Policy

Pentagon Sends Obama Plan to Close Guantanamo, Move Detainees to US

Hours after 10 percent of the remaining detainees leave Cuba, the defense secretary said he’s handed the president a plan for “Gitmo North.”

Policy

After Guantanamo, Two Detainees Try To Put Their Lives Back Together in Ghana

Here’s how the Yemeni men are being treated and what they say about their long incarceration.

Policy

VA's New Paperless Claim System Has Nearly Doubled in Costs

The agency’s deputy IG told lawmakers the billion-dollar (and counting) system may not be worth the money.

Policy

In Final State of the Union, Obama Fights the Fear that Threatens His Legacy

'I know this is a dangerous time. But that’s not because of diminished American strength or some looming superpower,' the president assured the nation Tuesday.

Policy

Annotated: President Obama’s 2016 State of the Union Address

A complete transcript of the president's speech from Tuesday night—with an eye on what lies ahead in U.S. national security. Click the yellow highlights for notes, thoughts, charts and links.

Policy

Obama Prepares a 'Non­tra­di­tion­al' State of the Union Address

The chamber will push a pair of foreign policy bills as President Obama delivers his State of the Union address and Republicans prepare for their retreat.

Policy

Pentagon Transfers Two Guantanamo Detainees to Ghana

The move, the first of 17 in coming days, shrinks the total population to 105.

Policy

Swooning for Saudi Arabia

What the Middle East needs is not intensified conflict, as some 2016 contenders advocate, but a series of political compromises to help end the civil wars traumatizing the region.

Policy

Sudan Cuts Ties with Iran, Widening Middle East's Sunni-Shi'a Divide

The diplomatic fallout from Riyadh's execution of a Shiite cleric is prompting fears of a region-wide sectarian conflict.

Policy

Opposing Political Views Emerge in Face of Real, Imagined Threats

In the U.S. and Europe, two factions duel on immigration, Muslims, and nation-building.

Policy

How a Misleading Story Is Changing Immigration Policy

Erroneous claims that one of the San Bernardino shooters made public social-media posts about jihad have produced legislation to overhaul the process of screening visas.

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.

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.

Policy

How Trump and ISIS Help Each Other

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

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.

Policy

Trump and Cruz's 'Protectionism' Reveal a GOP National Security Identity in Tatters

The insular vision of the two top-polling can­did­ates poses a sharp chal­lenge to the usual in­ter­na­tion­al­ism that has long dom­in­ated the Republican party.

Policy

Report: Turkey Has Become the EU’s Enforcer in Bid to Slow Refugees

A damning Amnesty report claims Turkey abused refugees and pressured some to return to war zones.

Policy

Here’s What Each 2016 Candidate Has Said About Using Military Force

The Presidential Candidates Use of Force Tracker aims to capture and better understand the sort of military missions that prospective presidents might pursue.

Policy

Tough Talk vs. Military Muscle

Cruz and Rubio duke it out over how to deal with ISIS.

Policy

A Fractious, Fragmented Republican Debate

The GOP candidates shared a stage in Vegas, but seemed locked in their own, only occasionally intersecting conflicts.