This Is No Job for a General
President-elect Joe Biden should choose a civilian to lead his Department of Defense.
America’s Generals Must Stand Up to Trump
Our military leaders are willing to take a bullet for this country. But are they prepared to take a pink slip?
A Stain on the Honor of the Navy
In acceding to a White House request to cover the name of the USS John S. McCain, officers and officials revealed a rot within the service.
The Brain of the Pentagon
Andrew Marshall leaves behind an American tradition of strategic thinking that will live well beyond him.
The Lesson of Saruman
Tolkien has a warning to erstwhile #NeverTrumpers who are now choosing to ally with power rather than hold to their values.
Pulling Security Clearances Is Just the Start
Another norm falls victim to Trump as he turns the power of government against his critics.
The Lesson of the Great War: Stay Engaged, America
A century after the guns fell silent, the United States risks replicating the errors of the past.
A Reckoning for Obama's Foreign-Policy Legacy
Veterans of the last administration are learning a hard lesson: Policies constructed by executive order and executive agreement are just as easily blown up by them.
Neither Precise Nor Proportionate
Trump’s attack on Syria was unserious but intended to relieve emotional pressure—and in many ways, worse than doing nothing at all.
McMaster's Choice
Before he was the national-security adviser, he wrote a lacerating account of generals who failed in advising Lyndon Johnson. What will he say now that he is free to talk about Trump?
Team of Sycophants
Tillerson’s dismissal leaves the White House more than ever the conniving and dishonest court of an erratic, ill-informed, and willful monarch.
Global Elites Cannot Save a World In Turmoil
Last weekend’s security conference in Munich was a stark reminder that this class has nothing of substance to offer a world in turmoil.
Americans Are Rising to This Historic Moment
The commitment of ordinary citizens to democratic ideals is being tested each day—and its enduring strength is containing the damage of Trump’s presidency.
Waiting for the Bomb to Drop
There are sounds, for those who can hear them, of the preliminary and muffled drumbeats of war.
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?
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.
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.
How Trump Is Ending the American Era
For all the visible damage the president has done to the nation’s global standing, things are much worse below the surface.
America Is Not Ready for a War in North Korea
If loose words about fire and fury are a mere negotiating tactic, they will not deliver what the United States desires.
The Downsides of John Kelly's Ascension
The former Marine general is unlikely to succeed in his new job, even as his appointment contributes to the decay of American civil-military relations.
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