Ideas

Let the US Air Force Mature into the Space Force

Well-intentioned Congressional efforts to address problems risk trampling on existing solutions.

Ideas

Ukraine Is Losing Fewer Weapons to Theft, but High-Level Corruption Persists

A member of the Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Committee says the international community must leverage its security aid to force reforms.

Ideas

Is Russia Really with Assad in Syria?

Moscow appears to be preventing a total Assad victory in a bid to boost its international standing.

Ideas

The Summer of Misreading Thucydides

There’s a delicious irony in the Trump team’s affection for the historian—who repeatedly shows how populists lead societies to ruin.

Ideas

Don’t Enshrine A Russian Advantage In Surveillance Flights Over the US

Provisions in the House version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act would prevent the Pentagon from matching Russia’s advances in aerial photography.

Ideas

A Mercenary-Led Surge Won’t Solve Afghanistan

Private military contractors have spotted an opportunity as America’s longest war grinds on.

Ideas

Two Years on, the Iran Deal is Working

It is true that Tehran’s behavior in the region has not improved, but the agreement has kept the regime from going nuclear.

Ideas

Trump's Syria Ceasefire Is Doomed

It may bring Russia on board, but it hardly acknowledges Iran's role in the war.

Ideas

Make It Easier for Americans to Support Military Missions Abroad

Our nonprofit organization helped US commanders provide IED detectors to Iraqis confronting ISIS. Now Congress can make it a model for agile public-private partnerships.

Ideas

We Need to Focus on Space; We Don’t Need a 'Space Corps'

The US military’s top space commander wants deeper integration and more resources, not a separate Space Corps.

Ideas

The Next Battle: State Department, US Military Divided Over Kurdish Fighters In Syria (And Russia)

Frustrated sources on the ground say the State Department is struggling to get behind the Syrian Kurds and the U.S. military would struggle to proceed without them. As for Russia, well...

Ideas

How Can Iraq Rebuild?

Winning the peace means paying for reconstruction — and inevitably, losing money to corruption.

Ideas

The Spies of the 'Five Eyes' Need to Speed Up Intel-Sharing

Nations must speed the dissemination of information to enable real-time responses and counter disabling cyber threats.

Ideas

Voices from the Battle for Mosul: Podcast

We spoke with current and former US military officials about how Iraq and its allies broke ISIS’s nearly 3-year grip on Iraq's second city — and what comes next.

Ideas

Trump Gave the Military More Power, But Here’s What Really Concerns Us

A recent major conference on the civ-mil divide revealed a more nuanced picture of America and its armed forces.

Ideas

Mosul: What the Decade's Largest Battle Says About the Future of War

Here’s how Western-backed Iraqi soldiers helped break the Islamic State’s grip on a city of more than 1 million people — and what we can learn from it.

Ideas

At Trump-Putin Meeting, Start with New START

If the treaty is allowed to disappear, so will the Pentagon’s best tools for divining facts about the Russian nuclear arsenal.

Ideas

North Korea Just Called Trump's Bluff. Here's What the US Can Do

Now that Kim Jong-Un has an ICBM, it's time for 'the least of the bad options.'

Ideas

How Poland Sets Trump Up for Success With Putin

Trump’s Poland visit could give the American president a strong message – and momentum – for his Putin meeting later this week.

Ideas

What Did North Korea's Missile Test Really Change?

When potential death tolls are unthinkably high, it’s like multiplying infinity.