Ideas

DOD Managers Need a New Approach. SOCOM Can Lead the Way

The Pentagon's McNamara-era philosophy is woefully insufficient to a world that changes daily. U.S. Special Operations Command is working to craft a better one.

Exclusive Ideas

How Special Operations Forces Must Meet the Challenges of a New Era

To the commander of U.S. SOCOM, what matters most is whether we solve the problem our nation needs solved.

Ideas

Want More Pentagon Innovation? Try This Experiment

A former Defense Secretary and Air Force Secretary propose more budgetary flexibility and a new approach to program management.

Ideas

In Ukraine, A New Chance to Judge the Patriot Missile

The much-lauded air-defense system has a decidedly mixed record. The Pentagon should watch its performance carefully.

Ideas

What Sudan’s Plunge into Chaos Means for US Strategy

The 2019 coup led not to democracy but to a global rush for influence and mineral wealth.

Ideas

How Tucker Carlson Helped Turn Americans Against the Military

The partisan firebrand told viewers that uniformed leaders were out to weaken the armed forces and the country itself.

Ideas

Biden Must Resist Calls to Send Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Transferring the weapons may bring tactical benefits but would be a strategic disaster.

Ideas

Is the US in a Space Race Against China?

If so, it's a pretty one-sided contest so far.

Ideas

The NSA’s Brain Drain Has a Silver Lining

Agency leaders should use former employees to recruit new talent and cement public-private working relationships.

Ideas

The Army Wants SBOMs—and So Should the Other Services

Software bills of materials are key to keeping track of what code is running your weapons or systems.

Ideas

Still Waiting for an International Tribunal on ISIS

It would help Iraq restore the rule of law, deter future violence, and give victims a mechanism for redress and healing.

Ideas

The Army Should Be Looking for a Few Older Soldiers

Recruiters should widen their focus beyond high school and college students—and not just to make quotas.

Ideas

China Gears Up for Cognitive Warfare

Like the U.S. military, the PLA is working on wearable sensors and other ways to hone and maintain troops' fighting spirit.

Ideas

How to Advance US-Saudi Defense Cooperation

There’s room for progress short of a formal alliance.

Ideas

China Is Eating Russia’s Lunch in the Defense Market

The script has flipped in the countries’ traditional defense-industrial relationship.

Ideas

‘If We Don’t Sell Them Arms, Someone Else Will’ Is a Myth

Some of the assumptions that underpin this familiar refrain don’t hold water.

Ideas

Has Congress Learned the Lessons of the Iraq War?

Besides repealing the AUMFs, lawmakers ought to create new tools to curb U.S. military interventions.

Ideas

The New F-35A Engine Would Be a Win-Win-Win-Win

The fuel savings alone would please taxpayers, environmentalists, the Pentagon and the industrial base.