The West’s strategic vulnerability now lies less in external foes than in deteriorating domestic cohesion — economic stress, cultural fracturing, and political delegitimation — compounded by elites who fail to manage or repair those fractures. When governing elites are perceived as weak or disconnected, grievance groups can coordinate more easily and violent internal conflict becomes a plausible strategic scenario.
— This reframes national security to prioritize domestic resilience (political legitimacy, social cohesion, logistics and governance) and forces defense establishments to plan for internal contingencies rather than only external wars.
Jenny McCartney
2026.01.12
78% relevant
The article argues that political elites' moral and rhetorical timidity (self‑censoring criticism of a controversial ally) produces a gulf between elite behaviour and public sentiment that can energize backlash and delegitimation at home — directly connecting to the existing idea that elite retreat or cowardice fuels domestic political instability.
2026.01.05
100% relevant
David Betz (Military Strategy Magazine) explicitly argues the major threat to Western security stems from 'social instability, structural and economic decline, cultural desiccation and... elite pusillanimity.'
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