Ideas

How Al-Qaeda Benefits From America's Political Divisions

If the United States wishes to defeat bin Laden's heirs and the toxic potency of their message, it needs to recommit to its most basic values.

Ideas

Winter Is Here, But the US is Not Ready for Cyber War

How can DHS and Congress protect HBO and Equifax when they're slow to protect their own '.gov' domains?

Ideas

Russia’s Zapad-17 Has Already Succeeded

Moscow’s message of larger-than-life military power has been eagerly amplified by Western politicians and media outlets.

Ideas

On North Korea, More Missile Defense Is Not the Answer

Buying more unreliable interceptors would be a wasteful invitation to disaster.

Ideas

South Korea Is Right

Trump has characterized its policy as “appeasement.” But Seoul’s approach is far more sensible than Washington’s.

Ideas

Building an H-Bomb in Plain Sight

Usually countries build nuclear weapons in secret—but not North Korea.

Ideas

Russia Has 100K Troops On the Move. Here's Why NATO Can't Do the Same

From mismatched rail lines to red tape, a host of obstacles show why NATO needs its own version of Russia's upcoming Zapad 2017 exercise.

Ideas

The Clear Logic of the Latest North Korean Test

Kim Jong Un has a predictable purpose and a plan.

Ideas

As China Rises, the US Must Stop Taking Australia for Granted

Canberra’s and Washington’s strategic preferences for confronting Beijing are diverging. Here’s how to bring them back together.

Ideas

How Mattis May Get Himself in Trouble With Trump

The secretary of defense could run afoul of his boss if his review of the policy on transgender troops follows the facts to their conclusion.

Ideas

The Quite Rational Basis for North Korea's Japan Overfly

With each new missile test, Pyongyang shakes Tokyo’s confidence in Washington, while accruing valuable data on its own capabilities.

Ideas

It Takes a Village to Raze an Insurgency

As the Trump Administration reviews its counter-terrorism policies and strategies, it should apply the lessons of the Village Stability Operations program.

Ideas

Congress Should Do Its Job, and Get Us Out of Yemen’s Civil War

American support for the Saudi-led coalition is getting us nowhere good.

Ideas

Trump Doesn't Have the Authority to Attack North Korea Without Congress

The decision to engage in armed conflict rests with the legislative branch, a requirement that is neither a formality nor outdated.

Ideas

Our Navy is Broken, and That is a Bad Thing

The fleet’s problems stem from decades of flat acquisition budgets and declining ship numbers.

Ideas

Lower-Yield Weapons Will Raise, Not Lower, the Threshold for Nuclear Use

Giving the U.S. president more flexible options will improve deterrence.

Ideas

As Independence Vote Nears, Iraqi Kurds Play a Risky Game of Chicken

Kurdistan’s president called the referendum to extract concessions from Baghdad. What if it doesn’t work?

Ideas

The North Korean Threat Beyond ICBMs

Even without them, the Kim regime can menace its immediate neighborhood—or sell nuclear material to rogue states.

Ideas

How James Mattis Tried to Explain Trump to the World

Just as Mattis sought to reassure nervous allies, back home there were numerous reminders that the populist and intemperate impulses of his boss will not be tamed.