Ideas
Democrats Are Wrong About Defense Spending
The need for investment is only likely to grow in the coming years.
Ideas
The Truth About the Soviet War in Afghanistan
Trump mischaracterized it in an attempt to justify his own disastrous policy in the region.
Ideas
China, Huawei, and the Coming Technological Cold War
2019 might be the year that splinters the global technology system into distinct spheres of influence.
Ideas
Fill the Cracks in NATO's Maritime Strategy
If Russia decides to attack the Western alliance, it would do so along several fissures that need shoring up.
Ideas
Trump Escalates His Assault on Civil-Military Relations
The president’s public disparagement of retired generals compounds the damage he has done.
Ideas
Meet the New (Acting) US Defense Secretary
With no military experience and just a year and a half in government, the former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan has yet to develop a foreign-policy vision of his own.
Ideas
The Biggest Nuclear Threats of 2018 Will Follow Us into the New Year
We whistled past the graveyard this year. Let’s be smarter in 2019.
Ideas
The Kurds Have Been Betrayed Again by Washington
Time and again, powerful allies on whose support they thought they could rely abandoned them.
Ideas
A Giant Repair Job Awaits the First Post-Trump SecDef
It will be a rebuilding project the likes of which has not been seen since the Vietnam War.
Policy
The ‘Nightmare Scenario’ Has Happened and You’re to Blame
Trump’s withdrawal from from Syria is what military leaders feared — and exactly what he promised.
Ideas
James Mattis’s Final Protest Against the President
The defense secretary, who resigned on Thursday, was one of the last senior officials in the government who could constrain Donald Trump.
Ideas
Congress Must Face the Truth about Trump
Mattis is telling you that the president lacks respect for allies and a clear-eyed view of malign actors and strategic competitors.
Ideas
To Succeed in Syria, Don’t Withdraw — Rebrand
The president’s plan is a disaster. If he wants to claim victory, there’s a better way.
Ideas
Trump’s Gifts to Turkey Repeat Mistakes and Set Bad Precedents
The withdrawal from Syria and sale of missiles to Ankara will undermine U.S. efforts to work with partners and rebuff Russian influence.
Ideas
It Was Time to Leave Syria Anyway
If the gains won by Kurdish and Arab sacrifice completely depend on our continued military presence, then they were illusory to begin with.
Ideas
Don’t Be Surprised the Next Time Trump Ends a US Mission
No one knows why the president pulled the plug on Syria now, but NATO and South Korea should be worried.
Ideas
Trump Just Screwed Up the One Thing He Did Better Than Obama
His capricious decision to withdraw troops from Syria will create havoc.
Ideas
Want NATO Allies to Boost Defense Spending? Don’t Build Fort Trump
Basing an American division in Poland will reduce allies’ incentive to build up their own forces.
Ideas
Pentagon Needs Better System to Track Fraudulent Spending
The incoming Congress should tie defense budgets to accounting improvements.
Ideas