Ideas
We Were Warned
When the inevitable inquiry into the government's response to COVID-19 happens, it will conclude that signs of a coming crisis were everywhere.
Ideas
Barred from Combat, These Women Rose to the Top of Military Intelligence
In candid interviews, five senior officers reveal the challenges and opportunities they've faced, from sexism to mentoring today's rising leaders.
Ideas
Q&A with Senior Women in Military Intelligence
Excerpts from our interviews with the women who hold five of the U.S. military's top intelligence jobs.
Ideas
Don’t Let On-Site Inspections Go Extinct
In-person visits to foreign military bases and weapons facilities improve national security in more ways than meet the eye.
Science & Tech
Russian and Chinese Satellites Are Helping US Pilots Spy on Russia and China
U-2 pilots are wearing watches that connect to foreign satellites, giving them backup navigation when GPS is jammed.
Ideas
The President Is Winning His War on American Institutions
How Trump is destroying the civil service and bending the government to his will.
Ideas
Trump’s War on the Intelligence Community Is Also About US Elections
With a loyalist as acting director of national intelligence, the official line on issues like Russian election meddling could bend closer to the president’s.
Ideas
Trump Is Politicizing the Intelligence Community
The president spent the week reshaping America's IC to serve his political needs. What does that mean for the 2020 election, and for national security?
Ideas
The US Intelligence Community Is Caught in a Collector’s Trap
The information haystack in which we search for useful needles is growing faster than we could ever catch up. Gathering more hay isn't the answer.
Threats
Trump’s New Spy Chief Failed to Report $100,000 from a Group Funded by Hungary
Richard Grenell’s past clients could raise concerns about his access to state secrets, according to his own office’s rules.
Ideas
Trump’s New Spy Chief Worked for a Foreign Politician Accused by the US of Corruption
Richard Grenell did not disclose payments for advocacy work on behalf of a Moldovan politician whom the U.S. later accused of corruption. His own office’s policy says that could leave him vulnerable to blackmail.
Threats
New Counterintelligence Strategy to Boost Sharing on Cyber Threats
To be rolled out Monday, the strategy adds the private sector as a customer of the intelligence community.
Ideas
Why Does the US Spend So Much on Defense?
It is well to remember that the real bill includes not just DOD spending but VA, intelligence, and more. But those who would cut spending must also propose a new strategy.
Ideas
What US Intelligence Thought 2020 Would Look Like
A 2004 National Intelligence Council report was eerily prescient in some ways, and totally off in others.
Science & Tech
NSA, Army Seek Quantum Computers Less Prone to Error
Even ordinary computers flip a bit here and there, but their quantum cousins have a lot more ways to go wrong.
Ideas
The FBI Needs to Be Reformed
The inspector general’s report identified real weaknesses, particularly with the policies and procedures that govern investigations of political campaigns.
Ideas
GOP Lawmakers Used to Oppose Trump's Embrace of Russia. No More.
High-ranking Republicans are now defending the president with debunked claims that national security experts say play right into Putin's hands.
Science & Tech
Don’t Rush Quantum-Proof Encryption, Warns NSA Research Director
Quantum computers could crack the codes that secure the world’s digital information but racing to a solution could create more threats.
Science & Tech
Google Wants More Work from the Defense Department
A senior vice president ruled out working directly on weapons programs, but said other areas are fair game.
Ideas