Kori Schake

I wrote in The Dallas Morning News: “Turning the armed forces toward specific domestic political targets breaches a core norm: an apolitical military. Latin American history is clear. Internal security missions make generals central actors in domestic governance.”
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Breaking:

The state of Illinois has filed a lawsuit to block the Trump admin from deploying federalized National Guard troops on the streets of Chicago.

"The Trump administration's illegal actions already have subjected and are subjecting Illinois to serious and irreparable harm."

Europe Express: Warning shots over the drone wall European leaders question the viability of Ursula von der Leyen’s initiative

Pleased to see my analysis on Europe’s emerging “capability coalitions” — small groups of countries cooperating more closely on defence — quoted in this weekend's FT Europe Express.

These coalitions can accelerate progress where national needs align.

www.ft.com/content/ed59...

Reuters re Cuba: Another co-belligerent alongside Russia

Federal judge again blocks National Guard deployment to Oregon A federal judge late Sunday night blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon, including hundreds of out-of-state soldiers.

A federal judge late Sunday night blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon, including hundreds of out-of-state soldiers.

Important thread on precedents on National Guard use over state objections, from @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social, and nobody knows it better.

A federal judge in Oregon has blocked the Trump administration from sending members of California's — or any other state's — federalized National Guard to the streets of Portland, Oregon.

The sailors in back of him are disgracing the uniform. And I don't say that lightly.

SOF can play a valuable role when their mission is to complement and support the actions of the main force and cease to play a valuable role when it is imagined they can replace the main force, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I can't think of any precedents for this.

Wait until Pete finds out that 38% of the US Navy is non-White, including 25% of its officers

‘I’m leaving,’ Trump said. ‘There’s no reason to be here any more’: inside the meeting that brought Nato to the brink Former secretary general Jens Stoltenberg recalls the rollercoaster ride of dealing with Donald Trump – and how close the US president brought the alliance to the point of collapse

He said the US covered 80-90% of Nato’s expenses. “And we’re not doing it any more. We’re gonna pay what Germany pays.” By the end of the call there was no mistaking Trump’s warning: “Look, if we leave, we leave. You need Nato, desperately. We don’t need Nato.”

It requires consent of the receiving state governor under Title 32, @qjurecic.bsky.social

MORE: Immergut issued a stark warning that the efforts by Trump to make a bad-faith justification to call up the guard risked plunging the country into a form of unconstitutional military rule.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Funding Europe’s Firepower How the EU can funnel its wealth into its defense.

“Bold action is the only way to keep Europe safe and united in the dangerous times that lie ahead.”

Read Dalibor Rohac and Eduardo Castellet Nogués on how European leaders can rebuild the continent’s defenses:

Inside the anti-'woke' revolt that has American troops in its crosshairs Trump vowed to banish 'woke.' Now, the culture wars are infiltrating the military and spreading paranoia among American troops

The Administration’s political correctness is eroding trust within the military. Important reporting from @samfellman.bsky.social

Applications are now open for the 2026-27 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships with the America in the World Consortium!

Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.

Deadline: December 1

We’ll be hosting European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis at AEI on the 14th. Register here: www.aei.org/events/the-t...

‘Dangerous Cities,’ the Military, Trump and the Founding Fathers

"Military policy and norms evolved from [Gen. Ulysses S.] Grant’s example. The military discourages political rallies in front of troops, and those on active duty are urged to avoid partisan politics" - via Helene Cooper www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...

What Kori said

Trump’s Speech to Generals Was Incitement to Violence Against Americans Military leaders’ quiet professionalism offers hope amid a maelstrom.

The best posture for the American military in febrile political times is inertness. They cannot save us …and we should neither want nor expect them to.” via @kschake.bsky.social
foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/01/t...

Hegseth’s Unusual, Partisan, and Dangerous Convening of Military Leaders If the defense secretary’s event allayed concerns of DEI in the military for some, it aggravated concerns of a politicized military for all.

@kschake.bsky.social reflects on yesterday's address by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump at a gathering of the country's top military officials. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/hegs...

Look to the crowd, not to the speakers

Because the message from the speakers was wild and dangerous and actually I’m surprised more Americans didn’t hear that part, just the clowning about aerobics

An environment in which political factions encourage company and field grade officers to believe they have a superior ideological commitment to the nation than generals that officially command them is not conducive to state cohesion and social stability
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Februar...

I genuinely laughed out loud at this point of @peterfrankopan.bsky.social’s analysis of Hegseth’s speech. open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...

Trump’s Speech to Generals Was Incitement to Violence Against Americans Military leaders’ quiet professionalism offers hope amid a maelstrom.

A must read. @kschake.bsky.social is no alarmist and looks at questions analytically, and this is her take of Trump’s speech to the generals and admirals.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/01/t...

Not Business as Usual: Why Trump’s War Department Rhetoric Matters Much of the language coming out of the gathering of US military leaders this week could be dismissed as political spectacle. But international partners of the US should take seriously the US Administr...

'Partners will need to be prepared for the use of US military power in a way that is deeply uncomfortable' writes @mtsavill.bsky.social in the latest RUSI Commentary.

"Their words should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the civilian leadership intends to use the threat and actuality of violence to infringe on Americans’ constitutional rights."

Clausewitz on Hegseth and the "Lethality" Obsession The "Absolute Destruction" of America's Military

"Hegseth has pursued these delusions with the zeal of an iconoclast. The targets of his arson have been the real institutions that are useful for waging war, the unglamorous sinews that appear superfluous to someone who cannot be troubled to think deeply about the business.” @deadcarl.bsky.social

The Military Summit: Hegseth’s Lethality Meets Trump’s Enemy Within There’s a reason they sat there in stony silence: What Trump and Hegseth said they wanted Tuesday is anathema to military leaders.

"Hegseth wishes to divorce Americans in uniform from the rest of the country, indeed to elevate them to a distinct warrior class.” @giselledonnelly.bsky.social