The National Military Strategy has always intrigued me because of my background. This document really engrains in us the ideology that President Trump campaigned on in 2016 which was “America First”. Like several of my colleagues discussed in previous posts the National Defense Strategy and National Security Strategies we have reviewed are based on the foundation that The US will preserve, Protect and Defend itself against all enemies foreign and domestic. I believe that with the US continuing to operate under the policies it currently is under force employment, force development and force design, we will be ready to advance our Military into the future at a steady and self-sustaining pace. The US is already projecting itself into the future by the creation of the US Space Force, and with the creation of this new branch, the US will continue to exude power on a global scale. Speaking on the topic of Space Defense, the Space Force will be the perfect example of the Joint Force and its leaders being comfortable fighting in space or cyberspace, since the Space Force’s main objectives would be the protection of the US Satellite networks. Sticking with the Space Force, Space as a whole is certainly seen as uncertain and full of new threats; that can be substantiated by our continued exploration of it. The NMS compliments the newly formed Space Forces’ mission, as well as our other military branches missions because of these reasons.

USAID is a fascinating organization. I think any development agency is the right way to go. If you invest in any country and build them up developmentally they stand a better chance at being successful in the long run because you are giving them both the skill sand tools to move further towards their goals. Citizens can make or break a country, at the end of the day a government is only as strong as its people, if the people want to be governed they will accept their leader if citizens do not like their government because of whatever their reason they will rise against it. Again with USAID, investment is the key, troubles in other countries are not going to be helped overnight it is with investment, commitment and ongoing support countries can rise to the best with the help of their own citizens using the skills and tools agencies like USAID provide. I think with strategic planning and policy improvement being a top priority at USAID is why they are so successful at international development. Each country does not fall into a mold, so each development plan needs t be tailored to each country’s specific needs and made to work with their respective strengths they already possess. Overall, I think USAID is effective and will continue to be effective in the future. The main reason for my thought that USAID is effective is that they strive to achieve effective and sustainable results in the field meaning their efforts can be everlasting not just while humanitarian missions forces are there.

I am fascinated by the United Nations. Each time I study it I learn more and more about its operations. It is interesting to learn that the UN helps to facilitate elections in any country if they request it. I think by doing that the UN can help newly democratic nations and nations that are struggling to help build their democratic strength and gain more independence as an electoral country. With the current times across the globe elections are a vital part of democratic processes that must be upheld with the best ability we are able to. So many factors can be influenced by elections such as political transitions, implementation of peace agreements, and consolidation of democracy. The process that the UN has to provide assistance is logical I believe. The UN would need to help tailer the election to each country’s needs and play to their strengths. You have to help a country guide towards their goals not “push them to their goals and either sink or swim”. With these processes in place, I think the election assistance offered can do very great work in nations that need it. With regards to the rapid deployment of assistance, this is paramount as in struggling nations any deviation from a projected plan can lead to potentially devastating consequences. Overall, could not agree more that elections and smooth election processes are essential for democracies to survive and its citizen's voices to be heard.

After reading today's document, I firmly believe that the House Armed Services Committee brought up several great points. I can understand why Russia presents the most immediate threat to the US. Any country that has a nuclear arsenal would be considered a threat to national security just due to the ability to cause so much devastation with a single group of weapons. Also, Russia’s on-going efforts to undermine Western Democratic Governments. We can see this in the recent years of hacking election systems and even current threats today. From this document I was surprised to see Russia's long-term economic forecast makes its global power likely to recede over the next 20 to 30 years. Of course, that surprise has some in part to do with my focus being in law enforcement not in economics. However, on the other hand, I was not surprised to see the section of the threats China poses to the US National Security. We have discussed significant the threats posed in previous forums by China, to save time I won’t go into detail but some of the threats can include violations and less- than- ideal laws on a myriad of sectors. Also, with China’s growing economy due to the lack of laws and control over its product quality, it does not surprise me that China represents the most significant economic and national security threat to the United States over the next 20 to 30 years. I completely agree that to remain competitive the US must prioritize developing emergent technologies over maintaining legacy systems and that the United States must strengthen and modernize geopolitical alliances with long-standing allies while establishing new alliances. Only then will the US adopt their culture and business practices to better support, and work quickly integrate innovation from the private sector. If the US is to succeed I concur we need to by playing to our strengths: free, fair, and open economy, strong education systems, and a culture for innovation that rests on the open market and free Democratic principles.

Reading about the National reconnaissance office today was interesting. Starting at the conceptualization and need for the office during the threat of the Soviet Union to today’s need for intelligence for military operations is fascinating to research. In short, the NRO collects data, analyzes, and then passes that data along to partners that request it. It was interesting to learn that until 1992, the existence of the NRO was classified and even its name was not officially acknowledged by the government in comparison to today, where the existence of the NRO is openly acknowledged and several aspects of its activities have been declassified. The NRO develops, acquires, and operates the most sensitive space reconnaissance satellite systems that collect imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) which is of great value to the government and is now available to a wide variety of users in many government agencies. I think that the progression of new and emerging technologies will constantly put a strain on NRO personnel due to the ever-evolving world of technology. It seems that in a matter of a year technology is already out of date and a newer version is available. It is for that reason I completely agree that with the newly created Space Force the NRO has an important mission to stay on top of the “leap ahead” and “revolutionary” technologies, especially in the space reconnaissance effort so operations have the most current data to help things go smoother in missions. That leads me to my last thought. The transference of some NRO activities and operations to the Department of Defense makes sense to me. The NRO can focus on developing unique space-based collection systems to solve difficult intelligence problems while DoD can be responsible for developing and operating those space systems because they know how t use technology so that military commander needs are better satisfied. It would also make sense to transfer the experts in those systems and satellites under the DoD umbrella because NRO satellites are substantially more complex than DoD satellites.

@Madeline Smith, there are groups of individuals on either side of this issue, the way I take mail-in voting ballots is there is nothing wrong with them. In the United States, we send Social Security cards, court documents, personally identifying information, credit cards, money, checks, birth certificates, and passports using the United States Postal Service for many years now with the current addition of drivers licenses. In my opinion, if USPS is safe enough to send these documents and to send absentee ballots since 1864 then the decentralized mail centers and paper copies would make widespread fraud less of an issue.

Today’s reading very interesting. I personally enjoy reading court documents or committee finding reports. The report today expressed some concerns that were addressed in another forum yesterday, CyberSpace. This point is brought up by Dr. Halderman, who expressed that “Our highly computerized election infrastructure is vulnerable to sabotage and even to cyber-attacks that could change votes”, he continued on to say “voting machines are not as distant from the Internet as they may seem”. This is the point that I made yesterday, anything is at the mercy of being hacked or used maliciously it is just the amount of safety that attackers have to supersede before they can cause harm. Simple passwords and lack of safety measures could call results into question, a suggestion could be that more security measures could be used such as retinal or fingerprint codes could be used so a small group of 1-2 people have access to a supervisor mode instead of just by a code. Like @Griffen Ballenger stated, Russia’s interference in the 2016 election may not have manipulated vote tallies, but it gave Russian operators "familiarity with our election systems and voter registration infrastructure— valuable intelligence that it may seek to exploit in the future." This example could of future use be tied to the security of the voting machine section which explains that hackers could use previously documented weaknesses to gain even more access in future machines. I believe that to try and mitigate some problems and weaknesses in the voting machine arena, operating systems should be kept up-to-date, and more security measures should be in place such as the elimination of USB ports on devices or a different code each time someone logs on to vote.

Diving into today’s reading it is clear that cyberspace is one area that should be protected because so much of our daily life revolves around technology. The Cyber realm is so vast and complex and ever-evolving that no matter where someone looks you can see the effects of cyberspace anywhere. You can see the effects of cyberspace extend from a military aspect to health care to mental health to even personal aspects of our daily life such as turning our heat on at home, talking to people at our front door, starting our car, or turning on lights. That being said, anything that is connected to the cyber realm is at risk of being hacked so security is of paramount concern. One issue I have been following is the healthcare concern for internal pacemakers. Pacemakers are not being able to be monitored via the internet by your doctor, what is to stop someone from hacking into the software and potentially hurting someone severely. This is just one of the many concerns or issues revolving around cyberspace, artificial intelligence, and other technologies of today’s world. The three main adversaries I expected to be mentioned in this document were mentioned. China is a hot topic currently in the cyber arena because of the current issue with China stealing user’s data from applications on their phones. Russia is also a known cyber player as well from the accusation of interference in U.S. elections. Lastly, Iran being a major player with oil, It would make sense that the threat of information regarding other ventures outside of the oil industry being targeted. Overall, this is a very fascinating topic to look into.

Great takeaway from that section! As I was reading today's sections I came to a similar mindset @Griffen. This section does include information that depending on how individuals interpret it, could cause a lack of confidence in this doctrine. Like you stated it could cause a complete undermining of this part of the strategy.

great points. I agree with you there are contradictions especially in the areas on minority injustice. The NSS should be polished in regards to several aspects of the NSS contradicting each other. Like I stated in my post, another area where contradictions could be made would be in the areas of foreign policy and helping fragile nations but also putting "America first". I hope that the next version of the NSS will include updates in these areas.

@Justin I agree with your stance of how Pillar four is broken up. I also agree with your stance that this pillar follows on tract with the "America First" policy. It seemed to me that in several subsections that the NSS could be viewed as being designed to help other fragile countries to thrive if and only if American Interests are kept strong. I think this could be troubling to some of our allies and could cause tension if language in the document is left unattended or unchanged. This could be one area that could be addressed in a later version of the NSS.

Pillar four in my opinion is all about the cooperation between the United States and its allies. This document covered what I believe is the whole premise of National Security in the broad sense, protecting the US against threats from fragile states, which are the areas most threats come from as Jihadists and organized criminals can often move around freely there. I believe that by assisting fragile nations we are essentially feeding into the age-long quote "you are only as strong as your weakest link". This is helpful for the world stage. As fragile states in the world decrease the more stable the global economy can be. I also thought it was a positive thing for the United States to be invested in the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization. The IMF stabilizing currency exchange rates for Americans abroad is a good way to ensure National Security extends to our overseas counterparts as well. Lastly, I strongly agree the internet needs to be protected as free and open. The Internet is a source of free-flowing information that America needs for its voters to stay informed and to make educated decisions in their voting.

@Michela I concur with you the way Pillar three seems to be set up. Do you believe that we as a country should be focused on the space front or more of the conventional front such as nuclear infrastructure?

@Justin I agree that Pillar three continues on from Pillar two in regards to our economies ties to strong supply chains. I think that the development of the Space Force and SpaceX really encaptures this document's drive and push behind making space a priority domain. Cyber attacks like you stated have become a big issue in the defense community. Do you think as time progresses we will start to focus on more current technology such as space defense capabilities rather than the conventional means such as nuclear infrastructure?

@Jay Great points brought up in your post. Do you think the Founding of the US Space force will change or affect the US Policy of Space relating to National Security?

Pillar Three of the NSS is all about building up and strengthening our assets in the effort to uphold our national security. Like my @Jay stated, space, and cybersecurity are two large aspects of our national defense that we cannot afford to ignore. I think that as we reflect on the progress that has been made since 2017 when this document was released the US has made great strides within the realm of space. The founding and recognition of the US Space Force as a Military branch was a great first step. It shows the significance of the commitment the United States has towards the exploration and understanding of the space domain. The United States also took a big step towards accomplishing its goals of making space a priority domain with the re-establishment of the National Space counsel. Cyberspace also is essential for the protection and upkeep of our Nation's National Security. Many aspects of our strategy revolve around technology and with Cyber attacks becoming more and more prevalent this is an area that the US must be particularly mindful of maintaining.

@Griffen I agree with you the Democratic interpretation of this pillar would be interesting to read. Each party has their own ideas that I feel fuel their policies especially at the national level. I wholeheartedly believe that most threats that are talked about would be the same but I also think some threats would be different as each party have their own respective priorities.

I concur with you @Jay. I like how he brought up the vulnerability of the economy. I stated in my post the repercussions of having our, in my opinion one of the most important, piece of The National Security Strategy fail. If our economy fails it not only affects the US but the world as a whole as I explained. Cyber Defense is a huge component to stopping foreign countries with malicious intent from hurting our economy, so excellent point.

@Vanessa Clark Interesting post. I agree with you on the Understanding Worldwide Science and Technology Trends section really standing out. I appreciate how this document, like others before me have stated, cover such big topics in today's world such as Nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. I think that with collaborating with allies in the fields of STEM education we as a nation as a whole could improve some aspects of our daily lives. I believe that the incentives for hiring and retaining STEM federal employees could also have a significant positive impact in the future as well if we continue to make advancements in those areas.

Pillar 2 of the National Security Strategy is by far my favorite pillar so far. I take a huge fascination regarding energy consumption and how to protect our assets. Rejuvenation of the domestic economy is a huge hurdle I believe we need to overcome. The economy domestically has lasting effects both domestically and internationally. If the United States’ economy starts to fail that would lead to a domino effect around the globe. Investors in the United States lose confidence in the system and stop investing then in turn less capital is in circulation in the market. The US Market then has less money to invest overseas and in other problems which causes other problems as our country’s investments start to fail. I wholeheartedly agree that The economy of the United States definitely deserves its pace in the National Security Strategy.