Ideas
Taiwan Wants Paladins. Congress Should Say No
Taipei’s only hope for an effective defense is not armor but asymmetry.
Ideas
The 2018 Strategy Is Unworkable. We Need a Fundamental Defense Rethink
We can model our efforts to link long-term defense priorities and resourcing on a post-Cold War review.
Ideas
Don’t Divide the World Between Democracies and Autocracies
There are better ways to face our challenges than pushing for ideological blocs.
Ideas
Let’s Get Real About US Military ‘Dominance’
American strategists need to drop the assumption that the U.S. military will be the superior force in any given situation.
Ideas
The US Talks A Lot About Strategic Complexity. Too Bad It’s Mostly Just Talk.
The pandemic sidelined a national security community that gives only lip service to a vital concept.
Ideas
Biden’s Interim National Security Guidance Is a Good, If Small, First Step
Next come the big questions: what is America’s current status, and where do we want to go?
Ideas
Building a China Strategy Starts by Answering These Questions
To begin, we must question our perceptions and eliminate our biases.
Ideas
‘Great Power Competition’ Is a Dangerously Simple Frame
To correctly set force posture, the Pentagon needs to look more deeply at the world’s actors, their preferences, and relationships.
Policy
White House Prepping Multi-Part Executive Order on SolarWinds Hack
The official leading the effort said changes are necessary to improve information sharing within the federal government.
Ideas
How to Reconnect the Pentagon’s Strategy to its Budget
Biden will have little time and likely less money to enact his policies. He needs to tie strategy more closely to funding.
Ideas
How to Cut the US Presence in the Middle East
Asking the military to pursue the same goals with fewer resources will not work.
Ideas
The SolarWinds Hack Doesn’t Demand a Violent Response
Major retaliation is more likely to spur escalation than improve deterrence.
Ideas
Will COVID Finally Force Us to Think Differently About National Security?
The “softer” approaches of irregular war offer outsized benefits during competition and armed conflict alike.
Ideas
Great Power Competition Is Too Narrow a Frame
The United States cannot hope to prevail and prosper unless it broadens its conception of the global struggle.
Ideas
What Would a Climate-Focused DoD Budget Look Like?
It’d be less about what we spend and more about how we spend the money we already have.
Ideas
Time to Rethink Arms Sales to Taiwan
Once, they might have tilted the military balance. Now they just destabilize the region.
Ideas
The West Is Surprisingly Well-Equipped for Gray-Zone Deterrence
Authoritarian officials and oligarchs interact with Western nations in ways that give democratic governments leverage.
Ideas
The Coming F-35 Fiasco
Now that Qatar is asking for the jet, it’s time to consider an entirely different approach to helping Gulf nations defend themselves.
Ideas
Assessing Trump’s National Security Record
How has he done against four main threats our nation faces?
Ideas