Ideas

Blinken’s Arctic Opportunities

The secretary of state can make real diplomatic progress on several key areas.

Ideas

Détente with Iran Could Unlock a Foreign Policy Gold Mine

Bringing Tehran back into the diplomatic fold would foster other progress.

Ideas

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ Is Bunk

The military services’ shares of overall defense spending have always fluctuated with strategy and need.

Ideas

Toward a New Naval Statecraft

If the U.S. and its allies do nothing to complicate or slow China’s grey zone strategy, they risk ceding the global commons of maritime Asia.

Ideas

Why the U.S. Needs a Space Czar

Bureaucracy must keep up with the new space age.

Ideas

Defense One Radio, Ep. 82: “Robert E. Lee and Me”

Ty Seidule, a retired Army brigadier general, talks about the Confederacy, and inclusive changes throughout the recent history of the U.S. military.

Ideas

Should We Care About That Letter?

Retired generals and admirals are, first and foremost, retirees.

Ideas

The 2018 Strategy Is Unworkable. We Need a Fundamental Defense Rethink

We can model our efforts to link long-term defense priorities and resourcing on a post-Cold War review.

Ideas

Shake Off the Pentagon's Industrial-Age Bureaucracy

Five disciplines and five initiatives can help the U.S. military better adapt to 21st-century threats.

Ideas

Why National Cyber Defense Is a ‘Wicked’ Problem

Vulnerable supply chains, sloppy security, and a talent shortage made events like the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and the SolarWinds hack all but inevitable.

Ideas

When and Why China Might—or Might Not—Attack Taiwan

U.S. policymakers can only guess at what’s driving Beijing, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing they can do about it.

Ideas

Redraw the Limits on Lethal Force Against Terror Groups

As the Biden administration reviews policies for use of lethal force outside war zones, it must be certain it’s not perpetuating a cycle of “forever wars.”

Ideas

Narcissism and National Security

A century ago, the doings of ordinary citizens barely mattered to national security. Today, they matter a great deal more.

Ideas

The US Needs to Impose Costs on China for Its Economic Warfare

The linchpin of a more effective deterrence is developing a more effective way to hurt the Chinese Communist Party if it will not stop hurting the United States.

Ideas

America Needs Competitive Intelligence

Agencies ought to be thinking about how to bring U.S. capabilities to bear on adversaries’ vulnerabilities, in competition as well as in conflict.

Ideas

Why We Need the Advanced Battle Management System

The character of war is changing; ABMS provides the tools for effective command and control into the future.

Ideas

America Can Beat China in Space with Safe Nuclear Propulsion

A reactor that heats up and expels non-radioactive gas promises unprecedented mobility in orbit.

Ideas

We Don’t Have Enough Information to Evaluate Arguments for a New ICBM

The Biden administration should follow precedent and commission an independent look at the case for the Ground Based Strategic Defense program.

Ideas

Ten Years After Bin Laden, We Still Need Better Intelligence Sharing

Leaders should still apply the lessons we learned, when contending with China and Russia.