Ideas

The Air Force's Kessel Run Is the John Travolta of Defense Acquisitions

Right now, the much-hyped software-development office is doing fine work. Let’s remember that when the inevitable backlash arrives.

Threats

White House Used Classified System to Hide Trump’s Phone Call: Whistleblower

The IC employee wrote that the July 25 call to Ukraine was not the only time documents had been improperly hidden in codeword-level systems.

Threats

Read the Whistleblower Complaint

The House Intelligence Committee released a redacted version of the complaint about President Trump's alleged attempts to solicit election-related favors from foreign powers.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Wants AI to Interpret ‘Strategic Activity’ Around the Globe

The Defense Innovation Unit is seeking commercial tools to glean insights from global news outlets, social media platforms, and other publicly available resources.

Science & Tech

Favor #2: Trump Also Asked Ukraine to Revive a Hillary Conspiracy Theory

By mentioning Crowdstrike in the phone call, the U.S. president was trying to get Russia off the hook for the 2016 email hacks.

Ideas

The US and Iran Are Still Worlds Apart on a Deal

At the UN, America and Iran talk at each other and refuse to meet.

Science & Tech

Big Tech Bulks Up Its Anti-Extremism Group. But Will It Do More than Talk?

Facebook and others launched GIFCT to stop violent groups from exploiting online platforms.

Ideas

Ep. 56: 10 trips to Afghanistan, with Kevin Maurer

North Carolina-based author Kevin Maurer talks about his latest trip in January, and how some U.S. soldiers derive meaning from the longest conflict in the nation's history.

Defense Systems

Pentagon teams with GSA on AI Center of Excellence

The Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center has partnered with the General Services Administration to accelerate government's AI adoption.

Defense Systems

Why cross-domain technology is key for radar and sonar data sharing

The Defense Department will need to embrace cross-domain technologies to closely monitor data transfers, allowing for increased data utility of any given system.

Ideas

Trump’s Incriminating Conversation With the Ukrainian President

The White House said a transcript of the call would be exculpatory—but the summary it released only adds to the problems facing Trump.

Ideas

Why America Needs Ukraine

Trump’s push to get Ukraine’s new president to do his political bidding threatens to undermine a key U.S. partnership in countering Russia.

Science & Tech

DHS is Struggling to Coordinate Its Sprawling Research Efforts

Inspector general finds poor oversight and shoddy data management in the department's Science and Technology Directorate.

Policy

House Democrats Announce Formal Impeachment Probe — Sort Of

It’s far from clear whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s go-slow strategy has changed.

Ideas

Trump's Transactional. And Estonia's President Is Cool With It.

"Thinking back historically, when everybody else said it nicely, we didn’t react,” Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid told us.

Threats

Trump Delivers Populist Message to the UN — and US Voters

The president put 2020 politics front and center in his third address to the General Assembly.

Ideas

America Is Abandoning the International Systems that Made It Great

Though Trump has accelerated its decline, the crisis of multilateralism has much deeper roots.