Ideas
Saudi Arabia’s Phone Hacking Shows We Need Better Encryption — Not Backdoors
End-to-end encryption isn’t good enough. Files and cloud backups need strong crypto as well.
Ideas
While ‘Arctic Exceptionalism’ Melts Away, the US Isn't Sure What It Wants Next
Global competition is coming to the northern polar region. U.S. policymakers are not clear on a fundamental question about its future.
Ideas
Who Gets to Tell the Story of the Afghanistan War?
The Washington Post’s ‘Afghanistan Papers’ is the latest contribution to a growing argument over whether the conflict — or any of the ‘forever wars’ — was worth the cost.
Ideas
The US Navy’s Three Great Intellectual Challenges
Design the force, wrestle with change, buy ships.
Ideas
Donald Trump Stumbles Into a Foreign-Policy Triumph
The president, however inadvertently, may be reminding the world of the reality of international relations.
Ideas
Sending Troops Back to the Middle East Won’t Stop Iran
Knee-jerk deployments only distract from the president’s bigger priorities: China and Russia.
Ideas
Esper Is Attempting the Biggest Defense Reform in a Generation
In two recent memos, the SecDef reveals his intention to change how the Pentagon uses its money, people, and time.
Ideas
Ep. 62: Wagner and Russian private military contractors
How much do we understand about what these groups are up to? And how much should the U.S. and its allies be concerned?
Ideas
The Downed Jetliner Reminds Us that War Spins Out of Control
Mistakes and misperceptions bookended this latest episode in the long conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Expect that not to change.
Ideas
The Pentagon Must Replace Some Hackable Computer Chips
Last year’s vulnerability revelations, combined with the tardiness of manufacturers’ responses, leave the military with an expensive choice.
Ideas
The Global Race for Big National-Security Ideas Is On
The United States faces genuinely new challenges—but tries to understand them using outmoded theories from a bygone era.
Ideas
On Iran, It's Time to Return to Containment
Trump has traded Obama-era appeasement for inconsistent confrontation. What's needed is a strategy of containment, backed by clear and credible deterrence.
Ideas
Russia’s ‘Data Localization’ Efforts May Guide Other Governments
Moscow’s efforts to keep data on home soil are of interest to other authoritarian states — and even some liberal democracies.
Ideas
Trump Broke It. Now He Owns It.
The president withdrew from a flawed deal with Iran, but had no realistic alternative. With that choice comes responsibility for what ensued.
Ideas
Iran’s Smart Strategy
The Iranians chose neither to fold nor to fight. It is not clear at this point who was more deterred by whom.
Ideas
Building Post-INF Missiles Would Be a Waste, or Worse
New U.S. intermediate-range ground-launched missiles would deliver more undesirable effects than tactical utility.
Ideas
The US, Iran, and the Consequences of Breaking International Law
Some in the U.S. act as if only naked might matters in foreign policy. Yet American policy in Iran and Iraq illustrates something different.
Ideas
Why US Officials Are Revealing More about Cyber Ops
It’s part of a “costly signaling” gambit. Will it deter America’s enemies?
Ideas