Front Matter

Abstract

In this volume of the West Point Journal of Politics and Security (WPJPS), we are proud to present works by scholars who are tackling questions central to international security, from the impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in East Africa to the ethics of preventive versus preemptive war, and vital to American politics, including congressional polarization, election security, and nonpartisanship in the military.

Our third issue begins with articles by graduates of the United States Military Academy. First, Second Lieutenant (2LT) Bryce Johnston examines the negative consequences of a “one size fits all” approach to allocating US federal grants to states for election security purposes. Then, 2LT Seth Benson considers how high periods of congressional party polarization drive minority parties to weaponize institutional rules to obstruct voting, thereby setting in motion a cycle of retaliation by the majority. 2LTs Julia Franzoni, Olivia Omey, Caleb Richardson, and Edwin West propose a policy solution to the worrisome, combined trend of low civilian trust and high perceptions of partisanship in the military. The WPJPS team sincerely hopes that these contributions spark new thinking and shed fresh light on topics of central importance to American politics today.

Later in the issue, Deye Li, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, considers what lessons US policymakers in particular might draw from the British Cold War challenge of strategic prioritization amid peripheral contingencies that culminated in the Falklands War. Willis Wang, a recent Georgetown undergraduate, assesses how China's increasing cyberattacks against Taiwan shaped the formation of Taiwan's new cyber defense command. Then, Ensign Xiang Chi, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, examines China’s foreign policy approach in East Africa through the lens of the Belt and Road Initiative, addressing the tension between its stated commitment to non-interference and evidence of a neocolonial agenda. Ezekiel Vergara, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, closes out this issue with a thoughtful examination of the distinction between preemptive wars and preventive wars. In advancing a novel approach to distinguishing the two – focusing on the certainty of unjustified rights violations as opposed to their imminence – he addresses questions about war that remain all-too relevant in the world today.

We hope that the ideas in this issue inspire, provoke, and challenge our readers. Thank you for your support of the early scholars whose ideas we aim to advance at the West Point Journal of Politics and Security.