Ideas

Faster, Transient, Endless: How America Must Adapt to Today's Great-Power Competition

Three years of Army War College research have revealed the surprising contours of post-primacy security — and the single animating principle that must guide U.S. strategy.

Ideas

WTF: A Few Morning Thoughts on US-North Korea Relations

Kim Jong Un doesn’t need to dance with Trump. He’s got his own nuclear weapons.

Threats

The Word That Derailed the Trump-Kim Summit

The Americans and the North Koreans were all set for a historic meeting. Then they started talking about Libya.

Ideas

Former South Korean National-Security Adviser: The US May Have to Withdraw Some Troops

Breaking with his fellow conservatives, Chun Yung Woo says "there will be no solution" to the North Korean nuclear crisis without willingness to compromise on the U.S. alliance.

Ideas

Iran Hawks Are the New Iraq Hawks

Many of the assumptions that guided America’s march to conflict in 2003 still dominate American foreign policy today.

Ideas

The Dead Metaphors of National Security

To grapple with today’s complex security environment, we must first think about it realistically. Our terminology — not our technology — is key.

Threats

The Deceptively Simple Promise of Korean Peace

It might have to start with something like the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty concluded at the end of the Cold War.

Ideas

The Difference Between a Killer and a Terrorist

Two mass murders reveal how difficult—and important—it is to correctly identify terrorism when it occurs.

Ideas

Neither Precise Nor Proportionate

Trump’s attack on Syria was unserious but intended to relieve emotional pressure—and in many ways, worse than doing nothing at all.

Ideas

Trump's Syria Strategy Actually Makes Sense

And it does not involve a commitment to change the horrible and predictable outcome of the civil war.

Threats

If Trump Won't Lead in Syria, Someone Else Will

Unless the president can articulate and lead a plan, Syria’s future will be determined by Russia, Iran, and Turkey.

Ideas

Going BRAC-less: What to Do with the US Military’s Excess Property

The Pentagon is offering an alternative to closing bases, and Congress should support it.

Threats

Assad Defies Another American President

The Syrian strongman saw the red line on sarin as a green light to do everything else.

Threats

What Is America Going to Do About Syria Now?

After the latest suspected chemical attack, the United States has four options.

Ideas

The Logic of Assad's Brutality

No meaningful American response will be forthcoming, no matter how hideous the war crime.

Ideas

Trumpism: Speak Loudly and Carry a Big Stick

'It’s entirely possible that the blowup is just yet to come,' says one observer of the president’s foreign policy.

Ideas

Saudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look Good'

In a wide-ranging conversation, Prince Mohammed bin Salman also recognized the Jewish people’s right to “their own land.”

Policy

Trump's 'Very Soon' Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared

What the president said is exactly what some special operations forces worried would happen — under President Hillary Clinton.