Ideas
Trump Goes After Iran’s Supreme Leader
Having pulled back from a strike on Iran, the White House is trying sanctions on Ali Khamenei.
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A Water-Stressed World Turns to Desalination
More cities rely on desalination, which remains expensive and creates its own environmental problems.
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Women are Critical to Ending Wars—and the Trump Administration Agrees
A new law should kickstart long-overdue efforts to include more women in peace and security leadership roles.
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Is There Still a Deal to Be Done With Iran?
Below the surface, there are faint signs of how both parties can exit the crisis.
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Worse Than Obama’s Red-Line Moment
Trump has now shown himself just as willing as President Obama to make empty threats that damage American credibility.
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A Closer Look at the Arguments against the Low-Yield SLBM
Why should the U.S. forgo a modest technical adjustment that improves forces supporting its strategy for deterring limited nuclear war?
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US Arms Sales to the Gulf Have Failed
Despite spending billions of dollars on hardware, our regional partners don’t have the capabilities we need.
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Ep. 45: Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter
Carter sat down with Defense One to talk about China, what it takes to succeed in the Pentagon, how not to waste a $750 billion-dollar defense budget — and much more.
Ideas
Trump Might Not Want War, but the Military Is Steering His Iran Policy
The buildup in the Middle East is coming at the request of the forces responsible for the region.
Ideas
Bolton Keeps Trying to Goad Iran Into War
For more than a decade, he’s consistently promoted war with Iran. All that has changed are the pretexts he’s offering to justify one.
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Cutting Language Training Is the Latest Foolish Retreat from Global Engagement
Cancelling bought-and-paid-for air tickets to study-abroad programs is the latest Trump administration blow to programs that support strategic understanding.
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For their National Interests, the US and China Must Continue to Engage
Four former Congressmen return from a China trip with new perspectives.
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How to Step Back from the Brink with Iran
Right now, everything both sides do to strengthen their defenses looks to the other side like preparation for attack.
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House Democrats Want To Kill This More Useable Nuke. They’re Right.
There are no good arguments for the W76-2 warhead, and quite a few good ones against.
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Iran Has Options and It’s Starting to Use Them
Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign has not forced Tehran to yield—in fact, it’s done the opposite.
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Europe's Elections Suggest US Shouldn’t Be Complacent in 2020
The lesson is not that elections are secure, but that Russian and other subversives are choosy about when and how they engage.
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Deterrence Is Failing — Partly Because Iran Has No Idea What the US Really Wants
Successful deterrence requires clear delineation of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. That needs to start, pronto.
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Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter Talks Iran, China, and Trump’s Late-Night Tweets
“I don’t want to have a war with Iran, but I know who would win.”
Ideas