Ideas

Three Reasons the 2017 Defense Budget Won’t Be Enough (And How to Fix It)

The responsible path is not the easy path, but there is bipartisan support for a stronger defense budget and ways to make it happen.

Policy

Obama Confronts the Politics of Religion and Terrorism

The president preached inclusion and hit back at anti-Muslim rhetoric during his first appearance at a mosque.

Ideas

27 Questions Before the US Extends the War in Afghanistan

Expanding U.S. combat operations or abandoning the Afghans are not the only options.

Ideas

Reagan's '76 Playbook Is the Ticket for Cruz and Trump

The rise of conservative outsiders like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump is not unprecedented.

Policy

Rand Paul the Dove Never Stood a Chance Among the Hawks

I planned to write a different story about the libertarian anti-neocon. Instead, I found this.

Ideas

Ben Carson's Blueprint for Better US Cybersecurity

The Republican 2016 contender is just the second candidate of either party to lay out a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the United States.

Policy

Spy on Me All You Like, More Americans Say

A new poll shows more people are fine with increased national-security surveillance.

Ideas

Why Turkey Chose, and Then Rejected, a Chinese Air-Defense Missile

Ankara's decisions say a lot about what Turkey wants from the U.S. and NATO, if only the West will listen.

Defense Systems

DOD to invest heavily in cyber, although details are murky

Secretary Carter said the department will spend $7 billion in 2017 on cyber, but leaders are being coy about how the money will be spent.

Defense Systems

Air Force develops prototype for skin-ID sensor

A system developed by the Sensors Exploitation Research Group at the Air Force institute of Technology differentiates human skin from other materials, and can aid id search, rescue and surveillance.

Science & Tech

The F-35’s Terrifying Bug List

The Pentagon’s top testing official has weighed and measured the F-35 and found it wanting.

Science & Tech

These Are the New Weapons the Pentagon Chief Wants for Tomorrow's Wars

Defense secretary lays out his vision for the next decade’s killer capabilities in 2017 budget preview.

Business

Pentagon Running Low on Smart Bombs for ISIS Campaign

In a preview of the Pentagon’s 2017 budget, Defense Secretary Carter signals a coming acceleration of the 18-month-old bombing effort.

Ideas

The Hawkeye State Sours on Hawkish Republicans

Four years ago, Iowans rewarded the neocon-inflected campaigns of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. This year, four of the top five finishers are critics of unnecessary interventions.

Defense Systems

DARPA looks to develop a high-res brain-computer interface

The NESD program aims to communicate with up to a millions neurons at a time, in a device the size of a couple of stacked nickels.

Ideas

Want an Alternative to ISIS? Look to Tunisia

The Islamic State offers a false choice between dictatorship and extremism. Tunisia proves there’s a better way.

Ideas

Bring the Troops Home — From Sinai

Your first question is likely: 'We have American soldiers deployed in Egypt?'

Threats

Carpet-Bombing Is Not How You Defeat ISIS, Pentagon Says

Top ISIS war commander dismisses Ted Cruz’s idea, says there’s nothing to gain from an indiscriminate, scorched-earth method of fighting the Islamic State.