Democrats In Charge: What to Expect

摘要

With Democrats controlling the House, Senate, and White House, and a new Defense Secretary taking up the job, the impact on defense policy, air and space investment, and the direction of national security strategy will be in flux in the year ahead. Yet with only a tie-breaking advantage in the Senate, experts expect incoming President Joe Biden's defense policy to remain centrist, despite the hopes of some in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Biden's choice to lead the Pentagon is retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin Ⅲ, who led U.S. Central Command during the drawdown of forces in Iraq and during the early air war against the Islamic State group when the self-proclaimed caliphate first established a foothold in western Iraq and Syria. Biden, who was vice president at the time and involved with regional policy, forged a close relationship with Austin during that stretch.