Ideas

How JSOC Harnessed Networks To Take on Terrorists

A former SEAL and McChrystal aide outlines the cultural shifts that helped fight AQI — and are needed against ISIS.

Ideas

Incirlik Air Strikes Aren’t Changing Any Games Just Yet

Two weeks after U.S. planes started bombing ISIS from Turkish bases, the number of strikes in Syria has declined.

Ideas

Pakistan Must Convince the World of its Intentions

Tackling terror, all terror, should be Job No. 1 for Islamabad.

Ideas

The US Military Should Deploy More Troops as UN Peacekeepers

Obama is calling a summit to boost the UN's peacekeeping efforts. His first step should be to lead by example.

Ideas

Top-Down IT Approach Too Slow To Meet Threats

The Defense Department arms itself for cyber at the same plodding pace with which it buys major weapons.

Ideas

What Iran Deal Critics Don't Understand About Iran

To Iranians at home and abroad, the agreement isn't a bet on a suspect regime, but on its people.

Ideas

It’s Time to Confront Beijing About the South China Sea

To allow China to continue to expand its role and expectations invites future conflict on a larger scale.

Ideas

Why Can’t Obama Get His Defense Secretary To Release This Guantanamo Prisoner?

The Pentagon, not Congress, is blocking the release of 75-pound prisoner Tariq Ba Odah, six years after he was cleared to go. Where is the president?

Ideas

Artillery, Protests, and Giant Balloons Mark Rising Korean Tensions

North and South Korea, locked in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, exchanged fire on Thursday.

Ideas

Don’t Let the Iran Deal Become 2016’s Swift Boat

Opponents are attacking the Iran Deal with everything they’ve got—almost all of it entirely fabricated and unsupported by the entire nuclear expert community.

Ideas

Russia And China Have A Cyber Nonaggression Pact

The two powers are advancing a vision of security in cyberspace that is markedly different from Western approaches.

Ideas

The International-Relations Argument Against Killer Robots

AI-assisted weapons could spark an arms race that would increase the likelihood of wars — and the slope of their escalation.

Ideas

The New US Army Chief Sets His Tone

Here are a few takeaways from Milley's first address since taking command of the nearly half-million strong active duty force.

Ideas

ISIS, Syria, and Turkey’s New War on the Kurds

After a decade of improving relations, Ankara has resumed open war on the largest stateless ethnic group in the world.

Ideas

The Intel Community Needs A Better Media Strategy

As press watchdogs stiffen their spines, intel agencies must decide what secrets truly need protecting and why.

Ideas

Why Germany’s Cybersecurity Law Isn’t Working

Among other things, it’s hard to improve private-sector network defenses one country at a time.

Ideas

The Pentagon Wants To Wage War on Denial-of-Service Cyber Attacks

By next spring, researchers are expected to unveil new tools enabling organizations like the Defense Department a rapid response to distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Ideas

This Could Be the Change Iraq Has Been Waiting For

Public anger over rampant corruption and poor government service has sparked the most sweeping reform plan since Saddam fell.

Ideas

Don't Be Led Astray by the Legend of the Surge

Having misunderstood the lessons of the Iraq War, Republicans are taking a dangerously hawkish turn.

Ideas

The Legal Problems with Cyber War Are Much Bigger Than You Think

Much of the unchartered territory begins with questions of what it takes to trigger self-defense in cyberspace, and what does it mean for a nation-state to have 'effective control' of a hacker?