Ideas

Build Small Nuclear Reactors for Battlefield Power

Los Alamos engineers are working on a tiny, steel-encased core regulated by physics, not pumps.

Ideas

The US-China Trade War is Steering the World into the Unknown

A new Cold War is a possibility — but not the most likely one.

Ideas

If Trump’s Message to the Palestinians is 'You Lost, Get Over It,' He Will Fail

Instead of acknowledging the political and national aspirations of the Palestinians, negotiators are focusing on material and economic concerns.

Ideas

Moon Brings Korean Peninsula One Step Closer to Peace

As talks with Washington seemed to stall, Seoul created its own path with Pyongyang.

Ideas

America's Latest About-Face: Refugee Resettlement

Where past administrations have treated resettlement caps as a goal, Pompeo has set strict limits.

Ideas

Cognitive Science Helps Explain How We Blunder Into War

A new book explores how common flaws in human reasoning drew the U.S. into Vietnam — and how tomorrow’s leaders can avoid them.

Ideas

ISIS Sees Opportunity as Syria’s Rebellion Falls

Religious extremists will try to inherit the energy of the all-but-defeated rebellion, just as they did in Iraq after the surge.

Ideas

Trump Is Repeating Soviet Leaders’ Intel Mistakes

Stalin ignored his spies when their findings contradicted his assumptions. Now the U.S. president is doing the same.

Ideas

The World Waits for Putin to Stop Assad. He Won't

As Assad begins an assault on Idlib, the last rebel stronghold, the world has fooled itself into thinking Russia will intervene.

Ideas

The Secret to Effective Foreign Aid? Sometimes, It’s Giving Cash

For the first time, USAID compared a traditional intervention to a simple cash transfer.

Ideas

Ep. 20: Jeffrey Lewis on nuclear war; Loren DeJonge Schulman; the Houthi 'war machine' and more.

Welcome to our podcast about the news, strategy, tech, and business trends defining the future of national security.

Ideas

America is Losing Power and Influence and Must Adapt, Warns UN Secretary General

The "attraction of American society...is today less clear" says António Guterres, in an exclusive interview.

Ideas

What’s Old Is New Again: It’s the Free World Vs. Neo-Authoritarians

The U.S. must abandon the notion of a liberal world order, and get to work deterring those who would bring down democracy.

Ideas

Congress Wants a Space-Based Missile Defense System. That’s a Colossally Bad Idea

A provision in the 2019 defense authorization act orders the Pentagon to start development.

Ideas

Stuck Fighting the Last War

It’s 2011—not 2001—that defines the challenge facing the United States and its allies in combatting jihadism.

Ideas

How to Dampen Escalation Risks As Cyber-Attack Rules Loosen

Create standing rules of engagement and maintain the dual-hatted NSA/CyberCommand.

Ideas

Welcome, Class of 2022: Last of the Pre-9/11 Cohort

Your arrival reminds us all to do more to connect America’s citizens to their country’s wars, and its civilians to its veterans.

Ideas

The Weaponization of Everything

So far, the U.S. has mustered no response to China’s and Russia’s widening assault on America’s global stature.

Ideas

Deploy the Next-Gen Missile-Defense Network in Pieces

Instead of waiting for full deployment, the Pentagon should roll out parts of its new command-and-control systems as they become ready.