Ideas

Obama Needs an ISIS War Czar Before It’s Too Late

Obama’s ISIS fight looks more like Iraq in 2003 than in 2007, when military and civilian leaders were synced hip-to-hip.

Ideas

Want To Intervene in Syria? Answer These Questions First

Even as the cries for action rise, the mistakes of past interventions — in Libya, Iraq, and elsewhere — demand forethought.

Ideas

Today’s Terrorists Want To Inspire

How terrorism has—and hasn’t—changed, from the Algerian War to ISIS.

Ideas

What Drone-Strike Data from Yemen and Pakistan Says about the ISIS Fight

Washington's drone program has cost a great deal of blood and money with little to show for it. Absent a political strategy, the effort in Syria will likely fare no better.

Ideas

Why Xi Won’t Get What China Wants Most When He Meets Obama

The next summit is unlikely to give China the outcomes it wants most, because what it wants the United States is not prepared to give.

Ideas

The 'War of the Imagination' at the Heart of the Struggle Against ISIS

The true theater of war for the Islamic State is not on earth, but in the heavens, argues popular and controversial scholar of religion, Reza Aslan.

Ideas

The Islamic State's Recruiting Has Hit Britain Particularly Hard

British Muslims are caught in a pincer movement: with public and government suspicion on one side, and a seductive and supposedly empowering ideology on the other.

Ideas

Yemen's Refugee Crisis Is Spilling Over Into Somalia

There are now nearly 1.5 million displaced people in Yemen, though their plight is no less dire than those pouring out of the battlefields of Iraq and Syria.

Ideas

The Rules of Cyberspace Just Got A Bit Clearer

The UN's new recommendations guiding state activity in cyberspace break new ground in three important areas.

Ideas

In Syria, ‘Containment' Has Produced A Predictable Deluge of Refugees

The West’s governments saw this coming more than two years ago, and have done little to prevent it.

Ideas

Will US-Iran Diplomacy Go Beyond the Nuclear Deal?

A conversation about the shifting diplomatic landscape with James Dobbins, former assistant Secretary of State for Europe.

Ideas

‘A Better Iran Deal’ Is Just Wishful Thinking

The probability of sanctions eroding if Congress torpedoes the international agreement is greater than the prospect of tougher sanctions.

Ideas

What Congress Can Learn from the Military About Cybersecurity

As it stands, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act won’t much improve information-sharing. Here's how to change that.

Ideas

10 Responses to Iran-Deal Skeptics

The top lobbyist for the agreement, along with John Kerry’s former chief of staff, tackle a prominent critic’s questions for President Obama.

Ideas

Survey: 2/3 of Natsec Pros Give Iran Deal Thumbs Down

A Defense One survey finds deep skepticism among U.S. active-duty military and civilian government employees in national-security jobs.

Ideas

The West Point Professor Who Contemplated a Coup

A controversial law professor resigns after calling his intellectual opponents treasonous, and perhaps exaggerating his credentials.

Ideas

Norfolk, Home To World’s Largest Naval Base, Must Adapt As Waters Rise

This port city is racing to figure out how to deal with harsher storms and elevated sea levels — and it's not alone.

Ideas

The Allure of ISIS Has Reached Long-Stable Ghana

So far, recruits number a tiny handful of people in a nation of 26 million. But Ghanaians should hear alarm bells ringing.

Ideas

How To Respond To a State-Sponsored Cyber Attack

The murky nature of network warfare makes it hard to choose a response. Here are some ways to think about it.

Ideas

Who's Leading the World's ‘Counter Violent Extremism’ Efforts? No One

An international institution dedicated to CVE research and evaluation would reduce redundancy and promote buy-in.