Ideas

Stumbling Out of the Middle East is No Better Than Stumbling In

It is tempting for the United States to just throw in the towel, pull troops, and abandon allies. More important is understanding what the U.S. strategy toward the Middle East should be.

Ideas

Alexander Vindman: Trump Is Putin’s ‘Useful Idiot’

In his first interview, a key witness in the impeachment trial says Trump goes out of his way to try to please the Russian president.

Ideas

Selling F-35s to the Middle East was Never Going to be Easy

To do it, and preserve Israel’s advantage, Trump must reinvigorate the consultative arms sales process with Congress.

Ideas

The Fog of the Pandemic Is Returning

Millions of coronavirus tests may be happening without their results being made public.

Ideas

How Putin Got Into America’s Mind

He learned the art of destabilizing his opponents from the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police.

Ideas

Donald Is No Dove

The president’s criticism of military contractors is belied by his commitment to fattening their pockets.

Ideas

What Abe Leaves Behind

The security issues facing Japan remain unchanged. Abe's likely successor, Yoshihide Suga, may be forced to confront them on his very first day.

Ideas

America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral

As the U.S. heads toward the winter, the country is going round in circles, making the same conceptual errors that have plagued it since spring.

Ideas

19 Years After 9/11, Politicians Need to Stop Overhyping Threats

From China to disinformation, our fear of fear itself is tearing us apart and making us less safe.

Ideas

Could Trump Deploy US Cyber Command Against Protestors?

It’s time to set better limits on the U.S. military’s ability to operate against Americans.

Ideas

Assessing Trump’s National Security Record

How has he done against four main threats our nation faces?

Ideas

How America's Defense Strategy Left Us Unprepared for a Pandemic

There must be room in our national-security concept to join with even our greatest adversaries to fight mutual threats.

Ideas

Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’

The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.

Ideas

US Punishes International Criminal Court for Investigating Potential War Crimes in Afghanistan

The court prosecutes genocide, torture and grave wartime abuses worldwide. Trump's executive order imposes on its lawyers and judges the kind of sanctions usually used on foreign terrorists.

Ideas

We Know How to Prevent Megafires. We're Just Not Doing It

This week has seen the 2nd- and 3rd-largest California wildfires ever. There's near-total scientific consensus on how to stop the next one.

Ideas

Honor World War II with a Better, Shared Future

We believe that the best way to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the peace is to join hands.

Ideas

America Has No Coherent Strategy for Asymptomatic Testing

The federal guidance to not test asymptomatic carriers "is like saying we won’t fight the fire until it reaches the second floor.”

Ideas

Fear of a Black General? 

The case of one superstar colonel doesn’t prove anything about the Marines. But the larger pattern is worrisome. 

Ideas

The Week QAnon Became Everyone’s Problem

The conspiracy theory-based movement poses a different type of terrorist threat.

Ideas

Bad Cyber Actors Don’t Fear the Law. We Can Change That.

Better coordination among law enforcement agencies at home and abroad are key to the layered deterrence strategy we need.