Policy

US Syria Policy Shifts From ‘Assad Must Go’ to ‘Not Right Now’

The UN Security Council backs a blueprint for Syrian peace talks — and papers over powderkeg tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

Business

Guantanamo Set to Transfer 17 Prisoners, A Milestone in Several Ways

President Obama isn’t letting a legislative freeze stop him from whittling the detainee population to meet a long-held goal.

Ideas

2016 Predictions: A Look Ahead at the Future of War

New America polled former Navy SEALs, Pentagon officials, technologists, historians — and here’s what they expect.

Policy

Exit Lindsey Graham, Veteran and NatSec Pro

The South Carolina senator and former JAG officer struggled to gain trac­tion throughout the race, even as his sig­na­ture is­sue took cen­ter stage in re­cent weeks.

Ideas

Someone Needs to Run the US Effort to Defeat ISIS Online

Lots of government agencies are doing something; the White House needs to coordinate them.

Defense Systems

Army fields robots for chem/bio/nuke detection

Researchers and contractor iRobot enhance the PackBot 510’s detection capability for use in South Korea.

Defense Systems

Air Force to allow enlisted airmen to fly Global Hawks

In another effort to ameliorate the stress on remotely piloted aircraft crews, the service announced that enlisted personnel will be permitted to fly the surveillance-only aircraft.

Threats

Israel Versus Hezbollah, Round Three?

The Lebanon-based terror group fired rockets into northern Israel just hours after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hezbollah leader in Syria.

Ideas

What Is America Fighting For?

The United States has been at war with ISIS for more than a year. But you cannot beat a surging ideology without a higher sense of purpose.

Policy

How Trump and ISIS Help Each Other

They confirm each other's narratives, even from opposite sides.

Threats

Poland's New Government Raided a NATO Intel Facility in the Dark of Night

'We are quickly losing our credibility,' said Tomasz Siemioniak, political opposition member and the country's former minister of defense.

Threats

The Global Conflicts to Watch in 2016

Concerns about the Middle East, and especially Syria, have displaced other threats.

Defense Systems

Army streamlines tactical network with virtualization

Upgrades to WIN-T Increment 1 increase capability while cutting back on the amount of equipment required on the battlefield.

Defense Systems

US agrees to sell military comms equipment to Taiwan

The State Department has approved a military sale of shipboard communications equipment to help the country counter potential threats from China.

Science & Tech

DHS: Drug Traffickers Are Spoofing Border Drones

The homeland security agency, and local law enforcement as well, are looking to harden its drones against attack, but that comes at a price.

Science & Tech

US Considers Using Portable DNA Labs, Iris Scans to Vet Syrian Refugees

Throughout the Syrian civil war the UN has relied on portable eye-scanning machines to register fleeing Syrians, but the US has yet to make use of that data.

Ideas

Ignoring Guantanamo Won’t Make It Go Away

Fixing the mistakes of Gitmo will require Americans to step up and shoulder the burdens of war.

Policy

The Principled Realism of Rand Paul

On ISIS, the Kentucky senator steers a distinctive course between his party’s neoconservatives and its bellicose populists.