Ideas

A Former CIA Director Describes the Dangers of 'Trump Unleashed'

John Brennan praises the advisers who restrain Donald Trump’s impulses, calls out the president’s “enablers” inside the White House, and considers the prospect of World War III.

Threats

Trump’s Policy on Terrorism Suspects Looks Like Obama’s

A captured Benghazi suspect is reportedly being brought to the U.S., which means he will be tried in a civilian court.

Policy

A Federal Court Pushes Back on Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

A judge issues a preliminary injunction, taking issue with everything from the framing of the directive to the way it was delivered.

Ideas

Trump Isn't the Only Problem with Trump's Foreign Policy

America’s approach to the world is a complicated mess, for reasons that predate the current president.

Science & Tech

Trump Administration Plans a New Cybersecurity Strategy

The strategy will be based on the main elements of the president’s May executive order.

Ideas

US Space Policy Should Aim to Preserve Advantage on the New Frontier

As in the 19th-century American West, the government must recognize its limited yet crucial role in fostering the nation’s interests in space.

Ideas

What McCain Knows That Kelly Forgot

One veteran offered a dark picture of a nation estranged from its military—the other, a more hopeful vision of a future brighter than the past.

Ideas

A Tale of Two Speeches

Sen. McCain and former President Bush called for Americans to rise to global leadership, and underscored the concrete benefits that have accrued from it. In normal times, this would be unexceptional.

Ideas

The Contradiction at the Core of Trump's North Korea Strategy

The president’s national-security advisers say they’re running out of time to do something extremely time-consuming.

Ideas

Trump’s Iran Strategy Is No Strategy At All

It's a laundry list of grievances, some get-tough rhetoric, and a quixotic retreat from diplomacy that ties one hand behind the president's back.

Threats

‘We're Not Taking Sides,’ Trump Tells Clashing Kurds, Iraqis

The Pentagon watches two American allies turn on each other, as Iraq’s fractious politics are laid bare once again.

Ideas

Donald Trump, Dealbreaker

The president's America First policy is causing the U.S. to withdraw from the world.

Policy

The Questions Raised By Trump's Iran Deal Decision

The U.S. will stick to the nuclear agreement—for now.

Threats

Trump Administration Gambles On Iran Nuclear Deal

White House staffers say the president will decertify the 2015 seven-party agreement, introducing uncertainty and worrying arms control watchers.

Ideas

Ending America's Paralyzed Iran Policy

Decertifying the nuclear deal without walking away gives the Trump administration an opening to confront the Islamic Republic’s foreign meddling.

Ideas

Two Nuclear Deals, Two Countries, Three Decades Apart

Does the failed nuclear agreement with North Korea have lessons for the Iran deal?

Ideas

Ending the Iran Deal is An Invitation to War

Two former Pentagon officials game out the dangerous consequences of de-certifying the agreement.

Policy

Mattis to Generals: Start Talking to the Press

Nine months into the Trump administration, the defense secretary tells senior military leaders to engage with the media — but stay in their lanes.

Science & Tech

The White House's Cyber Tool Wish List

Acting Federal Chief Information Security Officer Grant Schneider pushed for tools that are easy to use but can share threat data in real time.

Ideas

Rex Tillerson Must Go

If he does remain, it will be yet another sign of the collapse of self-respect among those who are now willing to serve in senior positions in government.