Threats
The US Might Have Warded Off Turkey’s Syria Invasion, Says DOD’s Outgoing Mideast Policy Chief
U.S. and Turkish officials were shoring up a joint-patrol deal when Trump scuttled it.
Ideas
Protecting US Bases Increasingly Requires Hardening Civilian Infrastructure
Congress needs to fund its Defense Community Infrastructure Program, and the military needs to think beyond its gates.
Ideas
Yes-Men Are Taking Over the Trump Administration
Trump is making foreign policy on the fly, seeking his personal advantage and undermining American power.
Ideas
It’s Not All Trump’s Fault: Syria Shows the Danger of War on the Cheap
America’s surprise withdrawal is deeply destabilizing, but so is the proxy war that Western countries have fought for five years.
Ideas
A Plan to Crowdsource Voting Machines' Security Problems
A northern Virginia infrastructure-threat clearinghouse is trying to build a system to help voting-system manufacturers learn about problems with their machines.
Ideas
We Don't Know Enough about How Women's Perspectives Help Achieve Military Missions
Plenty of anecdotes show the benefits of bringing female perspectives to U.S. military missions. What's needed is data.
Ideas
America’s Military Is Misdirected, Not Underfunded
U.S. strategy should be more focused on preventing conflict with nuclear-armed China than on spinning out elaborate war-fighting scenarios.
Threats
Border Agents Can Now Get Classified Intelligence Information. Experts Call That Dangerous.
Classified information will flow from U.S. intelligence agencies to the National Vetting Center to border agents. Migrants and others denied entry will be unable to see the evidence against them.
Science & Tech
Dept. of Interior Grounds Its Chinese-Made Drones
Agency leaders green-lit the purchases in July despite warnings from DHS and outside experts that Beijing might collect data from the drones.
Ideas
Pay More Attention to the Women of ISIS
Many are victims of the terrorist group. But others have demonstrated their resolve to use violence and seek revenge for the Caliphate.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon’s AI Ethics Draft Is Actually Pretty Good
By seeking reliable, governable, traceable technology, the Defense Department could help set global standards for using artificial intelligence.
Threats
The Taliban Got Way Deadlier in 2019, Says Pentagon's Afghanistan IG
The group mounted 3,500 deadly or wounding attacks this summer, even as U.S. airstrikes rose.
Threats
General: Trump Pullout Did Not Affect Baghdadi Raid Timing
“We struck because the time was about right,” said CENTCOM’s Gen. Frank McKenzie, of intelligence and other factors.
Defense Systems
DOD data strategy nearing release
The Navy's chief data officer says the final draft should be out in November with service-specific implementation plans to follow.
Defense Systems
Blackburn presses DOD management chief on Fourth Estate cuts
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) pressed DOD's acting chief management officer for answers on why the Pentagon can't find more cuts in Fourth Estate agencies.
Ideas