“The Devil May Care”.  Real or perceived, over the years, the US Superpower has to varying degrees conveyed an attitude that is arrogant, indifferent, oblivious or belligerent toward a mix of national, sub-national, transnational and hard-to-categorize power brokers around the world.   Today it would seem that “the devils, indeed, do care” in terms of effectively targeting the US Superpower.  America’s attentiveness to details in highly globalized and increasingly unforgiving competitions and contest, could lend fresh advantage.  

This report centers on what USA must do as part of pushback against the CCP, as well as in attending to issues which have become vulnerabilities.   This disregard for details has gradually eaten away at various stabilizers essential for national resilience.  

Circumstantial Dichotomy.  America’s discovery of its own Super Power potential during World War II has been empowering and debilitating at the same time.   We became addicted to this title, status and stature hard earned by The Greatest Generation.  One of the qualities of this addiction is a kind of inattention to others…the good, the bad and all in between.   This comes from over-fixation, if not almost fanaticism, on the systems and processes that worked for us.   This has led to cultural and systemic blindness to others’ agendas, innovations and counters to US Super Power.   We have been neither well served nor well secured by this.

Implications: 

• While USA was fixated on Super Power muscle, those who could not directly contest this got very busy with indirect approaches to out-think, out-maneuver and out-innovate the American Giant.
• As a consequence, there has been an accumulation of irregular methods created, perpetuated, shared, and advanced by purposeful collaboration among various “caring devils”.   
• In other words, the US Super Power has birthed a culture of antagonistic indirectness increasingly weaponized against America and its allies. 
• Understanding the various forms and formations of “indirectness” now challenges entrenched conventional US leadership cultures, doctrines, and systems, as well as intelligence and business communities.
•  It is folly to think we can just “work harder” to overcome systemic neglect and long-enduring negligence.  Broad-based professional development of commanders, leaders, strategists and planners across the public and private sector is deficient for The New Dark Ages.  
• USA is in deep trouble, in this regard.  Deeper than we may suppose.