Monday NatSec Roundup

Men were going to die in the air as they had for centuries on the ground and on the seas, by killing each other. The conquest of the air was truly accomplished.

• Daniel Little has a good account of what the latest literature tells us about the Challenger launch decision. The Challenger disaster is used a lot in discussions of organizational theory and perversities in organizational decision-making, and so any additional clarity on the perspectives about the decision is welcome.
• Robert Kelly argues for a “go small” approach to US-DPRK negotiations, while also granting that the domestic incentives in both the US and the ROK tend to lean in the direction of a “big bang” deal. My guess at this point is that nothing of significance will get done for the rest of this presidential term.
• Jessica Brandt has an interesting piece on how we think about foreign influence over US elections in the future. Such influence has of course always existed, although the increasing sophistication of the financial system and the development of the internet have made the vectors of influence more palpable. “Preventing foreign influence” does not appear to be an option, so the question becomes amelioration.
• An Indian nuclear power plant suffered a cyber attack, apparently from North Korea. Interesting bit here is that while attribution in the cyber-domain has turned out to be less of a problem than a lot of folks expected, “implausible deniability” has become extremely useful in managing spirals of escalation.
• Nomrate Gomswami on China’s space ambitions makes for an interesting read. Of course, space exploration is an area in which the great powers generally agree to make outlandish plans without any serious intent on following through…
• Nice review of Sherman Lead: Flying the F-4D Phantom II in Vietnam.