines for countries navigating the present geopolitical context.

A Labyrinth of Public Information

Given the proliferation of electronic records in government agencies, public records are an increasingly valuable source of information for research, advocacy, and public oversight. Using an information management framework, this article reviews practices by four organizations in the US (National Security Archive, University of Washington Center for Human Rights, MuckRock, and Reclaim the Records) to request, manage, and use the information obtained through public access requests. Through case studies, findings pinpoint key obstacles and opportunities to strengthen research and advocacy using Freedom of Information laws, and how users of public records can shift from individual one-time pursuits of records to broader, ongoing and collaborative initiatives.

The US National Security State and Big Tech: frenemy relations and innovation planning in turbulent times*

I analyze the relation between what Weiss (2014) dubbed the United States National Security State (US NSS) and US Big Tech focusing on artificial intelligence (AI). I argue that the US NSS was an innovation planner until the 1990s and advance the hypothesis that, amid that vacuum, this millennium has seen the emergence of AI planning by US Big Tech. This has resulted in tensions with the US NSS given the centrality of AI in the military–industrial complex and ultimately for buttressing American primacy, which has always been the US NSS’s main goal. Amid today’s global turbulence, this tension has leaned towards a strategic yet asymmetric alliance that I define as a frenemy relation. Beyond the tit-for-tat between the US NSS and Big Tech companies, their experiences as innovation planners open space for prefiguring an alternative, a democratic way of planning innovation for the common good.

The Relationship between US-China Semiconductor Friction and US National Security: A Realism Perspective.

The Relationship between US-China Semiconductor Friction and US National Security: A Realism Perspective.

International terrorism and US national security

International terrorism and US national security

THE INDIA-US-CHINA TRIANGLE: CRAFTING THE BLUEPRINT FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER

The strategic triangle established by China, the US, and India has sparked a renewed discussion in modern international relations study on the implications of their interactions for the formation of a new world order. The fundamental characteristics of the trilateral relationship of India, US and China inevitably lead to a mixture of conflict and collaboration, as well as feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and reluctance. The border dispute between China and India, coupled with their recent economic and technological advancements, has concerned strategists and experts in foreign policy about the potential for the conflict to escalate and the threat it poses to the US so called peaceful post-cold war global order. The conversation about the narratives of the emerging world order has been reignited by the visit of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to India on June 13, 2023; Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China on June 18, 2023; and Prime Minister Modi's State visit to the USA on June 21–24, 2023. Therefore, the study is an attempt to comprehend the emergence of a new international order with the relative ascendance of China and India, the rise in the narratives about the declining influence of the United States, and the antagonistic relationship between China and India on the one hand coupled with confrontational attitude of China-US on the other hand.

Leveraging national security: private equity and bankruptcy in the United States defense industry

Abstract Defense contractors play an essential role in US security operations. Among other responsibilities, contractors manufacture arms, manage logistics, analyze intelligence, and carry out cybersecurity operations. Historically, defense contractors were either publicly traded corporations or privately owned companies. The past two decades, however, have seen a major shift in the ownership structure of the US defense industry. Private equity firms—once niche actors in the US national security marketplace—have carried out over 1,500 deals involving defense contractors since 2000. This study employs a mixed-methods research design to assess the effects of private equity investment on the financial stability of the US defense industry. Using data on over 8,000 defense contractors, the inquiry finds that contractors with private equity backing experience bankruptcy at higher rates than contractors with no prior private equity investment. In addition, the study evaluates private equity activity in the military satellite services market—a field of growing importance in the strategically important domain of outer space. The inquiry’s findings have notable international security implications. Given the US’ role as a lynchpin in numerous alliances around the world, higher rates of bankruptcy among defense contractors have the potential to affect the security of the United States and its allies.

Trauma and Unaccompanied Child Migration in US History: Reflections from the Archives

Abstract: Through detailed analysis of archival records, Anita Casavantes Bradford traces the history of the clinical, academic, and popular understandings of trauma as it influenced US immigration policy for unaccompanied migrant children during the twentieth century. She questions why adults charged with the care of unaccompanied minors have "(mis)understood … (mis)managed … and (mis)represented" children as traumatized, both unintentionally and deliberately, in order to advance adult objectives. Casavantes Bradford provides a historical overview of US immigration and refugee polices since the 1930s as applied to unaccompanied migrant children. This history also traces the evolution of clinical and popular definitions of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—officially recognized by psychologists in 1980—and suggests that policies for managing and mitigating trauma among unaccompanied minors often led to negative consequences. These polices, above all, were often based on geopolitical and domestic political considerations rather than the welfare of children, according to Casavantes Bradford. Thus, during the 1980s, unaccompanied minors from Haiti and Central America reaching the United States faced detention and deportation, while Sudanese "lost boys" were granted preferential treatment that aligned with US national security interests in Africa. Since the 1930s, markers of difference such as race, class, and religion have also played fundamental roles in which unaccompanied minors have been given the "right to be traumatized" and resettlement. Casavantes Bradford cautions researchers against interpreting migrant children's experiences through biased or ahistorical notions of trauma that oversimplify individual young people's experiences and their potential resilience. Historians and others should critically examine their own assumptions when studying trauma and the experiences of unaccompanied migrant children.

The Pinkerton Pause: how opposition to pinkertonism delayed the advent of the privatized security state

ABSTRACT Why has the privatization of US national security been a feature of recent history? Scholars have pointed to the need for rapid security expansion post 9/11 and to changes in economic and political ideology. As a supplementary reason, this article proposes the ending of the ‘Pinkerton Pause’, 1893–1977. Following the Homestead debacle of 1892, Congress passed the Anti-Pinkerton Act, banning detective agencies from federal service and effectively inhibiting the privatization of national security. Attempts at repeal failed. However, the US Court of Appeals Equifax decision of 1977 prepared the way for change.

The UK-US Special Relationship through the lens of strategic documents

The article is devoted to an analysis of the current British-American relations and their compliance with the previously established “special” status. The research subject is the current strategic documents of the countries – the UK Integrated Review Refresh 2023 and the US National Security Strategy 2022. A detailed study of the above documents allowed to identify the states’ strategic priorities, common interests, as well as the difference in positioning on the international scene and approaches to bilateral relations. Considering the need to compare the above declared strategies and practically implemented actions to get a complete view of the current UK-US relations, the author examines in detail the agreements reached between the states after the latest publication of the strategic documents, as well as the international agenda affecting bilateral relations. The methodological basis of the research is comparative analysis and content analysis. These methods, as well as systemic analysis enabled a comprehensive assessment of the current UK-US relations. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the article is the first to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of the UK Integrated Review Refresh 2023 and the US National Security Strategy 2022. The research gained insight into bilateral relations status, as well as into the states’ strategic priorities, which may be useful for further research focusing on the UK and the US. The main conclusion of the study is that the “special relationship” continues to be important for both countries in promoting national interests. Although the term is not mentioned in considering strategic documents, the states’ common strategic priorities create the basis for further partnership. The strategic arrangements and the benefits that the UK and the US derive allow to the relationship remain “special”.

Foreign economic policy as a priority for ensuring US national security

Giving US foreign trade policy the importance of one of the basic elements of the modern national security strategy of the United States has objectively determined a significant coincidence of the positions of the Democratic and Republican parties on the most fundamental issues of building trade and economic ties with foreign counterparties. The fact that there is no alternative to such a bipartisan consensus is a natural reaction to the ongoing profound transformations in the world economy under the influence of the processes of formation of a new architecture of the global multipolar world order and is aimed at ensuring economic stability and the national interests of the United States. Both parties are based on the destruction of the boundaries between domestic and foreign policy while defending the interests of the country's national security and the end of the era of globalization and neoliberal economic policies.

INTEGRATED DETERRENCE: RELEVANCE & IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTH ASIA

The US National Security Strategy of 2022 introduced a relatively new concept of Integrated Deterrence (ID) that will likely impact security discourse amongst global rivals such as the US, China, and Russia while affecting the strategic thinking of relatively smaller powers like India, Pakistan, and others. With an expanded scope and objectives, ID aims to build and integrate the entire spectrum of capabilities of the US, its allies, and partners against the perceived threat from China and possibly Russia. Resultantly, the paper focuses on implications of ID for security and strategic stability in South Asia. India, being a major strategic partner with the will to play a significant role in the US-led China containment strategy, is likely to be a major beneficiary of the new US posture of ID. With enhanced and integrated military capabilities, India is likely to adopt a more hostile posture towards its neighbours, especially Pakistan, thus forcing the latter to develop options in the form of 'Integrated Response', to help maintain strategic stability in the region without indulging in an arms race, and by maintaining neutrality in the evolving US-China great power competition. Bibliography Entry Sultan, Adil, Faraz Haider and Shayan Hassan Jamy. 2023. "Integrated Deterrence: Relevance & Implications for South Asia." Margalla Papers 27 (2): 71-84.

미국의 나토 확장과 그 대안들에 대한 평가

Why did the United States push for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) enlargement into Eastern Europe after the Cold War? Has this effort aided or undermined US national security? Moreover, what were the roads not taken at Cold War’s end: What alternatives to NATO enlargement at it occurred were possible after 1990-1991, and what benefits and drawbacks might each of these options have entailed? These alternatives to NATO enlargement help define the plausible roads not traveled when it comes to post-Cold War European security. In turn, evaluating how these options may have operated, and what their prospective merits and drawbacks entailed, helps us understand the actual course, conduct, and outcomes of post-Cold War European security. After all, many scholars and practitioners views NATO enlargement as the “original sin” that set the trajectory of Russian-Western relations toward their current deleterious state. Still, missing in these discussions is a serious assessment of the merits and drawbacks of the policy chosen compared with the alternatives considered. In this paper, there are three parts to take up this task. First, I describe the key decision points that progressively created the policy of NATO enlargement over the past three decades. I then evaluate the rationale for the policy chosen and outline its costs and benefits. Finally, I consider the alternatives that were raised inside and outside the US government and suggest the costs and benefits of those approaches. My focus in this paper is narrowly on sharpening the parameters of the debate on NATO expansion in ways that can inform scholarly evaluations and highlight future policy options.

РАТ КОЈИ ЈЕ ИЗБИО СА ТРИ ДЕЦЕНИЈЕ ДОЦЊЕ

The paper gives arguments for the thesis that, from the perspective of Russian geopolitical interests and their protection, the military intervention in Ukraine was inevitable and came with the delay of three decades. On the one hand, it is a direct consequence of the USSR breakup and the NATO encirclement of Russia, through extending the North Atlantic Alliance to the former member-countries of the Warsaw Pact, some of the former member-states of the USSR (the Baltic countries), as well as all the former Yugoslav republics (except for Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). On the other hand, it is the result of building new state identities in the anti-Russian narrative, with the violence exerted against ethnic Russians and Russophones, which was particularly pronounced in Ukraine. At the same time, the West pursued a perfidious policy towards Russia. The three-decade delay is the consequence of the illusions cherished by the West and of untimely Russian learning the lessons from the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, for which the West is most directly responsible. Concurrently, the attitude towards the compatriots who remained outside the borders of Russia also partly explains Russian policy during the Yugoslav crisis in the last decade of the 20th century. The ultimate goal of such Western policy is in the idea of achieving the “breakthrough to the East” via breaking up Russia (“decolonization of Russia”) and, furthermore, via breaking up China, which was declared as the sole global competitor of the USA in the latest US National Security Strategy from 2022. Key words: disintegration of the USSR, breakup of the SFRY, Russia, Ukraine, genesis and causes of the ethnic conflict, 2022 Russian military intervention.

Russia specialists panel of the Trump administration national security council

The article presents the state of the Russia Group (Russia specialist’s panel) of the National Security Council (NSC) Staff in the Donald Trump Administration term. The point at issue is officer’s group in charge of US-Russian relations. The article chronological framework - from January 2017 to January 2021. The essay’s focus on the personalities who held the Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs incumbency in the NSC office. Fiona Hill, Timothy Morrison, Andrew Peek, Tom Williams and Ryan Tully held it position the period under review. The article consciously thinks the NSC Russia Ring main functionality and its role in the Donald Trump Administration foreign policy priorities. The special attention had given to the NSC Russian Directorate personnel changes under the Donald Trump Cabinet. Their main reasons are considered. The research paper also analyzes the US National Security Advisors and Senior Directors for European and Russian Affairs relationship system under the Donald Trump presidency. The article considered the National Security Advisor John Bolton influential role on the NSC Russia Group political mood and professional activities.

American approaches to the post-crisis world order

The article attempts to analyze American approaches to building a world order that would meet the interests of Washington in the post-crisis era. According to the current US National Security Strategy (2022), the modern world order is characterized by a sharp escalation of contradictions between the US and countries such as Russia, China and Iran, while each of these centers of power has its own vision of a just international order, which generates the energy of conflict and leads to the use of force below the level of open hostilities. After a brief historical digression about the causes of the current crisis, the author proceeds to the study of the American vision of the international system, then analyzes the strategy by which the United States will seek to ensure a post-crisis settlement on its own terms. The article substantiates the conclusions about the causes of the current crisis; about the US strategy that will allow Washington to solve the tasks facing it at the present stage; about American approaches to the post-crisis world order.

US Republicans and the New Fusionism

AbstractUS Republicanism and conservatism were structured around ‘fusionism’ from the 1950s onwards. Disparate ideas and interests were ‘fused’ in a broad coalitional bloc that was based upon a commitment to free markets, moral or cultural traditionalism and a commitment to US national security, as well as global power projection. There have, however, been significant shifts in recent years as many Republicans have turned against the larger corporations which appear to have little loyalty to the US heartland and are, it is said, guilty of embracing ‘woke’ ideology: that ideology has become the focus of cultural conservatism, with wedge issues such as trans‐rights a constant theme. In addition, many Republicans have either embraced or acquiesced in, a conspiracist sub‐culture. If foreign policy is considered, national security has been redefined in more restricted and overtly realist terms. Consequently, there has been a repudiation of earlier neoconservative efforts to spread market democracy. All these strands of thought are tied together by an impatience of, or at times disdain for, the checks and balances that define US political processes. Political actors across almost all sections of the right, but most notably candidates for federal office, have had to restructure their platforms and subscribe to these reconfigurations of Republican thinking and the ‘new fusionism’. Although these ideas have a ‘thin’ character, they represent a significant shift away from the thinking of figures such as former House Speaker, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, who defined conservatism and Republicanism just a few years ago. For the most part, their efforts to roll back federal government entitlement programmes such as Medicare, and create a much leaner state, have been abandoned. The article argues that the new fusionism is becoming increasingly embedded and therefore marks a long‐run shift in Republican thinking that is likely to endure, regardless of Donald Trump's political fortunes.

Securitization, frame alignment, and the legitimation of US chip export controls on China

This article examines how the Biden administration sought to legitimate the wide-ranging chip export controls on China (introduced on 7 October 2022) and to convince allies to adopt similar measures. Grounded in a qualitative analysis of US official documents, this study not only draws out the overarching rationale advanced by US officials: China’s unregulated access to advanced chips constitutes a major threat to the US and allied security. More importantly, leveraging insights from frame alignment, it uncovers the underlying patterns and dynamics of the legitimation-cum-securitization process. Substantively, US officials insisted on viewing US technological leadership and the escalation of export controls through the security lens, associated China’s (mis)use of advanced chips with the erosion of US technological supremacy, military security and national security at large, and framed blocking China’s access to advanced chips as critical for the security of the US and allies. This analysis offers broad insights into the contestation and legitimation of an increasingly common yet potentially pernicious phenomenon in US-China relations: enacting techno-economic sanctions in the name of national security.

The Small Wars Doctrine of the US Marine Corps and Colonial Experience of the European Powers

The rapid transformation of the current world order excites renewed interest of the expert community in the phenomenon of empire (as a form of the organization of political life). And since the United States plays a central role in this transformation, the history of the Pax Americana, its formation and development, both at the level of the idea and in the field of real politics is of particular relevance. The author argues that clarification of the role and significance of the colonial background in the projection of US military-political power in the late 19th — early 21st centuries allows for better understanding of the theory and practice of international relations both in the era of ‘high imperialism’ and world wars of the 20th century, and in the context of transition from global colonial empires to nuclear superpowers. It may also be instrumental in addressing the deepening contradictions between advocates of a ‘global leadership’ concept and proponents of a multipolar world during the post-Cold War period. In this regard, the paper examines the works of the US military theorists of the late 19th − first half of the 20th centuries that focused on the colonial experience of the leading European powers, as well as the experience gained from interventions involving the US Army and Marine Corps. Special emphasis is given to the concept of ‘small wars’. Building on a wide array of primary sources, presented both by the works of military experts, direct participants in various counterinsurgency operations in the colonies, as well as by the teaching materials and field manuals of the US Marine Corps, the author traces the evolution of this concept which implied establishment of external management and/or control through military and police measures. This allows the author to restore the historical genealogy of current models of internal security promoted in American foreign policy in conditions of proliferating, protracted, and increasingly hybrid civil conflicts. The author concludes that in the interwar period the US law enforcement agencies pragmatically implemented the relevant experience of global empires in Latin American countries within the framework of the Monroe Doctrine, while regarding European powers as political rivals. It is noted that conflicting imperatives of asymmetric and conventional threats to US national security urge researchers and practitioners to revisit after a post-Vietnam period of neglect the approaches of colonial empires to the conduct of small wars and to adapt them to modern conditions. The findings broaden the understanding of the modern leading powers’ approaches to internal security models transfer, as well as of its limits.

Information Security Management: American Experience

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive analysis of the American concept of threats to information security and determination of priority areas of the US’s activity in creating a secure national cyberspace. The methodological basis of the study is general scientific and special methods of cognition, in particular, systemic approach, analysis, synthesis, and logical method. Methods of content analysis, comparative and analytical monitoring of Internet resources of US government bodies responsible for information security are also used. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the expansion of ideas about theoretical aspects in the field of information security and the systematic analysis of instrumental, conceptual foundations and practical aspects of information security in the United States. Conclusions. The globalisation of information systems has created a completely new situation in the security field. In cyberspace the main threat to the US national security comes from states and intermediaries acting in their interests. They have the necessary skills and technologies to carry out destructive cyberattacks for military and political purposes, and also effectively use cyberespionage methods, which not only entails economic losses, but also causes great damage to strategically important industries for the US. The American concept covers such three key levels of cyber security as the state, private business and individual users. There are such defence priorities for the United States as ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure, information networks and systems; quality control of used IT equipment; formation of effective mechanisms of interlevel communication and raising awareness at all levels. An important component of the US National Cyber Strategy is international cooperation on information security issues. In this regard, at the international level the United States seeks to implement such opportunities as to encourage countries to increase responsibility for ensuring the security of information systems and networks at the national and global level; to create the legal regime necessary to ensure cross-border access to information; to form a regime of collective cyber defence within the framework of NATO and other bilateral and multilateral agreements with strategic partners; to preserve the maximum possible freedom of action in cyberspace in order to conduct all types of information operations both during military conflicts and in peacetime. Keywords: cyberspace, information threat, information war, information security, information management, informatisation, ICT.