Ideas
Things Lawmakers Should Do Before They Complain About Military Readiness
A few common-sense Congressional actions would go a long way toward funding troops’ preparedness.
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There Are No Good Alternatives to the US-Saudi Relationship
Obama’s former Mideast advisor also says the administration did just enough in Syria to perpetuate the conflict without resolving it.
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Obama's Last Chance To Change the Saudi Arabia Playbook
The U.S. can't be the sole guardian of the Gulf forever. It's time to bring in some more friends.
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Disrupt ISIS’ Online Campaign in Africa
As Internet access expands in Africa, so does the Islamic State's network-facilitated extremism.
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America Can't Do Much About ISIS
That leaves patience, containment, and humanitarian aid as the least-bad policies while waiting for this awful war to play itself out.
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What the US Gives Its Mideast Partners Isn’t Always What They Need
Instead of 'prestige weapons' worth billions, look at UAE’s special operators or Palestine’s security forces.
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Three Ways to Judge the Pentagon’s Tech-Sector Outreach
Hint: it’s not about how many zeroes are on the first checks.
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In Increasingly Turbulent Middle East, US-Saudi Partnership Is Indispensable
A former EUCOM deputy commander looks makes the case for even tighter bonds with Riyadh.
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How the US and China Can Talk Each Other Out of a Nuclear Arms Race
By striving for strategic stability, Beijing and Washington can relieve the pressures of oneupmanship and the risk of accidental escalation.
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The Hell After ISIS
Even as the militant group loses ground in Iraq, many Sunnis say they have no hope for peace. One family’s story shows why.
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The Legacy of Obama's 'Worst Mistake'
It's not just in Libya—the last 15 years of U.S. military interventions has revealed a troubling gap in the way America goes to war.
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Global Defense Spending Is Getting Murkier
Many of the governments that are spending more on their militaries are also the least transparent.
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China's Latest Bizarre Propaganda Videos Use Batman and Mr. Bean to Explain State Secrets
The five videos try to describe two laws that lay out the party’s stance on national security. They get very bizarre very quickly.
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The Mistake that Decapitated Pentagon Innovation — and How to Fix It
When the Packard Commission demoted the director of defense engineering and research, they essentially elevated gunsmithing over strategic marksmanship.
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Harvard’s Love-Hate Relationship with the US Military
The gap between America’s elite educational institutions and its military remains wide. Harvard faces a moral imperative to help close it.
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Divert Course: Beijing Needs A Way To Save Face in the South China Sea
It will take U.S. help and a politically difficult climb-down, but it will help China escape the blind alley its imprudent policies have steered it toward.
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How to Turn The Heat Down in the South China Sea
These five concrete steps can keep tensions from becoming war — if the U.S. acts.
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Don’t Let the Pentagon Become the Next Enron
Bad financial assumptions and unwillingness to make hard choices threaten to undermine national security.
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A Firewalled Nuke Fund Is Bad Budgeting and Bad Planning
It’s a budget gimmick that would promote waste and push off hard choices about tomorrow’s nuclear arsenal.
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