Business

Amos' Marines Could Go Even Smaller, to 120,000

All due respect, but Commandant Amos isn’t going deep enough. The Marine Corps can drop to 120,000 using MEUs. Here’s how. By Aaron Haubert

Science & Tech

Can the U.S. and China Get Along in Outer Space?

China is improving and testing its anti-satellite capabilities. The Pentagon is, too. By Michael Krepon

Ideas

The Return of Coercive Diplomacy

It is said "the power to hurt is bargaining power." But can the lesson of Obama and Syria be felt in North Korea and Iran? By Sam Brannen

Ideas

Syrian Caves a Window Onto the Conflict

It takes a village, like Maaloula, to understand the complexities of Syria’s conflict, and the challenges it will face to recover and rebuild. By Tara Sonenshine

Ideas

Obama's Wrong, Syria's Chemical Weapons Require Boots on the Ground

There's no way around it. Securing chemical weapons amid a civil war requires troops. By Joshua Foust

Ideas

Does America Need to Give Up Some Security to Fix the NSA?

The agency -- and its director -- may have pushed the edges of the law. It's time that some of its power is drawn down, even if its comes at a cost. By Bruce Schneier

Ideas

The Obama Doctrine

This wasn’t just an address to the nation about Syria, it was a major foreign policy speech that finally spells out the Obama Doctrine. By Stephanie Gaskell

Business

One Veteran’s Battle to Bring His Afghan Interpreter to the United States

It took five years, amid constant death threats from the Taliban, to get one Army unit’s Afghan interpreter and his family to the United States. There has to be a better way. By Matt Zeller

Ideas

Testing the Waters for Normalizing U.S.-Iran Relations

With a newly elected president in Iran, now is the time to use maritime cooperation to try to lessen tensions between Iran and the United States. By Kevin Cosgriff and Ellen Laipson

Business

How the Military’s 'Bro' Culture Turns Women Into Targets

A testosterone fueled environment is hindering efforts for the military's female personnel to combat sexual assault in their ranks. By Sara Sorcher

Ideas

‘War’ By Any Other Name Is the Plan

A war by any other name doesn’t matter. A strike on Syria is exactly what U.S. military is built to do and the Pentagon expects to do more of it. By Stephanie Gaskell

Ideas

How the 'War on Terror' Changed the Way We Go to War

The irregular nature of the past decade of warfare has emboldened presidents to order military action in other nations. Now Congress is saying, ‘Not so fast.’ By Stephanie Gaskell

Ideas

Only a ‘Painful’ Strike Will Stop Syria from Using Chemical Weapons Again

The father of the U.N.-backed Responsibility to Protect doctrine says military action against Syria is justified under the principles it lays out. By Kedar Pavgi

Policy

War with Syria: The Intersection of Interests and Ideology

In the realm of foreign affairs, it’s rare that a cause unites hawkish interventionists and neoconservatives, realists and liberal internationalists. By James Kitfield

Ideas

The Battle Between the Air Force and the Air National Guard

The Air Force must stop pretending that it has no choice but to cut the Air National Guard and instead figure out ways to keep capability without being crushed by Congress. By Russell Rumbaugh

Ideas

Drones, Spying, Iraq and the Case Against Military Action in Syria

When it comes to building a case for a strike against Syria, America’s credibility on drones, spying and the invasion of Iraq may get in the way. By Michael Hirsh

Ideas

The Many Challenges of Building an International Military Coalition

Coordinating several militaries with different budgets, capabilities and goals to carry out a strike against Syria isn’t easy. By Kathleen J. McInnis