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
Don’t Use the Iran Crisis As An Excuse To Boost Pentagon Spending
Use it to reconsider the American approach to national security.
Ideas
The Blueprint Iran Could Follow After Soleimani’s Death
Here’s what to expect after the U.S. killing of Iran’s most powerful military commander.
Ideas
The Soleimani Assassination Is America’s Most Consequential Strike This Century
The U.S. attack against the top Iranian general will have far greater repercussions than the killings of al-Qaeda and ISIS leaders.
Threats
Soleimani Strike Could Imperil US Troops In Iraq
Trump and his allies have sought to frame Iraq’s response to the strikes as a choice between Tehran and Washington, but the situation is not so black-and-white for Baghdad.
Ideas
The US Recently Made a Smart Move Toward Iran. Killing Soleimani Wasn’t It
The decision to focus on Tehran’s proxies in the wake of the embassy attack was the right course.
Ideas
Iran Loses Its Indispensable Man
The killing of Qassem Soleimani robs the regime of the central figure for its ambitions in the Middle East.
Threats
Iran’s Soleimani Killed in Trump-Ordered Airstrike
The stunning killing of the Quds Force leader follows Iranian-backed militia attacks on U.S. embassy in Iraq, and months of Tehran testing Washington’s stomach for violence.
Ideas
In Iraq, the US Gets Hit Where It Hurts
The storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad demonstrated that America doesn’t have a monopoly on pressure.
Ideas
Most-Read of 2020 (So Far)
We're three months into the next year already, if you go by the fiscal calendar. Here's the most-clicked posts on our site since Oct. 1.
Ideas
Progress, Peril, Hope: The Nuclear Decade in Review
U.S. policies that restrained and shrank atomic arsenals have been abandoned. Yet there are hopeful trends as well.
Ideas
Best of 2019: Ideas
Revisit some of the best op-eds and commentary we had the privilege of publishing over the past year.
Science & Tech