Threats
It's Nearly Impossible to Understand What Motivates Terrorists
Asking how people join terrorist groups is more worthwhile than asking why.
Policy
How China Is Building the Biggest Commercial-Military Empire in History
China’s outsized latticework of global infrastructure is said to be rooted in a fierce competitiveness learned from 19th-century America.
Threats
Iraq's Problem Is So Much Bigger Than Just Training Its Military
President Obama may blame the lack of a strategy for training the troops on Baghdad, but solving ISIS is much bigger than finding a fighting force.
Business
DoD's HR Overhaul: From Yugo to Maserati in a Year and a Half
Pentagon officials say they’re committed to overhauling the personnel system by the end of the Obama administration.
Defense Systems
Marines using virtual reality to lighten real-world load
The Office of Naval Research ETOWL, a 3D computer simulation program, lets users load up an avatar to study the stress points on warfighters.
Defense Systems
Army gets OK for next stage of tactical network
Increment 2 of the Warfighter Information Network – Tactical, being built by General Dynamics, will go into full-rate production.
Ideas
How We're Planning the Biggest Personnel Overhaul in 45 Years
DoD’s acting personnel chief lays out the Pentagon’s plans to manage for talent, not just time served.
Ideas
Two Years After Snowden, Are We Better Off?
The NSA's mass surveillance authority has been scaled back, but answers to other digital issues are still being contentiously debated.
Policy
Obama on Iraq Troop Training: 'We Don’t Yet Have A Complete Strategy'
The president said in a press conference from the G-7 meeting Monday that the Pentagon is still waiting on 'commitments' from the Iraqi government.
Ideas
Attach Human-Rights Conditions to Aid for Egypt
The connection between curbing Cairo’s abuses and U.S. interests in the region is not so much hidden as ignored.
Threats
ISIS Is Using Tunnel Bombs in Iraq
Updating an ancient tactic, Islamic State militants — as well as rebels in Syria — are digging virtually undetectable tunnels, then planting bombs to blow up buildings and other targets.
Science & Tech
Will DARPA’s Disaster Robots Ever Go to War? Never Say Never
In the latest Grand Challenge, semi-autonomous machines pushed the state of the art for humanoid robots.
Ideas
Forget Ivory, Africa's al-Shabaab Terrorists Are Getting Rich on Coal in Somalia
False portrayals of the terrorist group's role in the ivory trade could leave us with both more terrorists and fewer elephants in Africa.
Defense Systems
Army tests satellite-independent battlefield radio
The service has developed a method for improved communications without the need for satellites by using vehicle-mounted, high-bandwidth networking radios.
Defense Systems
Syrian Electronic Army claims hack of Army, Stracom websites
The sites were forced offline after being defaced by a group demanding an end to U.S. training of rebel fighters in Syria.
Policy
Defense Secretary: Plan to Close Guantanamo Is A ‘Constructive Step’
Ash Carter says he’s working with the White House on a plan that will be submitted “per longstanding request” to Congress, calling it a “good opportunity” to see if they “can actually get it done.”
Ideas
The Iraqi Army No Longer Exists
ISIS’s victory in Ramadi reveals that containment is the best the U.S. can do for now.
Defense Systems