Ideas
In Defense of the Obama Doctrine
Obama is still trying to win Washington over to American power as he sees it: limiting military interventions while convening players for peace.
Ideas
The Obama Doctrine
The U.S. president talks through his hardest decisions about America’s role in the world.
Policy
The 3 Worst National Security Ideas Out of the Iowa Debate
A closer look at the candidates’ remarks on foreign policy reveal plenty of bumper-sticker slogans, but few serious proposals that could actually help keep the country safe.
Policy
The Obama Doctrine Has No Heir in Hillary Clinton
As Clinton puts more distance between her foreign policy and President Obama’s, his national security legacy may prove short-lived.
Policy
Annotated: President Obama’s 2016 State of the Union Address
A complete transcript of the president's speech from Tuesday night—with an eye on what lies ahead in U.S. national security. Click the yellow highlights for notes, thoughts, charts and links.
Policy
Swooning for Saudi Arabia
What the Middle East needs is not intensified conflict, as some 2016 contenders advocate, but a series of political compromises to help end the civil wars traumatizing the region.
Threats
Syrian Refugees in Turkey Are Facing the Same Terror They Once Fled
A journalist's death exemplifies a bitter truth: The easiest and closest refuge is not always the safest.
Policy
Opposing Political Views Emerge in Face of Real, Imagined Threats
In the U.S. and Europe, two factions duel on immigration, Muslims, and nation-building.
Ideas
2016 Predictions: A Look Ahead at the Future of War
New America polled former Navy SEALs, Pentagon officials, technologists, historians — and here’s what they expect.
Threats
The Global Conflicts to Watch in 2016
Concerns about the Middle East, and especially Syria, have displaced other threats.
Policy
The Principled Realism of Rand Paul
On ISIS, the Kentucky senator steers a distinctive course between his party’s neoconservatives and its bellicose populists.
Policy
Trump and Cruz's 'Protectionism' Reveal a GOP National Security Identity in Tatters
The insular vision of the two top-polling candidates poses a sharp challenge to the usual internationalism that has long dominated the Republican party.
Policy
Three Minutes With Ted Cruz on National Security
The Texas senator calls for “carpet bombing ISIS” in Iraq and Syria and “whatever is necessary” to defeat the Islamic State.
Ideas
It's High Time for US, Russian Militaries to Start Meeting Again
It is increasingly dangerous in this cyber-fast world for the nuclear-tipped nations to have such a dearth of contact.
Policy
Ben Carson's National Security Ignorance May Not Matter to US Voters
While it isn’t news that Carson is untutored on foreign policy, his rise in the polls coupled with the Paris attacks have brought a new focus to his lack of experience.
Threats
Brussels Has Become the Jihadist Capital of Europe
In the last few years, one particular suburb has been at the heart of a thriving black market where military weapons can be bought in record time.
Threats
Lawmakers Demand US Military Carry Out Pretend Cyber War Against China, Russia
In an unprecedented move tucked into the defense authorization bill, Congress ordered U.S. Cyber Command to carry out simulated 'war games' against Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
Policy
The Mindless Logic of Republican Foreign Policy
A country’s strength isn’t measured by how many bombs it drops, or how many armies it funds.
Ideas
Cuban, US Ties Form Aboard US Military’s Hospital Ship
Thanks to the new open U.S. policy toward Cuba, the work done aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort heals more than bodies.
Policy