Ideas

Don’t Just End the War in Afghanistan, Repeal the Resolution That Authorized It

No current threat remotely justifies roving presidential authority to wage war on multiple continents.

Ideas

Your Home Insurance Policy Helps Illustrate Why Modern Conflict Is Destabilizing

Will insurers pay to repair houses in Gaza? How about U.S. infrastructure damaged by state-sponsored ransomware?

Ideas

Keep Tabs on China’s Growing Space Situational Awareness

As more Chinese satellites reach orbit, Beijing is upgrading its ability to track space debris. But such sensors can be used to destroy as well as protect.

Ideas

Three Political Crises Drove the Gaza Violence

Millions of civilians were endangered by three sets of beleaguered politicians who lack a popular mandate.

Ideas

Introducing ‘The China Intelligence’

Everyone needs to understand China better. Open-source intelligence can help.

Ideas

Army Generals Are Not Prepared for the Future

Service leaders love to tout innovation, but can they make the changes necessary to succeed?

Ideas

Defense One Radio, Ep. 83: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River raid

From the rice fields of South Carolina comes an incredible story of courage amid unspeakable tragedy.

Ideas

The F-35’s Painful Lessons Must Inform Future Programs

Congress and the Pentagon must question dubious technical requirements, rosy buy-in costs, and optimistic schedule promises.

Ideas

Is DarkSide Really Sorry? Is It Even DarkSide?

Deciphering the mysterious apology of the mysterious group that shut down a major U.S. pipeline.

Ideas

Blinken’s Arctic Opportunities

The secretary of state can make real diplomatic progress on several key areas.

Ideas

Détente with Iran Could Unlock a Foreign Policy Gold Mine

Bringing Tehran back into the diplomatic fold would foster other progress.

Ideas

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ Is Bunk

The military services’ shares of overall defense spending have always fluctuated with strategy and need.

Ideas

Toward a New Naval Statecraft

If the U.S. and its allies do nothing to complicate or slow China’s grey zone strategy, they risk ceding the global commons of maritime Asia.

Ideas

Why the U.S. Needs a Space Czar

Bureaucracy must keep up with the new space age.

Ideas

Defense One Radio, Ep. 82: “Robert E. Lee and Me”

Ty Seidule, a retired Army brigadier general, talks about the Confederacy, and inclusive changes throughout the recent history of the U.S. military.

Ideas

Should We Care About That Letter?

Retired generals and admirals are, first and foremost, retirees.

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

Shake Off the Pentagon's Industrial-Age Bureaucracy

Five disciplines and five initiatives can help the U.S. military better adapt to 21st-century threats.

Ideas

Why National Cyber Defense Is a ‘Wicked’ Problem

Vulnerable supply chains, sloppy security, and a talent shortage made events like the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and the SolarWinds hack all but inevitable.

Ideas

When and Why China Might—or Might Not—Attack Taiwan

U.S. policymakers can only guess at what’s driving Beijing, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing they can do about it.