The D Brief: CBP report belies ‘terrorist’ charges; Rubio threatens Venezuelan leaders; ‘Unsustainable’ national-security strategy?; EU, India near trade deal; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 28, 2026

Trump’s national defense strategy is unlike anything that’s come before it

It touts an end to interventionism and regime change, despite adventurism in Venezuela and Greenland.

• Meghann Myers
• January 27, 2026

The D Brief: Feds kill again in Minnesota; National Defense Strategy drops; New USAF deployment concept; Space Force wants more troops; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 26, 2026

Defense One Radio, Ep. 202: The known perils of regime change

A scholar of civil wars warns against repeating the past mistakes from U.S. military interventions abroad.

• Ben Watson and Monica Duffy Toft
• January 23, 2026

Russian hybrid warfare has become indistinguishable from politics

The war of realities in 2026 will determine the reality of war in 2027.

• Patrick Tucker
• January 22, 2026

The D Brief: Trump’s Greenland fixation undermines alliance; Cui bono?; Lawmakers set flat defense budget; How AI went DOD; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 21, 2026

The D Brief: Experts warn of war; Trump’s ‘state terror’; CNO’s upcoming instructions; China’s ‘full-stack’ defense-innovation cities; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 20, 2026

Trump’s Greenland ambitions could wreck alliances that underpin the modern world order

A former diplomat looks at the president's latest ally-shaking outburst.

• Donald Heflin, The Conversation
• January 19, 2026

The D Brief: Lessons from Iraq; Trump’s Insurrection Act-threat; DIU seeks swarm controllers; Russia’s Starlink drones; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 16, 2026

The D Brief: US bombs ISIS in Syria; Iranian protests swell; Execs rebuff oil plan; Meet the Army’s dronemakers; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 12, 2026

The D Brief: Post-Maduro moves; Europe unites over Greenland; Marines’ ‘hidden crisis’; Jan. 6, remembered; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• January 6, 2026

Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy

Trump is the latest to reach for a military solution of the kind that rarely produces durable peace. 

• Monica Duffy Toft, The Conversation
• January 5, 2026

2025 in review: policy

A turbulent first year of the second Trump administration brought precedent-breaking security strategy and hasty cuts to the DOD workforce.

• Defense One Staff
• December 24, 2025

The D Brief: New ‘battleship’ announced; Nigeria, under US surveillance; China’s ICBMs; Boat-strike Qs; And a bit more.

• Bradley Peniston and Ben Watson
• December 23, 2025

Defense One Radio, Ep. 201: Conflicts to watch in 2026

CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead.

• Ben Watson
• December 18, 2025

The D Brief: Fentanyl now a ‘WMD’; Airstrikes rise in Somalia; Cocom consolidation, mulled; Post-quantum encryption; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 16, 2025

The D Brief: 3 Americans killed in Syria; Ukraine peace talks; Germany on Russian sabotage; Scharre on AI in war; And a bit more.

• Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston
• December 15, 2025