Ideas
Obama Drops Rhetoric as Assad Drops Barrel Bombs
As long as Syrian civilians are on the bullseye, nothing will be accomplished at peace talks.
Ideas
What’s Wrong with Obama’s National Security Council?
An insider sorts the solid critiques from the amnesiac complaints.
Ideas
The US Needs More Weapons That Can Be Quickly and Easily Modified
The U.S. military will lose its technological edge unless it figures out how to foster adaptable systems. Here's one idea.
Ideas
A Cyber JSOC Could Help the US Strike Harder and Faster
A network-attack analogue to the manhunting Joint Special Operations Command would allow cyber warriors to decide, deconflict, and execute more effectively.
Ideas
Meet the Small Iraqi Town that Breeds Jihadis
No matter where you turn when covering the Islamic State's two years of terror in Iraq and Syria, one name repeatedly crops up: Tal Afar.
Ideas
Things Lawmakers Should Do Before They Complain About Military Readiness
A few common-sense Congressional actions would go a long way toward funding troops’ preparedness.
Ideas
Obama's Last Chance To Change the Saudi Arabia Playbook
The U.S. can't be the sole guardian of the Gulf forever. It's time to bring in some more friends.
Ideas
America Can't Do Much About ISIS
That leaves patience, containment, and humanitarian aid as the least-bad policies while waiting for this awful war to play itself out.
Ideas
What the US Gives Its Mideast Partners Isn’t Always What They Need
Instead of 'prestige weapons' worth billions, look at UAE’s special operators or Palestine’s security forces.
Ideas
Three Ways to Judge the Pentagon’s Tech-Sector Outreach
Hint: it’s not about how many zeroes are on the first checks.
Ideas
In Increasingly Turbulent Middle East, US-Saudi Partnership Is Indispensable
A former EUCOM deputy commander looks makes the case for even tighter bonds with Riyadh.
Ideas
How the US and China Can Talk Each Other Out of a Nuclear Arms Race
By striving for strategic stability, Beijing and Washington can relieve the pressures of oneupmanship and the risk of accidental escalation.
Ideas
The Hell After ISIS
Even as the militant group loses ground in Iraq, many Sunnis say they have no hope for peace. One family’s story shows why.
Ideas
The Legacy of Obama's 'Worst Mistake'
It's not just in Libya—the last 15 years of U.S. military interventions has revealed a troubling gap in the way America goes to war.
Ideas
Global Defense Spending Is Getting Murkier
Many of the governments that are spending more on their militaries are also the least transparent.
Ideas
The Mistake that Decapitated Pentagon Innovation — and How to Fix It
When the Packard Commission demoted the director of defense engineering and research, they essentially elevated gunsmithing over strategic marksmanship.
Ideas
Harvard’s Love-Hate Relationship with the US Military
The gap between America’s elite educational institutions and its military remains wide. Harvard faces a moral imperative to help close it.
Ideas
Divert Course: Beijing Needs A Way To Save Face in the South China Sea
It will take U.S. help and a politically difficult climb-down, but it will help China escape the blind alley its imprudent policies have steered it toward.
Ideas
How to Turn The Heat Down in the South China Sea
These five concrete steps can keep tensions from becoming war — if the U.S. acts.
Ideas