Ideas

What should be made of Donald Trump’s avowed longing for senior military officers who will do his bidding without question? To answer that, we must contemplate a scenario rarely considered by civil-military theorists, let alone military…

A major offensive has seen rebel groups in Syria retake the country’s second city, Aleppo– and demonstrated the growing prominence of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the 13-year-long civil war.The surprise advance was…

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah entered a 60-day ceasefire on Nov. 26, 2024, a move aimed at reducing tensions in the region more than a year into a multifront conflict.Under the terms of the deal,…

Following through on a campaign promise, president-elect Donald Trump recently appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead an effort they are calling the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. While it is not actually a…

What will the incoming Trump administration mean for U.S. foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa? During his first term, Donald Trump derided so-called “shithole countries” on the continent and throughout the broader Global South. Yet his…

It’s harder to get into the military than stay there—at least by the different medical standards set by the Defense Department. By making them match, the Pentagon could widen its recruiting pool without undermining the force.Here’s an…

It’s a long way from the Donbas region of Ukraine to Idaho, but Ukrainian officials recently made the trip to learn about collecting evidence after a nuclear attack.Ten soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 10 members from the…

The outgoing Biden administration has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia territory, according to reports citing White House officials.The move comes amid concern in the West…

Earlier this year, we emphasized the need—and increasing urgency—for Europe to improve its defense capabilities and create a degree of independence from the United States. It is not clear what progress NATO, and European member states…

Earlier this year, American investigators were tipped off about a plan to ship semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.The alarm was sounded after two Chicago-based buyers of a Dynatex DTX-MDB 150 "scribe and break" machine asked the…