Threats
Cold War Tactics Return to Britain
Spies, intrigue, and expulsions are back in a way not seen in decades.
Ideas
Telling the Truth About CIA Torture
Trump’s nominee to lead the agency should answer a number of tough questions about her role in its now-defunct “enhanced interrogation” program.
Business
Pentagon Tells Leaders to Talk More With Contractors — and Less to the Public and Press
One day after Air Force leaders severely restricted media contacts, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan encouraged Pentagon officials to engage more with industry.
Science & Tech
The Military Race for Space Will Turn on the Ability to Choose Commercial Services
Like a befuddled consumer facing an entire aisle of jams and jellies, the Pentagon can’t figure out how to buy smart in an exploding market.
Ideas
Team of Sycophants
Tillerson’s dismissal leaves the White House more than ever the conniving and dishonest court of an erratic, ill-informed, and willful monarch.
Ideas
Why Did Trump Fire Tillerson Now?
The specific timing of the move—following the secretary of state’s split from the president to condemn a Russian attack in the U.K.—raises questions about its motive.
Ideas
The US Navy Should Start Weaning its Reactors off Bomb-Grade Uranium
Most of the world's reactors use low-enriched uranium. There are at least three good reasons the U.S. fleet should as well.
Policy
Trump Calls for a Space Force, a Concept His Pentagon Opposes
The president’s words could reanimate a legislative proposal that the defense secretary and others thought they had killed.
Policy
Here’s What the Services Want from Congress This Year
After lawmakers pass the budget promised by February’s bipartisan deal, the three secretaries have other priorities for legislative action.
Ideas
Putin Says Russia’s New Weapons Can’t Be Beat. With AI and Robotics, They Can.
Instead of single interceptors rising to meet an enemy missile, think about swarms of sub-launched UAVs armed with explosives, sensors, and brains.
Defense Systems
Protest against U.S. Transcom cloud contract withdrawn
A proposed sole-source task order with Amazon Web Services prompted the protest. It's still unclear how "the issues involved were resolved to Microsoft’s satisfaction."
Defense Systems
Army announces long-awaited DCGS contract
After years of protests and legal wrangling, Palantir is finally part of the Army's battlefield intel analytics system.
Defense Systems
DOD secures IT support for Joint Navigation Warfare Center
LinQuest wins a, $99.2 million contract to support a Defense Department-run center used for navigation warfare functions.
Defense Systems
Service heads demur on DOD's cloud plan
At a D.C. defense policy event, the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force skirted the issue of the Pentagon's centralized cloud procurement strategy.
Ideas
How Postponing a Wargame Helped Create a Diplomatic Opening
Delaying Foal Eagle 2018 made an underappreciated contribution toward the first meeting of U.S. and North Korean heads of state.
Business