By Guo Xiaobing

Recently, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addressed senior US military officers, emphasizing the importance of military culture development. He sharply criticized "woke  culture" and "political correctness", and advocated a return to the military tradition of "warrior ethos".

What is the intention behind his remarks? And what impact might they have? It is not difficult to find the answer in his book, The War on Warriors .

This veteran, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, recounted in the book his unpleasant experience in 2021 that because of a Jerusalem cross tattoo on his chest, he was labeled a "white nationalist" and an "extremist", and ultimately was denied the opportunity to serve in support of former US president Joe Biden's inauguration as a National Guard member. According to Hegseth, this was not an isolated incident, but rather an epitome of left-wing "woke culture" infiltrating and controlling the US military, representing a war on warriors. He criticized that since the administration of former US President Barack Obama, the US military has overly promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and critical race theory (CRT), spending a great deal of time on gender and racial indoctrination, which crowded out tactical training time and directly undermined combat readiness. In pursuit of gender equality goals, the US military leadership has lowered physical fitness and promotion standards, implemented racial and gender-based quotas for advancement, and neglected merit-based promotion. This has ultimately led to the mass retirement of experienced soldiers and continued difficulties in recruitment.

The efforts of Hegseth to reform the military are backed by US President Donald Trump. From the perspective of Trump, the greatest threat does not come from foreign countries, but from domestic political opponents. He seeks to take advantage of the Democratic Party's predicament to eliminate the "woke culture" it has promoted, pursuing a political objective of both removing opponents and undermining their influence. In the field of education, Trump has already targeted the academic establishment represented by Harvard University. In the military domain, he has selected Hegseth, a relatively inexperienced but staunchly committed "warrior", hoping to use him to purge senior military leadership and reshape the US military into a "fortress of ideological purity" reflecting conservative values.

However, the "culture war" erupting within the US military may face strong backlash.

First, the vague criteria of the purge have already caused panic within the armed forces. To date, six senior US military officers have been dismissed, yet the reasons for their removal remain undisclosed. This opaque reshuffling has left personnel in the military deeply unsettled. A senior US officer who attended Hegseth's briefing bluntly stated that Hegseth is essentially trying to drive women and other minority groups out of the military. This indicates that the sharp political polarization and cultural division in the US have now spread into the military domain, making intense internal conflict within the armed forces increasingly unavoidable.

Second, blatant contempt for the laws of war could lead to humanitarian disasters and draw international condemnation. Hegseth has asserted that the mission of the US military is killing and destruction, and that combat personnel should be freed from the constraints of the laws of armed conflict to unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy . Should such a doctrine be put into practice, the historically bellicose US military would inevitably breach the legal bottom line enshrined in instruments such as the Geneva Conventions, adopt more radical modes of operation, and place the lives and rights of civilians in grave jeopardy.

The US is accustomed to branding other countries as "rogue states" or "evil empires". The blatant advocacy of violence, however, makes the international community see clearly who behaves like a "rogue" and who is pursuing "evil". As the "culture of killing" gains prevalence, the long-cultivated image of the US as a defender of international norms is bound to collapse.

(The author is director of the Center for Arms Control Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)

Editor's Note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.