Ideas
Keep Politics Out of National-Security Advisory Boards
Trump’s appointment of loyalists to a DOD board sets a dangerous precedent.
Ideas
We Need a Goldwater-Nichols Act for Emerging Technology
The 1986 law made joint experience a prerequisite for high rank. We must do the same for technological facility.
Ideas
Will COVID Finally Force Us to Think Differently About National Security?
The “softer” approaches of irregular war offer outsized benefits during competition and armed conflict alike.
Ideas
Sweeping Hack Gives Biden a Mandate to Reorient America’s Cyber Strategy
It’s long past time to wrest the focus from offense back to defense.
Ideas
How to Turn General Austin Into Secretary Austin
Some advice from the author of “The Nearly Impossible Job of Secretary of Defense.”
Ideas
How to Build Trust in the Vaccines
To succeed in immunizing the population against COVID-19, the United States must draw on the resources it already has.
Ideas
US Embassies Were Hit with High-Power Microwaves. Here’s How That Works
A National Academies report sheds some light on the mysterious ailments that have afflicted U.S. personnel in several countries for several years.
Ideas
Train Troops to Use Social Media More Effectively
It’s a tool, like any other. We may as well know how to use it.
Ideas
ICBM Advocates Say US Missile Subs Are Vulnerable. It Isn’t True
Recent technological advances still favor the sea-based leg of America’s nuclear triad.
Ideas
Confirm Austin, But Retire Milley
We’ve seen the harm that comes when the Pentagon’s civilian and military chiefs are too closely aligned.
Ideas
Biden’s First Move on Nuclear Weapons
When Putin calls to congratulate the new U.S. president, Biden should seize the opportunity.
Ideas
This Is No Job for a General
President-elect Joe Biden should choose a civilian to lead his Department of Defense.
Ideas
The Problem With the SecDef Purity Test
You don’t want a general, a man, a war veteran — and everyone in the defense industry is evil?
Ideas
Congress Should Vote ‘No’ on Austin. It Likely Won’t.
It's hard to vote against a popular general. That's one reason why lawmakers barred the appointment of recently retired officers as defense secretary.
Ideas
The Hidden Dangers in Biden’s Foreign Policy
The president-elect’s stated agenda will antagonize China and lead to conflict.
Ideas
Great Power Competition Is Too Narrow a Frame
The United States cannot hope to prevail and prosper unless it broadens its conception of the global struggle.
Ideas
Biden Must Save the Iran Nuclear Deal Before It’s Too Late
The president-elect has a real but limited window to reinstate a deal that froze Tehran’s nuclear efforts.
Ideas
Secretaries of State Are Now on the Frontlines of Defending Democracy
They need better access to national resources.
Ideas