Reference News Network on November 28**Dawtas** published an article on November 26 saying that the Pentagon may be led by a woman for the first time. The full text is excerpted below:
The whole world is watching which politicians will enter the new ** of the United States. It is striking that some of these ministerial positions may be held by women for the first time.
At the same time, there are still many vacancies in the future. For example, it remains unclear who will lead the Ministry of Defense. Under Biden, there is a good chance that the Secretary of Defense will be equally female.
Promises of the past. In June 2016, Biden, then the deputy head of the United States, gave a report at the Center for a New American Security. The center was headed by Michelle Fraunoy, who served as deputy assistant secretary for strategic affairs at the Department of Defense under Bill Clinton and under secretary for policy under the Obama administration.
At the time, Fraunoy called Biden one of the main designers. "Defense News" weekly reported that Biden pointed out that the head of the Center for a New American Security is Hillary Clinton's first choice for defense secretary. To the applause of the audience, Biden joked, "I'll write a letter of recommendation to Franoy." ”
Hillary Clinton didn't get a chance to form her own, but now Biden got his chance. It seems that he decided to fulfill what he said in 2016.
With Biden winning in **, the 59-year-old Fraunoy remains the favorite to head the Pentagon. If successful, Fraunoy would become the first female defense secretary in U.S. history, just five years after the Department of Defense removed gender restrictions on some positions.
Military lobbyist. Frounoy is well known to American politicians and military experts. She was involved in the development of strategies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was one of the main proponents of the "counterinsurgency" theory. And she has always advocated for higher defense spending.
Fraunoy's interest was never confined to the state sector. From 2012 to 2016, she worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where her arrival led to a surge in the number of military contracts at the firm. In addition, Fraunoy is a member of the board of directors of Booz Hamilton Hamilton, a company known for its relationship with the defense industry.
In 2014, when Obama dismissed then-Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a Republican, many were talking about the possible appointment of Mr. Frounoy as defense secretary. But at that time, due to "family circumstances", she herself gave up considering this vacancy.
After the Republicans came to the White House, Fraunoy resigned from his leadership position at the Center for a New American Security and founded the Strategic Risk Advisory Group, West Executive Street. The company's partner is Antony Blinken, who is now Biden's candidate for secretary of state. Many of the company's employees are from the Pentagon and the White House.
Attitude towards China. In 2016, Fraunoy co-authored a report by the Center for a New American Security entitled "Expanding American Power." The report examines how Hillary Clinton, who was attending the ** at the time, could make foreign policy different from Obama's diplomacy. The authors of the report advocate the supply of ** to Ukraine, pointing to the threat from Iran, while calling for more active fighting in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. Department of Defense does not expect a radical change of course because of Franoy. An analysis of Defense News' interviews with Franoy at different times shows that the main tasks of the Ministry of Defense will remain the same. According to Franoy, China is the biggest threat to the United States, and she also intends to promote advanced technological equipment to the military and achieve political neutrality in some units. In addition, Franoy was in favor of arms control, which could be beneficial to Moscow.
It is not the mission that the new defense chief may change, but the attitude. According to Fraunoy, Washington must abandon Trump's "short-sighted" attitude towards Sino-US relations and leave room for the two sides to cooperate.
Intra-party dissent. Franoy's appointment may have been strongly opposed by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Some Democrats have disputed Fraunoy's candidacy, fearing that she will continue America's "endless war" policy. This reminds many of the US policy in the Middle East during the Obama era, a failed policy that stole hotbeds of conflict from Syria to Yemen.
In addition, the candidate's lobbying ties are also worrying for the Democratic Party. According to some experts, there is a clear conflict of interest between Fraunoy's work at the consulting firm "West Administrative Street" and his position as head of the Pentagon. But lobbying for the interests of defense industry enterprises is nothing new for the Pentagon.