Ideas

Stand Up for the Constitution: Stop Unauthorized Involvement in Yemen's Civil War

The War Powers Act requires a Senate vote. Lawmakers should not duck their responsibility.

Ideas

Why ‘Different Spanks for Different Ranks’ Are Often Justified

It can be frustrating when generals and admirals appear to skate on misconduct charges, but lawmakers should be wary of trying to “fix it.”

Ideas

Don’t Let Trump Turn Iran into North Korea

Unless Congress, Europe, and other parties step up to protect the West’s nuclear deal with Iran, it will collapse, unshackling Tehran’s nuclear efforts.

Ideas

Expect North Korea to Add Nuclear Coercion to Its Provocation Playbook

Kim's nuclear arsenal is built to "deter and coerce." We're probably going to find out soon what forms the latter will take.

Ideas

Russia's Favorite Syrian Warlord

Brigadier General Suheil al-Hassan has won over Putin and played a central role in the assault on eastern Ghouta.

Ideas

Talk About Extremists, But Don't Politicize the Debate

Singer's call to focus on right-wing extremists is dangerous to a profession that needs to remain above partisan politics.

Ideas

Whatever Happened to Trump's Counterterrorism Strategy?

His approach borrows from his predecessors’, while exacerbating their worst, most counterproductive tendencies.

Ideas

In the Competition over Syria's Reconstruction, China Is the Likely Winner

Beijing sees a double opportunity in rebuilding the wartorn country: to extend its new Silk Road and expand its economic and political influence westward.

Ideas

Putin Just Gave Trump the Arms Race He Sought

'Let it be an arms race,' Trump said, two years ago. Now we have one. It doesn't have to be this way.

Ideas

The Pentagon Just Revealed How Much It Spends Helping Foreign Militaries

DoD’s first-ever summary of 27 security-cooperation programs deserves praise. Now tell us more.

Ideas

The US Will Spend $500M on Syrian Kurds This Year. For What?

The Trump administration is embarking on a state-building project with no clear strategy, benchmarks, or goals.

Ideas

It’s Time for a National Security Cooperation Strategy

The current way the U.S. government approves what weapons get exported and where is fragmented and slow. That undermines American leadership and interests.

Ideas

America and Russia Aren't Morally Equivalent

There is no comparison between Russian efforts to undermine elections and American efforts to strengthen them, a former Obama official writes.

Ideas

Russia Is a Great Power Once Again

Putin’s Syria intervention saved Assad. But is he ready for what comes next?

Ideas

Russia Is Abetting Mass Murder in Syria

By standing by and watching a slow-motion Rwanda unfold, the U.S. risks becoming an accessory to evil.

Ideas

The Dark Arts of Foreign Influence-Peddling

The Mueller investigation is showing the extent of Russian operations. But its real import extends far beyond that.

Ideas

America Is Teaching Syria a Dangerous Lesson

Bashar al-Assad seems to have gotten the message that he can do whatever he wants short of using sarin gas.

Ideas

We’ve Lost the Opening Info Battle against Russia; Let’s Not Lose the War

Our defenders must understand not just media technology but the critical historical and societal contexts that give it power.

Ideas

Trump's Aimless War in Afghanistan Expands, Again

Why is the U.S. bombing Chinese separatists, and what does it say about the flailing war effort in Afghanistan?