Ideas
How to Fight Domestic Extremism and Win Public Trust
After years of partisan politicization, national security leaders and workers need to be clear about how they'll keep us safe from each other.
Business
Austin Pledges to Recuse Himself from Military Decisions Involving Raytheon
The commitment is a huge win for Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other progressive Democrats pushing for stricter lobbying laws.
Policy
Biden's NSA May Face Legal Fight Over Trump-Installed Lawyer
Acting SecDef Miller warns firing Michael Ellis could bring new allegations of unfair retaliation.
Ideas
Advice for the Next Secretary of Defense
Our most serious threats are not external. Biden’s team also must address the bitter polarization of our politics, which has divided our country and global institutions.
Policy
‘A Piece of...’ Outgoing SecDef Blasts Expensive Programs
DOD’s biggest challenge is overcoming the “mindset of the Cold War”
Ideas
Pentagon Won’t Throw Traditional Farewell Ceremony for Trump
It’s a shame, and a missed opportunity — not despite recent events but because of them.
Policy
For Pentagon, Biden Picks Two Obama-era Policy Veterans to Help Austin
After passing on Flournoy, Biden taps Kathleen Hicks and Colin Kahl to be Austin's deputy defense secretary and undersecretary for policy.
Policy
Trump Vetoes Defense Authorization Bill
For the Confederacy, conservative speech, and the desire to bring troops home, Trump rejected the $700 billion NDAA at the last minute before Washington breaks for Christmas.
Threats
Acting SecDef Miller Visits Troops in Afghanistan
Trump's designee returned 19 years after serving here, this time to oversee a controversial order to rush troops out before Joe Biden is sworn in.
Threats
Milley Meets With Taliban In Fragile Peace Negotiations
The Joint Chiefs chairman's meeting comes at a profound moment of uncertainty for the U.S.-brokered talks on Afghanistan.
Threats
NATO Gears Up for Biden, Big Decisions on Afghanistan, China
“We are faced with a very hard and difficult dilemma,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an exclusive interview.
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?
Policy
Biden Selects Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin for Defense Secretary, Reportedly
Austin, the last commander of the Iraq War, would be the nation's first Black defense secretary.
Ideas
How Biden Can Help Warriors Save Warriors
Make a call, take a call, and be honest — it could help save a life.
Ideas
As Spotlight Fades, What Next for Special Operators?
Under Trump, the Pentagon's ‘service secretary’ in charge of SOF has changed hands eight times between seven people.
Ideas
Cutting US Defense Attachés from Embassies Abroad is a Bad Idea
Without them on the ground, or without the right rank, commanders and policymakers are mostly blind, deaf, and mute.
Ideas
Esper's Convenient Lie
The defense secretary's claim that the two decades of countering violent extremism left the U.S. under-prepared for a near-peer fight doesn’t hold water.
Policy
Vindman Twin Alleges Retaliation To DOD IG
Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman says he reported “legal compliance and ethics violations” by NSA Robert O’Brien.
Threats