Business
Lockheed Has Best Year Ever, And Expects a Better 2020
Three years of defense spending increases show as the company’s sales hit nearly $60 billion.
Ideas
Great Powers Must Talk to Each Other About AI
Even as they compete, major militaries have reason to cooperate: to avoid misunderstanding and to establish best practices and pragmatic parameters.
Ideas
A Call to Inaction on Defense Acquisition Law
The best thing Congress could do for a while is stop passing new legislation.
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
The Case for Repealing, and Not Replacing, the Iraq War Authorization
It should be a top priority for Congress to correct its historic blunder of passing the buck when it comes to war and peace.
Threats
34 Injured in Iran Attack, Pentagon Now Says; Launches a Review of Reporting Procedures
SecDef Mark Esper ordered a review of “processes for tracking and reporting injuries” after criticism in the wake of the Iranian missile attack.
Threats
Security Clearance Backlog Hits Long-Awaited ‘Steady State’
About 200,000 people are waiting for background investigations, which lawmakers called a welcome, "sustainable" level.
Ideas
Who Gets to Tell the Story of the Afghanistan War?
The Washington Post’s ‘Afghanistan Papers’ is the latest contribution to a growing argument over whether the conflict — or any of the ‘forever wars’ — was worth the cost.
Ideas
Sending Troops Back to the Middle East Won’t Stop Iran
Knee-jerk deployments only distract from the president’s bigger priorities: China and Russia.
Ideas
Esper Is Attempting the Biggest Defense Reform in a Generation
In two recent memos, the SecDef reveals his intention to change how the Pentagon uses its money, people, and time.
Science & Tech
Amazon Will File Injunction to Stop JEDI Work
The latest twist in the Pentagon’s JEDI cloud contract could halt further action.
Ideas
The Pentagon Must Replace Some Hackable Computer Chips
Last year’s vulnerability revelations, combined with the tardiness of manufacturers’ responses, leave the military with an expensive choice.
Policy
Turkey Will Make F-35 Parts Throughout 2020, Far Longer Than Anticipated
U.S. officials had aimed to get Turkish companies out of the jet’s supply chain by March.
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
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
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?
Threats
US, Iran Back Away From Conflict—For Now
The crisis appears to be cooling, at least for now, as U.S. lawmakers — and presumably the president — return their focus to the looming impeachment trial in the Senate.
Threats
Offering No Evidence, Esper Says Soleimani Attack On US Was ‘Days’ Away
Meanwhile, confusion continues over draft letter citing plans to move U.S. forces in Iraq.
Ideas