Ideas

Last Year’s Top 5 Worst Nuclear Nightmares (That Aren't Going Away)

Each of these threats has only gotten worse. Take one guess what (or who) I think remains the top nuclear threat to us...

Ideas

Hail the Civil Servant in the Year of Trump

Never before have the roles of government workers taken on such significance. But there could be consequences to using their power to undermine the administration.

Ideas

Where is America Going in the South China Sea?

The new National Security Strategy talks tough — but here are the options the United States actually has, and the pros and cons of each.

Policy

Trump Administration Seeks Outside Help to Hire 26,000 New Immigration Enforcement Personnel

CBP just awarded a separate $300 million contract for Border Patrol hiring assistance.

Ideas

The National Security Strategy Papers Over a Crisis

The NSS is a stunning repudiation of Trump, and Trump’s speech was a stunning repudiation of the NSS.

Ideas

Three Ways to Read Trump's National Security Strategy

Is it better approached as a sacred text, or examined like the scat of a shaggy, woodland beast?

Threats

What Putin Really Wants

Russia's strongman president has many Americans convinced of his manipulative genius. He's really just a gambler who won big.

Policy

Trump Just Signed a Dire Warning about Climate Change

The 2018 NDAA acknowledges and anticipates climate change as an urgent threat, in sharp contrast to his administration’s past denials.

Ideas

The National Security Strategy Commits the US to a Lonelier and Less Generous Course

As previewed by H.R. McMaster, the new NSS contrasts strikingly to the visions of other recent presidents.

Policy

Allies Are Key, Says Trump’s National Security Strategy

The document, to be unveiled next week, will be the latest administration policy position that looks beyond “America first.”

Ideas

The North Korea Debate Sounds Eerily Familiar

Trump’s national-security officials are making many of the same arguments Bush’s did in 2003.

Ideas

Trump's National Security Strategy is Decidedly Non-Trumpian

An exclusive preview of the White House's plan highlights the wide gulf between what the president says and what he does.

Ideas

The Cost of Trump’s Attacks on National-Security Agencies

The president’s efforts to delegitimize the FBI are frustrating and demoralizing the staff of the nation’s lead agency for domestic counterintelligence.

Policy

Islamophobia No Longer Needs Terrorism as a Justification

Conservatives are finding new justifications for anti-Muslim sentiments—and embedding them more deeply in America’s political terrain.

Ideas

Hey, @Twitter, It’s Time to Talk about President Trump

The president’s amplification of the things he finds in his mentions is putting national security at risk.

Science & Tech

The Promise and Peril of Trump's Cyber Strategy

Continuity on most cyber policies masks a growing erosion of global cyber norms.

Ideas

America Is Not Going to Denuclearize North Korea

Trump administration officials still think they might persuade the Kim regime to disarm. This belief is mistaken, and dangerous.

Threats

How the US and China Differ on North Korea

They are at odds over the nature of the threat posed by Pyongyang.

Ideas

What's Dangerous About Donald Trump's Foreign Policy?

His unorthodox approach has frightened some observers. But it’s his more conventional moves that have cost the most lives.

Ideas

Paris Pullout Shows How The US Is Shrugging Off Its Global Leadership

If America so easily tosses aside a hard-won diplomatic victory, what else is it willing to jettison?