Defense One

Policy

The President Is Preventing the Foreign-Policy Debate America Needs To Have

He promised to do both more and less abroad, but his frequent reversals and missteps are derailing efforts to choose one path.

Stephen Sestanovich, The Atlantic
April 13, 2017

Threats

Rex Tillerson’s Russian Mission Impossible

The secretary of state is expected to use his visit to Moscow this week to demand Russia break with Assad. This is wishful thinking.

Vali Nasr, The Atlantic
April 11, 2017

Ideas

America's Foreign-Policy Voice Is Fracturing. Trump’s Cuts Would Make Things Worse

The post-9/11 explosion in security-assistance funding has muddied the roles of diplomats and generals. A re-empowered State Department could help fix that.

Rose Jackson
April 1, 2017

Business

Lockheed to Move F-16 Production to South Carolina

The new, smaller line will better suit the dwindling orders for the venerable fighter jet, while freeing up space for F-35 production.

Marcus Weisgerber
March 22, 2017

Ideas

Killing Free Trade Will Rob the World of a Highly Effective Deterrent to War

Trade agreements are rarely about economics alone.

Dan Kopf, Quartz
March 4, 2017

Policy

Trump’s State Department Anxiously Awaits its Future

Shaken up and set adrift, a foreign-policy bureaucracy confronts the possibility of radical change.

Julia Ioffe, The Atlantic
March 1, 2017

Policy

The Foreign-Policy Establishment Defends Itself From Trump

'The question confronting us as a nation is as consequential as any we have faced since the late 1940s,' a group of Republican and Democratic experts write.

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic
February 23, 2017

Ideas

We’re Ignoring the Best Bad Option for Syria

A frozen conflict would give the country space to begin rebuilding.

Alexander Decina
February 17, 2017

Ideas

There's No One At the Helm of White House Foreign Policy

Flynn’s departure won’t solve the Trump administration’s central dysfunction.

Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic
February 14, 2017

Ideas

Mapped: America's Collective Defense Agreements

The United States has agreements to come to the defense of more than 50 other nations.

Ben Watson
February 3, 2017

Policy

Trump Has Made an Enemy Out of a Friend

The U.S. is not talking to Mexico, a neighbor, trade partner and trusted ally because of a campaign promise few took seriously.

Jorge Guajardo, The Atlantic
January 27, 2017

Ideas

The Foreign Crises Awaiting Trump

Trump wants to undo the liberal international order the U.S. built and replace it with a 19th-century model of nationalism and mercantilism. Its unwinding cannot, and will not, be pretty.

Thomas Wright, The Atlantic
January 20, 2017

Ideas

Ranked: Donald Trump's Foreign-Policy Contradictions

A guide to the unpredictable presidency to come.

Matt Peterson, The Atlantic
January 20, 2017

Ideas

Did Trump’s Team Just Threaten War With China?

Rex Tillerson said the U.S. should threaten to keep China from its new man-made islands. That requires a naval blockade. And that is war.

Michael H. Fuchs
January 17, 2017

Ideas

What the World Might Look Like in 5 Years, According to US Intelligence

Even America's own government analysts see the American Era drawing to a close.

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic
January 11, 2017

Policy

How Putin is Using Populist Movements Against the West

It’s time to decide what goals should guide American foreign policy in the 21st century, and what allies are needed to advance them.

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic
January 6, 2017

Ideas

Trump’s Deal-Powered Vision Will, and Won’t, Change US Foreign Policy

'The day of the chess player is over,' the businessman once wrote.

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic
December 20, 2016

Ideas

Global Conflicts to Watch in 2017

The greatest unknown for U.S. interests in the world might be the United States itself.

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic
December 18, 2016

Policy

Tracking Trump’s National-Security Conflicts of Interest

A global business empire raises the question: is the president’s foreign policy serving America’s interests or his own?

Caroline Houck
December 17, 2016

Policy

Rand Paul Is Already Planning to Disrupt Trump’s Foreign Policy

Some see the president-elect’s inexperience as an open door for the Kentucky senator and other members of Congress to reassert themselves against more intervention abroad.

Adam Wollner, National Journal
December 6, 2016

He promised to do both more and less abroad, but his frequent reversals and missteps are derailing efforts to choose one path.

The secretary of state is expected to use his visit to Moscow this week to demand Russia break with Assad. This is wishful thinking.

The post-9/11 explosion in security-assistance funding has muddied the roles of diplomats and generals. A re-empowered State Department could help fix that.

The new, smaller line will better suit the dwindling orders for the venerable fighter jet, while freeing up space for F-35 production.

Trade agreements are rarely about economics alone.

Shaken up and set adrift, a foreign-policy bureaucracy confronts the possibility of radical change.

'The question confronting us as a nation is as consequential as any we have faced since the late 1940s,' a group of Republican and Democratic experts write.

A frozen conflict would give the country space to begin rebuilding.

Flynn’s departure won’t solve the Trump administration’s central dysfunction.

The United States has agreements to come to the defense of more than 50 other nations.

The U.S. is not talking to Mexico, a neighbor, trade partner and trusted ally because of a campaign promise few took seriously.

Trump wants to undo the liberal international order the U.S. built and replace it with a 19th-century model of nationalism and mercantilism. Its unwinding cannot, and will not, be pretty.

A guide to the unpredictable presidency to come.

Rex Tillerson said the U.S. should threaten to keep China from its new man-made islands. That requires a naval blockade. And that is war.

Even America's own government analysts see the American Era drawing to a close.

It’s time to decide what goals should guide American foreign policy in the 21st century, and what allies are needed to advance them.

'The day of the chess player is over,' the businessman once wrote.

The greatest unknown for U.S. interests in the world might be the United States itself.

A global business empire raises the question: is the president’s foreign policy serving America’s interests or his own?

Some see the president-elect’s inexperience as an open door for the Kentucky senator and oth­er mem­bers of Con­gress to re­as­sert them­selves against more intervention abroad.

Some see the president-elect’s inexperience as an open door for the Kentucky senator and other members of Congress to reassert themselves against more intervention abroad.