Policy

Trump Was For Invading Libya (and Iraq) Before He Was Against It

The presumptive Republican nominee tries to draw a contrast between himself and Hillary Clinton, but both of them supported U.S. involvement in both Libya and Iraq.

Policy

Hillary Clinton Tears Into Trump's 'Bizarre' National Security

The GOP presidential contender's foreign policy views are 'dangerously incoherent. They are not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies,' she said Thursday in California.

Policy

Is There a Hillary Doctrine?

A conversation with Mark Landler about the foreign-policy differences between Obama and his former secretary of state.

Policy

Trump May Be the US Military’s Least-Liked GOP Presidential Candidate In Over a Decade

Mitt Romney, John McCain, and George W. Bush all polled higher, according to Military Times surveys.

Policy

Trump Makes His Own Head Spin Talking Foreign Policy

The Republican front-runner delivered his most scripted address yet laying out what he called his 'consistent' and 'unpredictable' national security ambitions.

Policy

NATO’s Not Obsolete, Says Joint Chiefs Chairman

In fact, the alliance soon could join the fight against ISIS, adds Defense Secretary Carter.

Threats

What Trump Got Right About Brussels

Trump’s diagnosis of the attack makes sense. But the proposals he and Ted Cruz offered in response do not.

Ideas

Not Just Trump: The Chilling Rise in Global Authoritarianism

Terrorism and drone war are feeding a larger sense of insecurity, driving some to xenophobia and jingoism.

Ideas

What It Would Take to Build Trump's Border Wall with Mexico

The presidential candidate is pledging the largest infrastructure project since the U.S. highway system. And it makes no sense at all.

Ideas

What the 2016 Presidential Candidates Get Wrong About the Future of War

They fail, they lack, they misunderstand, they pander, they don’t get, and they just don’t know national security – not according to our Future of War roster of experts.

Policy

Where the 2016 Candidates Stand on National Security

The Council on Foreign Relations drew on speeches, debates, and campaign websites, as well as open source media to compile where the candidates stand on Syria, Guantanamo, NSA surveillance and more.

Ideas

Bernie Sanders Looks Pretty Darn Establishment on Nuclear Weapons

Sanders is no outside-the-margin liberal on keeping up America’s nuclear arsenal.

Policy

Trump is Wrong, ISIS Doesn't Want Rome

Trump's claim that Rome is 'ISIS’s ultimate trophy' deserves correction, just in case he thinks it’s true.

Policy

There's a Reason Ted Cruz Won't Say How Much His Pentagon Plans Will Cost

More soldiers, ships, subs, planes, drone pilots—in short, the fiscal conservative wants to spend en enormous amount of money.

Policy

Donald Trump's Big Lie on the Iraq War

Trump’s opposition to the invasion is an important part of his claim to sound judgment. And he is making it up. I would know.

Policy

Rubio Proves Obama's Point About Islam and Intolerance in the US

Sen. Marco Rubio accused the president of 'pitting people against each other' in Obama's visit to a mosque this week.

Ideas

Reagan's '76 Playbook Is the Ticket for Cruz and Trump

The rise of conservative outsiders like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump is not unprecedented.

Policy

Rand Paul the Dove Never Stood a Chance Among the Hawks

I planned to write a different story about the libertarian anti-neocon. Instead, I found this.