Ideas
Great Power Competition Comes Home to America
Our leaders’ efforts to heal divisions among our fellow citizens are key to national defense.
Ideas
Why Isn’t the US Compensating Families Torn Apart By Its Air Strikes?
The military’s first report on ex gratia payments reveals a dangerous stinginess.
Ideas
America’s Generals Must Stand Up to Trump
Our military leaders are willing to take a bullet for this country. But are they prepared to take a pink slip?
Threats
Protests Could Lead to Surge of Coronavirus Cases, Officials Say
Public health officials and lawmakers worry that COVID-19 could spread quickly through protest gatherings.
Ideas
Police Militarization Has Fostered a Culture that Sees Protesters as ‘The Enemy’
I served 27 years as a police officer, I have observed this militarization firsthand, and studied how it affects confrontations.
Threats
Trump, GOP Allies Reach For Military Response To Domestic Protests
In startling language, Defense Secretary Mark Esper referred to American streets as “the battlespace.”
Ideas
Estonia Already Lives Online. Why Can’t the United States?
Using secure identification, people there can bank, apply for government assistance, file for sick leave, order prescriptions, and get medical care—all online.
Threats
Weekend of Violent Protests Leaves Trail of Damage for Feds
A Federal Protective Service officer was killed, dozens of Secret Service officers were wounded, and government buildings and monuments were vandalized.
Ideas
When Civilian Protest Is Labeled 'Urban Warfare'
When state officials say they face "a sophisticated network of urban warfare,” they're looking through the lens of a militarized police force.
Policy
Congress Hears Options—And Concerns—for Using Smartphone Data to Fight Coronavirus
Other countries have been using various forms of location- and proximity-tracing to slow the spread of the disease, with widely varying levels of privacy protections.
Threats
Wear Homemade Masks If You Can't Get Real Ones, Pentagon Tells Its People
N95 respirators and surgical masks will be reserved for health care workers and patients, the Defense Department said in a series of memos this week.
Threats
Thousands of Federal Employees Have The Coronavirus
Many more are quarantined due to possible exposure as employees are on the frontlines fighting COVID-19 and providing essential services.
Science & Tech
Esper to DOD: Expect to Telework for 'Weeks For Sure, Maybe Months'
At a virtual town hall, the defense secretary asked troops and employees to be extra careful of phishing attempts and to disregard dis- and misinformation about COVID-19.
Ideas
The Trump Administration Drove Him Back to China, Where He Invented a Fast Coronavirus Test
A federal crackdown on professors’ undisclosed outside activities is achieving what China has long struggled to do: spur Chinese scientists to return home. In this crisis, it’s costing the U.S. intellectual firepower.
Policy
OMB Says 'Work From Home.' But Some Defense Contracts Say Workers Can't
Industry association pushes for the administration to issue guidance for flexibility and greater use of contractors during the coronavirus pandemic.
Threats
Federal Employees Worry Their Agencies Aren't Keeping Them Safe from Coronavirus
White House's "maximum telework" edict isn't helping those without computers, or the 85% of feds outside the DC area.
Threats
Attacks on DOD Networks Soar as Telework Inflicts ‘Unprecedented’ Loads
As DOD scrambles to find equipment for those who can work from home, Pentagon leaders tell personnel: ‘No hand-shaking, no high-fives,” and clean your workstations.
Threats
Pentagon Halts Domestic Travel by Troops to Slow Coronavirus Spread
The late-Friday edict goes much farther than Wednesday's limits on international travel.
Threats