Last year, the world’s wealthiest man left the White House after 130 chaotic days as the technically informal head of a department that hacked at the federal government’s ability to deliver on its duties.
asserted
that → leave → duties
On his last day, he stood in the Oval Office with a black eye and a golden key to the White House.
asserted
he → stand → House
Weeks later, he ignited a public feud with President Donald Trump, finding himself outside the president’s small decision-making circle.
asserted
he → ignite → circle
Now Musk has been announced as one of three members of a new Pentagon commission tasked with mapping the future of American warfare, alongside former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Palmer Luckey, chief executive of military technology company Anduril.
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Musk → announce → Anduril
Project Meridian marks a new step in a political transformation larger than any of those men, shifting important responsibility away from democratic government.
asserted
Meridian → mark → government
Rather than privatising how the state operates, Trump’s Washington is now testing the privatisation of decisions about what the state will need.
asserted
state → privatise → what
Beginning in 1980, the Reagan administration redrew the line between the private and public sector.
asserted
administration → begin → sector
Services once seen as the duty of a responsible government were entrusted to the open market, which could price them as they saw fit.
uncertain
they → see → them
Despite the logging of the pillars of government, judgment remained the core responsibility of the state.
asserted
judgment → remain → state
Companies could sell to the government, but the companies did not decide what a defence strategy required.
uncertain
strategy → sell → what
Project Meridian moves this line yet again.
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Meridian → move → line
The old relationship between defence and industry is falling apart.
asserted
relationship → fall → defence
It used to point from requirements, set by the government, to capabilities, built by private companies.
asserted
It → use → companies
Now, the same firms and technologies (including artificial intelligence) cover much more territory on either side of the dividing line between civilian and defence than they did before.
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they → include → civilian
Musk and Luckey lead companies with a combined $US53 billion ($76 billion) in Pentagon contracts and are now tasked with identifying the capabilities that the US military should develop to fight the battles of the future.
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military → lead → future
Luckey described his company’s business model as using “our own money to decide what products to build, how to build then, then we build those products, then we sell them to the government”.
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we → describe → government
He is now one of three people tasked with defining exactly what the government wants to buy.
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government → task → what
The neoliberal dream of the 1970s resulted in private companies taking on public tasks.
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companies → result → tasks
We are now seeing the privatisation of strategic imagination.
asserted
We → see → imagination
But governments and businesses are not meant to do the same thing.
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governments → mean → thing
Navies should not be designed to run a profit.
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Navies → design → profit
Governments exist to weigh the interest of its citizens above all else, including alliances and the risk of war itself.
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Governments → exist → war
This project is part of a longer strategy played out by the Trump administration.
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project → play → administration
In the opening weeks of his second term, Trump signed executive orders making the sale and export of American weapons a top diplomatic and trade priority, to be hawked by American embassies and consulates abroad.
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sale → sign → embassies
The America First Arms Transfer Strategy published this year by the White House says American arms deals are a core part of American foreign policy, used to expand production at home.
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deals → publish → home
The administration even made a handy catalogue of items that it encourages allies to acquire, cheapening the highwire task of diplomacy in the 21st century to selling expensive weapons.
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it → make → weapons
The strategy doesn’t stop at bombs.
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strategy → stop → bombs
Earlier this year, Trump signed another executive order, declaring another foreign policy goal of the administration to get other countries to adopt American AI technology.
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countries → sign → technology
An ally buying an American F-35 fighter jet is one thing.
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ally → buy → jet
An ally building its military decision-making capability around American AI models is more tightly wound.
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ally → build → models
As allies become more dependent on American technology, the question of who gets to define the priorities of that technology becomes extremely important.
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who → become → technology
That was made painfully obvious last month with news about OpenAI, a company with deep ties to the White House, gaining unauthorised access to Australian government systems without any human direction.
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That → make → direction
The stakes for Australia stretch wide.
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stakes → stretch → Australia
One step below the famous submarines of the AUKUS deal is Pillar II, which focuses on building technological capabilities.
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which → focus → capabilities
It’s designed to make the Australian, British and American militaries work more closely together.
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militaries → design → ?
The three countries are already jointly testing autonomous systems.
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countries → test → systems
They’re sharing sensitive data, and refining how new cutting-edge technology works, together.
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technology → share → data
Integration of the old generation meant ensuring that ammunition from one country could fire in the guns of another.
uncertain
ammunition → mean → another
Today, it’s about making sure their software and sensors can talk to each other.
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software → ’ → other
A change in how America decides what future military power should look like becomes a change in the assumptions around which Australian defence capability is built.
asserted
capability → decide → which
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
