Policy
After the Iran Deal, Here’s What the US Military Is Worried About Next
Keep your eyes on Iranian ballistic missiles showing up in Yemen.
Ideas
Iran Hawks Are the New Iraq Hawks
Many of the assumptions that guided America’s march to conflict in 2003 still dominate American foreign policy today.
Ideas
Fixing The Iranian Missile Problem
It won’t be easy, but Europe and Washington should pressure Iran into suspending missile flight-testing.
Ideas
The US May Seek Defenses Against Russian Missiles. We Need to Talk about That.
If the Trump administration goes down that path, it should boldly declare a change in strategy, not hide behind ambiguity.
Ideas
Trump Is Setting America on an Unpredictable Course in the Middle East
It starts with exiting the Iran nuclear deal without a plan, and it could end with a messy, violent, and unnecessary conflict.
Ideas
Moscow Has Little Reason to Return to the INF Treaty
The incentives that led Gorbachev to sign the pact are gone. The U.S. needs to prepare for a post-INF world.
Ideas
Ep. 2: Korean summit; Space Force?; Conversations with Eric Fanning, Paul Scharre and more.
Welcome to episode two of our weekly podcast about the news, strategy, tech, and business trends defining the future of national security.
Ideas
We Need a NATO for Infowar
Western countries have pitifully few defenses against ever-more-powerful disinformation campaigns. Banding together can help.
Ideas
Terrorists Are Going to Use Artificial Intelligence
Machine-learning technology is growing ever more accessible. Let’s not have a 9/11-style ‘failure of imagination’ about it.
Ideas
The Dead Metaphors of National Security
To grapple with today’s complex security environment, we must first think about it realistically. Our terminology — not our technology — is key.
Ideas
Netanyahu and Iran's Atomic Archive: What's New and What's Not
Among the new bits: Tehran's nuclear planners envisioned an arsenal so small as to make Kim Jong Un giggle.
Ideas
The Pentagon Is Losing the Innovation Battle. Here's How to Turn It Around
Four steps that will help better harness American innovation.
Ideas
Trump’s New Arms-Sales Policy Is Good but Sounds Awful
We must reintegrate arms exports into the U.S. foreign-policy process — and do a far better job of explaining why than the Trump administration has managed so far.
Ideas
Introducing: Defense One Radio, a New Podcast
Welcome to Defense One Radio, our new podcast about the news, strategy, tech, and business trends defining the future of national security.
Ideas
The Difference Between a Killer and a Terrorist
Two mass murders reveal how difficult—and important—it is to correctly identify terrorism when it occurs.
Ideas
The US Does Not Need New Tactical Nukes
There’s a false narrative afoot: that we lack the weapons to deter a Russian nuclear strike.
Policy
Macron Mic-Drops on Trump, Offers a New Call to Western Leadership
Defending multilateralism and democracy, the French president gave the best political speech America has seen in years.
Ideas
Thornberry Is Getting Rolled by the Services
The HASC chairman’s proposed reforms would roll back consolidations that have been saving money for decades.
Ideas