Ideas
The Global Race for Big National-Security Ideas Is On
The United States faces genuinely new challenges—but tries to understand them using outmoded theories from a bygone era.
Ideas
On Iran, It's Time to Return to Containment
Trump has traded Obama-era appeasement for inconsistent confrontation. What's needed is a strategy of containment, backed by clear and credible deterrence.
Ideas
Russia’s ‘Data Localization’ Efforts May Guide Other Governments
Moscow’s efforts to keep data on home soil are of interest to other authoritarian states — and even some liberal democracies.
Ideas
Trump Broke It. Now He Owns It.
The president withdrew from a flawed deal with Iran, but had no realistic alternative. With that choice comes responsibility for what ensued.
Ideas
Iran’s Smart Strategy
The Iranians chose neither to fold nor to fight. It is not clear at this point who was more deterred by whom.
Ideas
Building Post-INF Missiles Would Be a Waste, or Worse
New U.S. intermediate-range ground-launched missiles would deliver more undesirable effects than tactical utility.
Ideas
The US, Iran, and the Consequences of Breaking International Law
Some in the U.S. act as if only naked might matters in foreign policy. Yet American policy in Iran and Iraq illustrates something different.
Ideas
Why US Officials Are Revealing More about Cyber Ops
It’s part of a “costly signaling” gambit. Will it deter America’s enemies?
Ideas
Trump’s Threat to Bomb Iran's Cultural Sites Isn’t Just About Art
Throughout history, the destruction of culturally important sites has gone hand-in-hand with violence against civilians.
Ideas
After Years of NATO-Bashing, Trump Asks Allies for Help with Iran
But Britain, Germany, and France believe that everyone's interests are best served by the nuclear deal Trump hates.
Ideas
Don’t Let Iran Tensions Stop the Battle Against ISIS
My recent journey through northern Iraq revealed how fragile the region remains, and how extremism could once again take root.
Ideas
How Quickly Could Iran Get a Nuclear Bomb?
A former National Nuclear Security Administration coordinator explains breakout time — and why it’s getting shorter.
Ideas
What Motivates Chinese Peacekeeping?
China’s unusual status as a top contributor of both funds and troops to the UN's peacekeeping program has stirred suspicion.
Ideas
Trump’s Fixation on the Hostage Crisis Is Driving His Iran Policy
The president’s approach to the Islamic Republic appears stuck in 1979.
Ideas
Don’t Use the Iran Crisis As An Excuse To Boost Pentagon Spending
Use it to reconsider the American approach to national security.
Ideas
US-Iranian Diplomacy Almost Worked. Let’s Try It Again
Direct talks may be too much to ask for at this stage, but tension-reduction measures promoted by third parties are still very plausible.
Ideas
5G Is Where China and the West Finally Diverge
The rollout of speedy new cellular networks is a geopolitical turning point, but neither Trump nor the public yet recognizes this.
Ideas
The Blueprint Iran Could Follow After Soleimani’s Death
Here’s what to expect after the U.S. killing of Iran’s most powerful military commander.
Ideas
The Soleimani Strike Defied the US Constitution
If Congress fails to respond effectively, the president will be left with the unmitigated power to take the country to war on his own—anywhere, anytime, for any reason.
Ideas