Ideas
Pakistan Will Try to Make Trump Pay
The country has banked on being treated as too dangerous to fail. But this time could be different.
Ideas
How the Olympics Could Help Defuse the North Korea Crisis
The games give Trump a chance to affirm inter-Korean diplomacy while laying the groundwork for talks with the Kim regime.
Ideas
What to Expect from the Pentagon’s First-Ever Audit
Dramatic surprises are unlikely, but the resulting information should feed better discussions and decisions about national-security spending.
Ideas
Hybrid Star Wars: Lessons from The Battle of Endor
In an excerpt from an upcoming anthology of Star Wars-themed essays, a former NATO supreme commander revisits a forest moon in a galaxy far, far away.
Ideas
What Trump Got Right in Foreign Policy in 2017
For one thing, the Islamic State is largely defeated.
Ideas
American Ideals Beat the USSR. Why Aren’t We Using Them Against Russia?
Without an ideological rival to hold a mirror to its faults, the US is turning away from the ideas and institutions that led to victory.
Ideas
Waiting for the Bomb to Drop
There are sounds, for those who can hear them, of the preliminary and muffled drumbeats of war.
Ideas
Kim Jong Un's Trap for South Korea
An offer of dialogue from the North could be an effort to split the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
Ideas
When the War Comes, What Should We Civilians Do?
The military can’t do it all. The US needs a national civilian emergency corps, trained and ready to help in case of the next disaster, be it cyber, nuclear, or natural.
Ideas
Don't Raise a New Year's Toast for Defeating ISIS Just Yet
Now we must address America's ambiguity on Syria and the Kurds.
Ideas
Last Year’s Top 5 Worst Nuclear Nightmares (That Aren't Going Away)
Each of these threats has only gotten worse. Take one guess what (or who) I think remains the top nuclear threat to us...
Ideas
Hail the Civil Servant in the Year of Trump
Never before have the roles of government workers taken on such significance. But there could be consequences to using their power to undermine the administration.
Ideas
3 Predictions for Government Tech in 2018
Here's which tech will move from buzzword to implementation.
Ideas
Take Small Steps to Advance the US-India Relationship
India got more mentions in the new National Security Strategy than Japan or South Korea. Here’s what should come next.
Ideas
Where is America Going in the South China Sea?
The new National Security Strategy talks tough — but here are the options the United States actually has, and the pros and cons of each.
Ideas
The National Security Strategy Papers Over a Crisis
The NSS is a stunning repudiation of Trump, and Trump’s speech was a stunning repudiation of the NSS.
Ideas
What Does a Government Shutdown Mean for the Department of Defense?
Four years ago, this staffer for the defense policy undersecretary helped the Pentagon figure out the impacts of a shutdown. Hint: it wasn’t pretty.
Ideas
Three Ways to Read Trump's National Security Strategy
Is it better approached as a sacred text, or examined like the scat of a shaggy, woodland beast?
Ideas