Author Archive
William D. Hartung
Senior Research Fellow, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
William D. Hartung is a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial Complex. Before joining the Quincy Institute, he was the director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy and a co-director of the Center's Sustainable Defense Task Force.
Ideas
Beware of Pentagon techno-enthusiasm
A massive new drone effort, while laudable in its quest for simpler weapons, does not come without strings attached.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
Has Congress Learned the Lessons of the Iraq War?
Besides repealing the AUMFs, lawmakers ought to create new tools to curb U.S. military interventions.
- William D. Hartung
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Let’s Put the Pentagon’s China Report in Context
What do the relative sizes of the U.S. and Chinese nuclear arsenals really suggest?
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
Don’t Overinflate the Pentagon Budget
There are plenty of perennial problems draining the military’s coffers that need attention.
- William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
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Who’s Afraid of an ICBM Review?
It’s worth spending five figures to assess whether to move ahead with a program that could cost more than a quarter-trillion dollars.
- William D. Hartung
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Milley’s Hypersonic Hyperbole May Have Been His ‘Missile Gap’ Moment
The United States must avoid another arms race based on untested or distinctly false premises.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
The New ICBM Is a Legacy System, And Should Be Cancelled
Antiquated strategic thinking must not be allowed to drain funding that could be put toward more pressing threats.
- William D. Hartung
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Pushing Billions in Arms Sales Is Not an ‘Accomplishment’
It matters to whom the weapons are flowing and how they will be used.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
A $13 Billion Contract for ICBMs: What’s the Rush?
The deal needs closer scrutiny — as does the purported need for new long-range ballistic missiles at all.
- William D. Hartung
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Congress Needs a Veto, Not a Notification, on Arms Sales
The Trump administration’s efforts to evade oversight show why more is needed.
- Elias Yousif and William D. Hartung
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Time to Rethink Security Aid to Egypt
More than $40 billion over three decades has bought only dubious benefits to U.S. security.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
Overspending on the Pentagon Won’t Make Us Safer
We spend far more on the military than the countries we most fear, while shorting the things that would actually help us compete.
- William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
Ideas
Don’t Use the Iran Crisis As An Excuse To Boost Pentagon Spending
Use it to reconsider the American approach to national security.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
America’s Military Is Misdirected, Not Underfunded
U.S. strategy should be more focused on preventing conflict with nuclear-armed China than on spinning out elaborate war-fighting scenarios.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
Does America Need a Space Force?
A new service branch would put more bureaucracy between critical capabilities and the troops who need them.
- William D. Hartung and Mandy Smithberger
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Who Needs ICBMs?
Spend the money on the other two legs of the nuclear triad, and improve global stability and U.S. security.
- Jessica Sleight and William D. Hartung
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Would a $700 Billion Budget Really Sink the Pentagon?
Resistance is already forming to a proposed decrease in 2020 spending. It’s important to understand just what that decrease means.
- William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
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NATO Already Vastly Outspends Russia. Its Problems Are Not About Money.
The alliance’s security issues can’t be fixed by a traditional military buildup.
- William D. Hartung
Ideas
Thornberry’s Pentagon-Reform Plan to Nowhere
It's pitched as a way to cut waste — but would make the misallocation of our tax dollars more likely.
- William D. Hartung
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Arms Sales Decisions Shouldn’t Be About Jobs
Basic foreign policy principles should drive potential weapons exports, not pork-barrel politics.
- William D. Hartung