Science & Tech

Israel Is Stuck in a Security Limbo

Even as Israel's neighbors grapple with internal turmoil, the fate of the negotiations with Palestine stands on a knife's edge. By Frida Ghitis

Business

Government Managers Rail At Budget Cuts

Senior executives are frustrated at constraints stemming from funding shortages, along with a lack of support from Capitol Hill. By Kellie Lunney

Business

How the Pentagon Found $1 Billion to Cut Civilian Furloughs to Just Six Days

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announces that civilian furlough days will be reduced from 11 to 6 days. Here's how he found $1 billion to pay for it. By Stephanie Gaskell

Threats

Interview with Ryan Crocker: Assad will Prevail 'Yard by Bloody Yard'

America’s premier diplomat would intervene in Syria if President Obama asked, even though it probably wouldn’t do much good. By Stephanie Gaskell

Policy

Military Aid Didn't Buy Pakistan and It Won't Buy Egypt

$1.3 billion in annual aid payments to Egypt won't buy the loyalty Washington is looking for. By David Rohde

Threats

Close to a Deal: U.S., Afghans Agree on Single Text

A bilateral security agreement is reachable by October, insiders say. But then what? By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Ideas

DC's Political Paralysis 'Means More Casualties' for Untrained Soldiers

The best place to learn how Washington’s budget impasse is putting troops at risk is the Army’s National Training Center, which has cancelled rotations for the first time since 1981. By James Kitfield

Business

Guantanamo Prison Complex Pricetag: $5.24 Billion

The operating costs for the Guantanamo prison complex will be more than $454 million this year. The cost of running a U.S. maximum security prison? Just $70,000 a year. By Lily Kuo

Business

Hagel Presses Congress with Grim Alternatives to Sequestration

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's SCMR lays out tough choices for Congress on how to cut the defense budget without sequestration. By Stephanie Gaskell

Policy

China is Building a 'New Silk Road' in Afghanistan

Meanwhile, the Pentagon and State Department's plans for a similar transportation network remains in the idea phase. By Steve LeVine

Business

The Government's Real Problem With the Bradley Manning Trial

Despite a guilty verdict on most counts, the government still can't share intelligence. By Matthew Cooper

Policy

Hagel to Reveal Sequester Review, Three Paths for Pentagon Future

With the Strategic Choices and Management Review in hand, Hagel will present three budget scenarios and their consequences to the Defense Department. By Stephanie Gaskell

Ideas

Ash Carter Got it Right in Aspen, Top DOD Nuclear Weapons Official Responds

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter was accurate about nuclear weapons costs, but arguing misses the point. The U.S. needs them and can afford them. By Madelyn Creedon

Policy

Journalists and Whistleblowers Are the Real Winners in the Manning Trial

Manning's acquittal on the charge of aiding the enemy sent a strong signal to national security whistleblowers and journalists: Go ahead and leak. By Brian Resnick and Matt Berman

Policy

The Government Needs to Stop Overreacting to NSA Leaks

The more serious threat of NSA surveillance comes from the the collective insanity or the simple loss of perspective, that an attack evokes. By James Fallows

Business

Obama's Whistleblower Witchunt Won't Work at DOD

The U.S. has tried something like President Obama’s 'Insider Threat Program' before. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. By Gabe Rottman

Threats

U.S. Envoy Questions Middle East Verve for WMD-Free Zone

In interview, State Department's Thomas Countryman says that Egypt's work on the issue is "theatrics." By Elaine Grossman

Business

Sequester and the Supply Chain: 'Life or Death' for the F-35's Small Companies

As manufacturers lose orders and lay off employees, the price of top weapons programs will rise. The anatomy of the F-35 shows why. By Sara Sorcher

Policy

More Americans Are Questioning Why We Went to Afghanistan in the First Place

A new poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans are tired of the war in Afghanistan. By Matt Vasilogambros

Business

Obama's Intel Workers Need New Policies for Secrets, not Snitches

In the Snowden fallout, the administration should focus on developing a happier intelligence workforce, not outing insider threats. By Marc Ambinder