New satellite-based technologies a game changer for Indo-Pacific maritime security

David Brewster

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A revolution is now happening in maritime domain awareness that will have a profound impact on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, announced at the leaders’ summit in Tokyo in May, will combine new satellite-based technologies with existing systems to help identify illicit maritime actors. This and similar initiatives will be provide a significant boost to the ability of many Indo-Pacific countries, especially small island states, to govern their waters.

Maritime domain awareness involves gaining situational awareness of the maritime environment, especially through an understanding of the position and intention of actors in a given maritime space. It is fundamental to understanding what’s out there, what it’s doing and what should be done about it.

Compliance Harmony: How North Korean Cryptocurrency Abuse Is Expanding

Sasha Erskine and Allison Owen

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Blockchain analytics companies are identifying potential links between North Korea and the Harmony Bridge Exploit that occurred in June 2022. In this cyber attack, hackers stole $100 million worth of cryptocurrency and began transferring funds in a similar manner to North Korea’s approach following the Ronin Bridge hack in March 2022. This latest attack reinforces the need for countries to monitor the rise of new cryptocurrency gateways that allow North Korea to circumvent sanctions and finance its nuclear weapons programme.

Cryptocurrency use is growing in non-banking sectors, known as Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global financial crime watchdog. Poorly regulated professions, including real estate agents, luxury goods vendors, and the casino and gambling sectors, find themselves increasingly exposed to crypto-based proliferation financing risks.

Myths and misconceptions around Russian military intent

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This Chatham House research aims to address some of the longer-term conceptual challenges in understanding Russian hard power, which are not directly linked to current operations in Ukraine.

It challenges some ideas about Russian military power and doctrine which have become entrenched among non-specialists but are based on false premises or a misreading of Russia’s own aims, objectives and methods. Some of these misconceptions may have major implications for any future confrontation between Russia and one or more adversaries, potentially including NATO members.

China's Global Development Initiative

Bonnie S. Glaser, Yu Jie

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China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) was launched by President Xi Jinping on September 21, 2021. In a speech at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Xi stated that, in the face of the severe shocks of the coronavirus pandemic, the world needed to work together to steer global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated, and inclusive growth. The GDI was meant to achieve those objectives as well as the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A Group of Friends of the GDI was launched at the UN in January, and more than 55 countries have joined it to date.

In today’s episode of China Global, Bonnie Glaser speaks with Dr. Yu Jie to discuss the GDI, which like most PRC initiatives, began as a bumper sticker and was described using vague and abstract language. Dr. Yu is a senior research fellow on China in the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House in London.

What to Expect from Xi Jinping’s “Non-War” Military Operations

Jonas Parello-Plesner

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The guidelines consist of 59 articles in six chapters, as outlined by the Chinese Ministry of Defense’s spokesperson Tan Kefei. The actual guidelines are not yet public, prompting speculation about their purpose.

One initial interpretation perceives the guidelines as Xi Jinping following quickly in the footsteps of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operations,” the deceitful euphemism used by Russia’s president to describe the invasion in Ukraine.

In this vein, China’s leadership could exploit the new rules to create a smoke screen for military operations by labeling them “non-war” operations. In the words of Eugene Kuo Yujen, an analyst at Taiwan’s Institute for National Policy Research, the guidelines function as “a copy of Putin’s ‘special operation’ language,” and he adds that “it sends a very threatening signal to Taiwan, Japan, and the surrounding countries in the South China Sea.”

Biden Needs Architects, Not Mechanics, to Fix U.S. Foreign Policy

Stephen M. Walt

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I'm just back from vacation, and U.S. President Joe Biden is off to the Middle East. This struck me as an opportune time to assess the administration's foreign-policy performance. I voted for Biden in 2020 and was relieved when he was elected, but I worried that Biden and his team of nonrivals wouldn't be up to the task of designing a foreign policy and grand strategy for the 21st century. The obvious danger was that they'd fall back on the various nostrums, sound bites, and policies that may have worked well during the Cold War but have mostly failed ever since.

Remember what the administration said it would do? It was going to revitalize the United States' alliances and unite the democratic world against the rising tide of autocracy. It was going to focus laser-like on China and win that competition for primacy. Climate change was going to be a top priority. The United States would also rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, make Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a "pariah," end the "forever wars," and give Americans a foreign (economic) policy for the "middle class"—whatever that means. And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised that human rights would be "at the center" of the administration's foreign policy.

How Should U.S. Cybersecurity Policy Develop?

Adam Segal

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In June, even as the war in Ukraine raged, the head of the UK's National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) warned in a speech that the "biggest global cyber threat we still face is ransomware." "That tells you something of the scale of the problem. Ransomware attacks strike hard and fast," said Lindy Cameron, CEO of the NCSC, the government's main cyber defense organization. "They are evolving rapidly, they are all-pervasive, they're increasingly offered by gangs as a service, lowering the bar for entry into cyber crime."

The war in Ukraine has sparked a debate among analysts about the uses and efficacy of cyber operations during the conflict. Some have argued that cyberattacks have under-delivered; others that attacks, especially the attack against ViaSat, a provider of broadband satellite internet services, have in fact been disruptive and effective. Microsoft has released two reports not only detailing Russian cyber espionage efforts, but also stating that cyberattacks are “strongly correlated and sometimes directly timed with its kinetic military operations." Still others have argued that the most effective cyberattacks have been those mobilized by Ukraine's IT Army, though the use of hacktivists and proxy actors raises serious questions about the development of norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace.

Adaptive Engagement for Undergoverned Spaces

Aaron B. Frank, Elizabeth M. Bartels

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In this report, several authors explore the concept of undergoverned spaces (UGS) and the concepts, challenges, and prospects for developing new approaches to long-term competition in open-ended or infinite games within the context of UGS. This exploration marks an initial step toward developing a functional perspective on determining whether new approaches to strategy and engagement are warranted, and what the implications of those steps might be regarding the actions considered, the rationale for choosing among those actions, and the ways that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and National Security Enterprise (NSE) organize to perform them.

This report is divided into four parts, each presenting different perspectives on the challenges posed by UGS and the opportunities to improve how the United States competes within them.

New Legislation May Not Be Enough to Counter Chinese Interference in British Universities

Fiona Quimbre

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UK universities appear to have become a battleground for espionage and interference activities. From Chinese missile manufacturers setting up labs in the UK to autocracies shaping the research agenda of universities and confiscating papers on Taiwan, there is alarming evidence of growing Chinese espionage and influence that could threaten national security and academic freedoms.

Adding to this mound of evidence, a new RAND Europe study reveals that almost three-quarters of joint research centres established between UK universities and Chinese partners focus on sensitive areas with potential national security risks. These include synthetic biology, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and satellite and space technologies. While some centres present little risk and bring about substantial economic and societal benefits, some may present notable national security risks because of their association with military-linked Chinese universities and entities.

5G Speeds Are Getting Faster Than Ever

Stephen Silver

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The 5G networks of all three major carriers in the United States have gotten faster over time, according to a report issued this week by OpenSignal.

“The availability of new spectrum is powering big changes in the U.S. 5G experience,” the report said. “With the launch of C-band in January 2022, all three U.S. carriers are now using mid-band 5G spectrum to enhance their users’ 5G experience, and Opensignal has already observed visible improvements in experience where C-band is available.”

According to OpenSignal’s “5G Experience Awards,” Verizon won for 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience, while T-Mobile won four other categories, for 5G Download speed, 5G upload speed, 5G availability, and 4G reach.

The True Purpose of America’s Natural Gas Bounty

Scott Semet

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The two giant oceans that protect the United States from enemies have also been an economic boon for America. For as the widespread use of fracking has yielded a surplus of cheap natural gas, the country’s oceans have made it difficult to export that gas abroad, leading to strong economic tailwinds. Yet today, as liquified natural gas (LNG) exports increase and gas production remains flat, domestic prices are set to rise, benefiting the gas industry while drastically increasing costs for all other businesses. The American people, already suffering from reckless fiscal and loose monetary policy and still reeling from the damage caused by Covid-19 and its response, will experience even higher inflation. Therefore, U.S. LNG export policy should be recalibrated to provide the greatest benefit to society as a whole—not used to further a political agenda.

Historically, Asia has been the top destination for U.S. LNG exports due to higher gas prices there. For exports to other regions to make economic sense, prices in those markets must rise. In Europe, limiting or eliminating abundant and cheap Russian pipeline gas supply will drive prices higher. Thus, the current political agenda certain countries are pursuing will benefit LNG exporters, despite that it will brutally hit European consumers and industry alike and have ripple effects across the planet.

China’s Economy Is Now In Free Fall

Gordon Chang

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China’s economy grew 0.4% in the just-completed second quarter, compared with the same period last year, according to the official National Bureau of Statistics.

According to almost everybody else, gross domestic product shrank in Q2. As Max Zenglein of the Mercator Institute for China Studies told the Washington Post before the announcement, “The government will not acknowledge a contraction.”

China’s economy not only contracted, but it is also heading for a free fall. Chinese leaders, for many reasons, cannot now stabilize the situation.

The Communist Party makes the case that trade will lift China toward the announced goal of “around 5.5%” growth for 2022. Two-way trade jumped 9.4% in the first half, year-on-year. Yet the economy is weak, something evident from the composition of trade. While exports skyrocketed 13.2%, imports, an indicator of domestic demand, increased only 4.8%.

Europe’s winter of discontent

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If you have spent the past few days being sizzled alive on a Mediterranean beach or slow-roasted on the streets of Berlin, London or Rome amid a heatwave, cold weather may be the last thing on your mind. But make no mistake, winter is coming, and it promises to be brutal and divisive because of an energy crisis that is rapidly worsening as Vladimir Putin strangles supplies of Russian gas. Several calamities in the past decade have come close to ripping Europe apart, including the euro crisis in the early 2010s and the migrant crisis in 2015. The winter energy shock of 2022 could yet join them. Once again, the continent’s unity and resolve are about to be tested.

Most Europeans cannot yet see or smell the gastastrophe, but in the markets the warning signs are already flashing red. Prices for delivery of gas this winter, at €182/mwh ($184/mwh), are almost as high as in early March, after Russia invaded Ukraine, and seven times their long-run level. Governments are preparing bail-outs of crippled utilities in France and Germany, and some investors are betting on which industrial firms will go bust later this year as rationing takes hold. While most of Europe’s politicians fail to level with the public about the hard choices that lie ahead, even grizzled energy traders used to wars and coups have started to sound worried.

With new contract, Army’s integrated EW and intel system for brigades reaches next phase

ANDREW EVERSDEN

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WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin will start to deliver prototypes of a new brigade-level integrated electronic warfare and intelligence platform to the Army under a new $58.9 million contract award.

The July 13 award supports the manufacturing proof-of-concept phase for the Terrestrial Layer System-Brigade Combat Team (TLS-BCT), a suite of integrated sensors mounted onto a vehicle and designed to provide force protection and situational awareness tools, in addition to offensive EW and cyber capabilities to disrupt a targeted enemy’s systems.

According to an Army spokesperson, Lockheed Martin will build three TLS-BCT prototypes. The contract, awarded under an Other Transaction Agreement, runs through October 2023. TLS-BCT is managed by Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors.

What Biden Got Right on His Trip to the Middle East

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Joe Biden campaigned and won as the antithesis to Donald Trump. To deliver on that promise in foreign policy, in his first year as president, he tried to offer “something for everyone,” as Anne-Marie Slaughter has argued: tough talk on China for the realists; a recommitment to NATO, to the Paris Agreement on climate, and to the World Health Organization for the liberal internationalists; an end to the forever wars; and, for the idealists, a willingness to speak up for human rights.

The last item on this long list, his attempt to return to a values-based foreign policy after the often incoherent and destructive “America First” presidency of Mr. Trump, has proved to be the toughest for Mr. Biden to get right. Beginning with his inauguration speech, to last year’s “Summit for Democracy” and his statements in support of Ukraine, Mr. Biden has returned repeatedly to the idea of “democracy versus autocracy” as an organizing principle for American foreign policy.

This binary way of looking at the world doesn’t always serve American national interests or the interests of people around the world who are fighting for their democratic rights to live freely and in peace.

John Spencer is a world-renowned expert on urban combat. Here’s how he thinks the war in Ukraine is going

Jamie McIntyre, Senior Writer |

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In his 25 years in the Army, John Spencer rose from the rank of private to major, did two combat tours in Iraq, and served as an instructor for the elite Army Rangers. Upon retirement, he transitioned to what he calls his “dream job,” traveling the world studying classic urban battles as chairman of urban warfare studies at the Madison Policy Forum. Spencer is now an internationally recognized expert who regularly consults for the Army. Spencer helped create the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy and served for a time as its deputy director. He shared his insights on the state of play in Ukraine with the Washington Examiner magazine's Jamie McIntyre.

[The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

Washington Examiner: You returned recently from Kyiv. What are your impressions of how the war is going?

The Five Laws of Disinformation

Nick Espinosa

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The world has just witnessed what a motivated country is willing to do to ensure that their goals are met. However, while the current situation in Ukraine has been heartbreaking for most of the world, it's important to understand that the first shots fired in the invasion were not on February 22, 2022. The attack started years before with a vast disinformation campaign that subtlety drove a wedge into Ukrainian society which, in turn, helped to destabilize the legitimate government in Kyiv.

This article is not about Russia or Ukraine, but rather about exemplifying the framework that disinformation falls into so that we may understand how incredibly harmful it can become to its target, by virtue of what it inherently is.

So, without further ado, here are the Five Laws of Disinformation:

Lessons from Ukraine: Exploring Technology for SOCOM’s Urban Missions

Mikayla Easley

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TAMPA, Florida — U.S. Special Operations Forces know from experience in places like Iraq and Afghanistan that urban combat presents a host of tactical and logistical challenges. Russia’s struggles in Ukraine not only reinforce that fact but provide important data that industry can use to develop technology to support future U.S. missions.

Modern cities are challenging environments for special operators, said Bartlett Russell, program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Buildings, underground spaces, civilians and other objects clutter the area, only adding to the list of elements a commando needs to worry about.

“You have a lot of density, a lot of obstruction, a lot of things — not just buildings, but things — in city environments,” she said. “It’s also an unstable environment, so there might be a lot of debris and things left behind like burnt out cars.”

China’s Roadblocks to Becoming A Science Superpower

MA XIU and PETER W. SINGER

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A future in which China is the world’s dominant scientific power fills the imagination of leaders in both East and West. In Beijing, China has entered its latest policy-planning period, the 14th Five-Year Plan. Building on strong performance in common science-and-technology indicators and advances in cutting-edge areas such as AI, quantum computing, and hypersonic flight, China is now striving to achieve two of the remaining milestones outlined in its 2016 Innovation-Driven Development Strategy: joining the front rank of innovative countries by 2035 and becoming a “global scientific great power” by 2050.

All this has animated calls for an American response to ensure the United States’ leading position in scientific and technological progress. Countless articles and reports frame it as a new “Sputnik Moment” and a key element of U.S.-China strategic competition. This has led to a host of new proposals and policy initiatives, ranging from increases in DoD research spending to the recent debate over the China competition bill in Congress.

Ukraine Map Suggests U.S.-Supplied HIMARS Could Be Turning Tide of War

ISABEL VAN BRUGEN 

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Maps of Ukraine created by NASA's FIRMS fire tracking system suggest American-supplied M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems—known as HIMARS—could be turning the tide of Vladimir Putin's war.

Side-by-side maps of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region—the frontline of the war—dated July 8 and July 12, show the number of major fires in Ukraine - an indication of Russian shelling - before and after Ukraine ramped up attacks using the HIMARS precision rocket weapon system provided by Washington.

NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System or FIRMS was created to monitor large-scale fires.

Russia’s information war expands through Eastern Europe

DAVID KLEPPER

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WASHINGTON (AP) — As bullets and bombs fall in Ukraine, Russia is waging an expanding information war throughout Eastern Europe, using fake accounts and propaganda to spread fears about refugees and rising fuel prices while calling the West an untrustworthy ally.

In Bulgaria, the Kremlin paid journalists, political analysts and other influential citizens 2,000 euros a month to post pro-Russian content online, a senior Bulgarian official revealed this month. Researchers also have uncovered sophisticated networks of fake accounts, bots and trolls in an escalating spread of disinformation and propaganda in the country.

Similar efforts are playing out in other nations in the region as Russia looks to shift the blame for its invasion of Ukraine, the ensuing refugee crisis and rising prices for food and fuel.

Twitter’s Case in India Could Have Massive Ripple Effects

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 IN JUNE TWITTER received an ultimatum from the Indian government to remove some 39 accounts and content from its platform. Sources familiar with the order say it outlined that if Twitter refused to comply, its chief compliance officer could face criminal proceedings. They say it also stated that the company would lose its “safe harbor” protections, meaning it would no longer be protected from liability for the content created by its own users. This is an escalation of a series of “blocking orders,” or content removal orders, sent by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which have increased significantly in the past 18 months.

Last week, Twitter responded: It will take the Indian government to court.

While the dispute itself deals with only specific accounts and pieces of content, experts told WIRED that its outcome could have major repercussions, and serve as a “bellwether for this ongoing battle about internet freedom,” says Allie Funk, research director for technology and democracy at Freedom House.

China’s ‘Mysterious Structures’ Captured In Satellite Images; Hint At PLA’s Expansion Of Harbors In Remote South China Sea Islands

Ashish Dangwal

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US think tank, published a report on July 8, noting Beijing has expanded several harbors in recent years on China-occupied islands in the South China sea.

Over the past two years, the harbors on China-controlled Paracel Islands, Lincoln Islands, Money Islands, and Pattle Islands have expanded. When regional tensions are already rising, the CSIS study’s satellite images demonstrate China’s ambitions to influence essential waterways.

The report highlighted that the width of Lincoln’s harbor was increased from 175 to 200 meters in March 2021, Money’s from 150 to 190 meters in March 2022, and Pattle from 190 to 250 meters in April 2022. 

Zelensky warns of ‘media terror’ of propaganda, disinformation amid Russian invasion

JARED GANS

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against the “media terror” that he says is coming from Russian propaganda and disinformation amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an address on Saturday.

Zelensky pointed to Ukraine’s endurance since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in late February, but said the conflict requires Ukrainians to be careful in the “information field” more than ever before.

He said false information was spread about a “massive” Russian missile strike on Ukraine on Saturday. He said the creation of “horror stories” by Russian officials and propagandists and the trust that some Ukrainians have put in anonymous sources have caused problems during the conflict.

THE EU ENGAGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN

Viola Fee Dreikhausen

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INTRODUCTION

Political crises have a way of bringing the assumptions, miscalculations and fallacies of the past into sharp relief. The Taliban’s capture of Kabul on 15 August 2021, and the subsequent collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the days following the withdrawal of international troops, is no exception. Even as thousands of Afghans rushed to Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to flee the Taliban, hopes remained that the more moderate elements of the regime would prevent a return to the draconian policies that characterised the group’s first stint in power. Following the Taliban’s ban on teenage girls attending school and their introduction of over thirty edicts aimed at the systematic exclusion of Afghan women from all aspects of social, economic, and political life, these hopes have all but dissipated (1). With the decision of many donors to suspend non-humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in response to the Taliban’s repressive policies, the already dire humanitarian conditions caused by years of conflict, recurring droughts and chronic poverty have deteriorated to unprecedented levels (2). As of June 2022, 6.6 million Afghans live at emergency levels of food insecurity – the highest figure of any country in the world (3). In the wake of the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that devastated the remote south-eastern region of Afghanistan on 22 June 2022, a rising death toll, difficulties in delivering emergency aid, and a grave risk of disease have been added to the list of the country’s immense humanitarian challenges (4).

Russia's European Gas Endgame May Hurt Even More than a Total Curtailment

Aura Sabadus

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Even before its military offensive against Ukraine, Russia was waging war elsewhere – on European natural gas markets.

For more than a year, its state-owned producer, Gazprom, has been reducing supplies to European consumers, helping to lift gas prices to record levels and sparking fears of a looming energy crisis with dire social and political consequences.

Europe may be basking in searing temperatures right now but the hot topic gripping the political agenda is whether Russia will cut the gas completely, leaving consumers to freeze in their homes this winter.

The De-Globalisation of Oil: Risks and Implications from the Politicisation of Energy Markets

Rafael Ramírez

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The EU’s announced ban on Russian oil imports is a strong political measure that will heavily impact international energy markets, restricting the supply of 4.1 million barrels per day (mbd) of oil and derivates to a market which is a net importer of 10.72 mbd.[1]

The EU’s ban, which is due to fully come into effect between December 2022 and February 2023, combined with the US’s previous ban of 600 thousand barrels a day (tbd), means that 4.7 mbd of Russian oil and derivatives are being removed from these high oil consuming markets (35.9 mbd in total). If we add the 1.3 mbd of oil that Iran has stopped producing due to US sanctions reintroduced in 2018, we reach a volume of 6 mbd of oil that is restricted or out of the market due to political decisions.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented sanctions and oil ban imposed on Moscow, combined with the previous oil sanctions against Iran, are fast advancing a new geopolitical reality: the de-globalisation of the international oil market.

NATO and the Schrödinger’s Cat

Andris Banka

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Is the NATO-Russia Founding Act still alive today? Addressing the Lennart Meri Conference in May 2022, the Estonian Ambassador to NATO remarked that there was no alliance-wide consensus on what to do with this historical document, first adopted in 1997. ‘Some are saying it is like the Schrödinger’s cat, you don’t know whether it is dead or alive’, he jokingly added. NATO’s landmark summit in Madrid provided an opportune moment to clarify the status of this agreement and hammer out a common NATO line.

A quarter of a century has passed since NATO, in the name of building more cordial and predictable working relations with Moscow, committed itself to a set of military constraints. The NATO-Russia Founding Act, which is not a formal treaty but rather a politically based pledge, stipulated that in ‘the current and foreseeable security environment’ no permanent bases or nuclear weapons would appear on the territory of new alliance member states. Needless to say, the West and Russia – mostly as a result of Moscow’s actions – have today significantly veered off the path of cooperation.

China’s Choices: A New Tool for Assessing the PLA’s Modernization

Jack Bianchi, Madison Creery, Harrison Schramm, Toshi Yoshihara

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All militaries confront resource tradeoffs. As China and the United States enter a period of intensifying military competition, understanding the tradeoffs the two must face and their likely consequences will become ever more important. Yet, without a better understanding of China’s own resourcing constraints and associated vulnerabilities, policymakers lack the critical insights to holistically assess the state of the competition and develop effective strategies.

To advance the policy community’s understanding of China’s budgetary choices, relative tradeoffs, and constraints on military modernization, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) created a one-of-a-kind model for exploring Beijing’s defense portfolio. The China Strategic Choices Tool (SCT) is a user-friendly, web-based application that allows participants to step into the shoes of Chinese statesmen and defense planners to make high-level resourcing and force structure decisions regarding the future of China’s military. By simulating investments in and divestments from a broad portfolio of PLA capabilities, the tool allows users to generate alternative future force structures within a budgetary constraint.

West Point alumni accuse academy of ‘anti-American woke political indoctrination’ in letter

LIZ GEORGE

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Three retired U.S. military officers and alumni of the United States Military Academy at West Point signed a scathing letter in May slamming the school’s “anti-American, anti-Constitution agenda” being pushed by “woke” leaders through “political indoctrination” driven by mandatory vaccinations that violate religious freedom, Critical Race Theory, and socialist ideology.

The letter – signed by LTG Thomas McInerney, USAF; MG Paul Vallely, U.S. Army; and Colonel Andrew O’Meara Jr., U.S. Army – is entitled “Declaration of Betrayal of West Point And the Long Gray Line” by “Concerned Graduates of West Point.”

In the letter, the officers asserted that it is their “sacred duty” as members of The Long Gray Line – an assembly of West Point graduates – to “challenge dysfunctional conduct or rogue behavior, such as that which has come to dominate West Point.”