Ideas

We’re Still Arguing Over Women in the Military?

The U.S. armed forces need women, and suggestions to the contrary hurt recruiting and readiness.

Ideas

Spend More on Defense? Let’s Focus on Spending Better

The leaders of Congress’ National Defense Strategy commission lay out their priorities.

Ideas

China’s New Conscription Rules Reveal Concerns

New sections on wartime drafts, punishment, and physical fitness offer a glimpse into PLA leaders’ minds.

Ideas

Who Should Be NATO’s Next Secretary General?

With profound challenges on the horizon, NATO needs a highly skilled leader to be its voice. Only candidates with international credibility and a track record of delivering for Ukraine need apply.

Ideas

We Argued About Admitting Ukraine to NATO in 2008. Now We Agree on It.

The authors—longtime senior U.S. and German national-security figures—describe how they concluded that alliance membership is a necessary step.

Ideas

USAF Should Rethink Its Approach to Mental Health and Suicide

The commander and senior enlisted leader of the service’s Expeditionary Center see a back-to-basics path to stronger Airmen.

Ideas

‘MAGA’ Republicans Are Dismantling Ronald Reagan’s Legacy

Efforts to draft the U.S. military into culture wars are undoing its Reagan-era rise from post-Vietnam malaise.

Ideas

The National Counterterrorism Center Must Expand to Better Fight Domestic Terrorists

Broadening the NCTC’s mission to include homegrown terrorism will require bold executive leadership and congressional action.

Ideas

CQ Brown’s Confirmation Hearing Will Get Nasty

The right hated the “woke” Gen. Milley. Wait ’til they meet a general who has fought racism for years.

Ideas

Why Isn’t the Pentagon Helping the International Court Prosecute Putin?

DOD’s concerns about “reciprocity” should not constrain U.S. efforts to help Ukraine pursue justice.

Ideas

GEOINT Conference Wire 2: All Eyes on AI

Many of the discussions on Day 1 of the geospatial-intelligence conference centered on generative artificial intelligence.

Ideas

GEOINT Symposium Conference Wire: Who's Up

What to expect at the 20th edition of the "largest gathering of geospatial intelligence professionals in the nation."

Ideas

Defense One Radio, Ep. 125: The Army’s recruiting crisis; the science of special forces; and NATO’s Mircea Geoană

Can the Army pull itself out of a two-year recruiting slump? And what sort of gear is drawing the attention of America's special operators?

Ideas

Chinese Breakthroughs Bring Quantum Tools Closer to Practicality

Still, concerns of a Chinese “quantum supremacy” should be softened by the realities and difficulties of this new space.

Ideas

DOD Managers Need a New Approach. SOCOM Can Lead the Way

The Pentagon's McNamara-era philosophy is woefully insufficient to a world that changes daily. U.S. Special Operations Command is working to craft a better one.

Exclusive Ideas

How Special Operations Forces Must Meet the Challenges of a New Era

To the commander of U.S. SOCOM, what matters most is whether we solve the problem our nation needs solved.

Ideas

Want More Pentagon Innovation? Try This Experiment

A former Defense Secretary and Air Force Secretary propose more budgetary flexibility and a new approach to program management.