Joint Doctrine: Counterterrorism, and Countering WMD
New military doctrine from the Joint Chiefs of Staff “narrows the definition of counterterrorism” to focus on activities designed to neutralize terrorist networks. It excludes actions to “counter root causes” of terrorism, which have now been removed from the definition.
The new publication also “describes the activities of the global special operations network as it relates to CT [counterterrorism],” though without providing much detail. See Joint Publication 3-26, Counterterrorism, 24 October 2014.
Another Joint Chiefs publication introduces a revised framework for “Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction,” replacing the former “combating weapons of mass destruction”. See Joint Publication 3-40, 31 October 2014.
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.