Ideas
As the US Slumps Away, China Subsumes African Security Arrangements
Organizations created to fight terror groups after 9/11 are becoming conduits for Beijing’s surveillance and influence.
Ideas
What We Don’t Know About Military Innovation
It’s time to take stock of the Pentagon’s various rapid-acquisition efforts.
Policy
Milley Speaks Out — and Trump Stays Mum
After a controversial summer, the Joint Chiefs chairman is holding his own with a string of public pronouncements.
Threats
Thousands of US Troops Will Remain in Afghanistan Past Christmas
They won't be home for Christmas. Trump's national security advisor says the president was only expressing a "desire" with that tweet.
Ideas
'Esper's Lie?' I Don't Think So
After nearly a generation of dominating focus on counterinsurgency operations, the U.S. military is underprepared in 2020 for great power competition.
Ideas
Will Commanders Trust Their New AI Weapons and Tools?
A study of DOD’s artificial-intelligence efforts reveals a key gap.
Policy
Chief of Naval Operations Outlines Future for Drones, Minicarriers
The fleet may need fewer large aircraft carriers but more ships that can carry aircraft.
Ideas
The 20th Year of the Afghanistan War Should Be America’s Last
U.S. national security interests do not depend on the outcome of the peace talks. It’s time to come home.
Ideas
Esper’s Fantasy Fleet
The SecDef’s 500-ship plan is an exercise in wishful thinking that avoids hard choices.
Ideas
Esper’s Reforms: An Interim Report Card
What progress has the defense secretary made on his ambitious goals to reorient the Defense Department?
Policy
All US Troops In Afghanistan To Withdraw By Christmas, Trump Tweets
The bewildering message came just hours after his national security advisor said the United States would draw down to 2,500 by 2021.
Policy
US Charges ISIS ‘Beatles’ In Virginia Court
Kotey and Elsheikh each face 14 charges, all of which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Policy
Esper Plans Fewer Large Carriers, More Subs in a Navy of 500 Ships or More
He says it’s affordable, but key details remain unknown.
Policy
Joint Chiefs In Isolation After Coast Guard Vice Commandant Tests Positive For COVID
But multiple officials suggested that they could return to the Pentagon this week.
Policy
GOP Lawmakers Hammer Trump’s Germany Troop Withdrawals
The top Republican on the Armed Services Committee blamed “a couple of White House staffers” who “hadn’t thought through the consequences.”
Ideas
The Pentagon Is Funding the Destruction of Cultural Heritage
Construction of Trump’s border wall is undermining not just sacred sites but the rule of law itself.
Ideas
Esper's Convenient Lie
The defense secretary's claim that the two decades of countering violent extremism left the U.S. under-prepared for a near-peer fight doesn’t hold water.
Ideas
Combat Leaders Go Through Hell to Learn About Risk. The Acquisition Corps Should Do the Same
One reason the “culture of innovation” hasn’t taken proper hold at the Pentagon is that its buyers aren’t trained over and over to weigh uncertainties.
Ideas
Stumbling Out of the Middle East is No Better Than Stumbling In
It is tempting for the United States to just throw in the towel, pull troops, and abandon allies. More important is understanding what the U.S. strategy toward the Middle East should be.
Ideas