Monday NatSec Roundup

The political and military position of socialism should be further cemented so that it can be an impregnable fortress.

• I’m seeing lots of conflicting arguments about whether Iraq will actually expel US forces, whether that will amount to an expulsion or merely an “expulsion,” and whether there will be a timetable for withdrawal or simply a “timetable.” Here’s one account of the issues at Monkey Cage…
• What to expect when you’re expecting cyberattacks.
• The War Room (blog of the Army War College) has a short collection of useful fictional examples of leadership. Had I remembered to contribute in time, I think I would have ruminated on the differences between the various Starfleet captains…
• If you’re in the market for a good security podcast, check out Acquisition Talk. It’s in the weeds in a lot of procurement stuff, but pretty good at dispelling some common myths. The interview with Jim Hasik is particularly great. I’ll have more on a list of good security podcasts later.
• Speaking of podcasts, Simon and I might fire one up regarding this tweet, which was shared on my Facebook stream approximately 800 times. Long story short, it’s not just wrong about the relationship between poverty and military service, it’s wrong in a pernicious way that obscures the actual dynamics of the relationship. But more on that later.
• I wrote a bit at the National Interest about Kim Jong Un’s 2019 WPK plenum speech, and what it might portend for the DPRK’s foreign policy over the next year.