American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research:update

 

The Rundown News and analysis from AEI's Foreign and Defense Policy team.

Scholar Insight

On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled sweeping changes to the Pentagon’s acquisitions system and bureaucracy while chiding industry leaders to prioritize speed and efficiency. AEI’s William C. Greenwalt notes:

“Secretary Hegseth in his November 7 speech at the National War College accurately outlined what needs to be done to create an innovative and productive industrial base and an agile acquisition and defense export system able to compete against China. The challenges to actually doing this are monumental. The workforce is unprepared for the massive culture change that is required, and the department will need to steamroll or quickly gain the acquiescence of Congress, Office of Management and Budget, and Department of State to succeed. Now the hard work begins.”

How strong is bipartisan appetite for Hegseth's reforms? Can Pentagon leadership maintain the urgency and discipline long enough to actualize these changes?    Follow us on X @AEIfdp to keep up with our latest work. Have a great week, AEI's Foreign and Defense Policy team

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Taiwan has been an APEC member economy since 1991—the same year Hong Kong joined, along with the PRC.   Taiwan has received an “invite” to the summit — of which it is a member — every year for the past 35 years. And it participated the last time Beijing hosted, in 2014.   2026 should be no different.

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Europe

In the News Developments to keep your eye on.

President Trump granted Hungary a one year exemption from sanctions on Russian oil and gas purchases during a visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Washington.

Op-Ed Europe Must Create Its Own Future Dalibor Rohac | Persuasion   US policy toward Europe has become unreliable amid its ambivalence over its global role. Dalibor Rohac argues that for Europe to have a stable future, it must build on its unified support for Ukraine and take independent action to build more secure foundations. It should aim to turn itself into a real hub for research and innovation and keep the cause of free trade alive in the absence of US leadership. It should also focus on building a vibrant and scalable industrial base at home rather than buying expensive US-made defense systems. Recognizing the new realities in Washington is different from setting in motion a transatlantic divorce. Europeans making their own choices, irrespective of what President Trump might want, is the first step toward putting the relationship on a more stable footing.

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Post Leading NATO into a New Era of Nuclear Competition Kyle Balzer | AEIdeas   Russia today brandishes nuclear weapons to undermine Washington’s commitment to NATO’s collective defense. Kyle Balzer explains that the US can counter Moscow’s ambitions only by recognizing how Russia’s coercion affects the alliance. Poland, for example, is now signaling a desire to host US nuclear weapons on its territory. The Trump administration should heed such signals and adjust NATO’s nuclear posture accordingly. Policymakers will need to recognize that allied reassurance has no one-size-fits-all formula and demands ongoing adaptation to a shifting nuclear balance. Shoring up Europe’s nuclear backbone would have upsides beyond nuclear; it would embolden allies to make the kinds of investments in conventional forces that Trump has long sought and encourage their partnership in countering China. Building peace through strength will depend on nothing less.

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US Foreign and Defense Policy

In the News Developments to keep your eye on.

The Senate advanced a bill to end the government shutdown late Sunday night, with eight Democrats breaking ranks to vote in favor of a continuing resolution that funds the government through January 30.

Op-Ed The US May Conquer the Americas but Lose the World Hal Brands | Bloomberg Opinion   For 200 years, Washington has cultivated a security buffer in the Americas. Hal Brands notes that Trump’s efforts to shore up US influence in the Western Hemisphere respond to real and legitimate threats. Yet his actions have raised trouble: He has threatened to seize land by force, and the legalities of deportations to El Salvador and blowing boats out of the water are murky at best. More broadly, Trump’s hemispheric assertiveness could sacrifice American global dominance for hemispheric dominance. A military conflict with Venezuela leading to regime change could demand the kind of long-term involvement this administration resists. Fundamentally, Trump will have to forge positive-sum relationships to strengthen regional cohesion. These stronger bonds will be vital to make his America First policy a reality.

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Op-Ed The US Air Force Has a Plan to Escape the “Doom Loop” Mackenzie Eaglen | National Security Journal   The Air Force has been stuck in a “doom loop” caused by aging systems, slow and inefficient replacements, and rising demand. Mackenzie Eaglen explains that Air Force leaders have outlined a plan to Congress to grow the fleet while lowering risk. Rather than investing in a single capability, the Air Force chose to pursue a reasonable all-of-the-above approach that spans fighters, tankers, bombers, trainers, weapons, airmen and bases, and the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad. The generational investments flooding the system with capital will generate new companies, new workers, and new resources at speed for the warfighter. Congress should back the plan to sustain a steady course and signal to industry that it can invest confidently in new capacity.

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Article How War in Taiwan Ends Zack Cooper | Foreign Affairs   The Trump administration has embraced a strategy of access denial to help Taiwan deter a Chinese invasion. But Zack Cooper notes that rebuffing an invasion might not prevent a long war; should a Chinese invasion fail, Chinese leader Xi Jinping may opt to continue the fight and protract the conflict. Ending a war that churns on even after a failed invasion will require old-fashioned power projection to convince Chinese leaders that it will face unacceptable costs. Therefore, the biggest challenge for the Trump administration is not whether it allocates resources to a strategy of denial but how it integrates denial and punishment into a holistic deterrence framework. Without a plan for terminating a war, Washington would risk winning the first battle but losing the war.

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Follow @AEIfdp on X for up-to-the-minute updates. Read more at www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy. Tips? Comments? Questions? Email Emanuel Cohen at Emanuel.Cohen@AEI.org.   American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research  1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036 202.862.5800 | www.aei.org