Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Last chance to vote on the Future of War!

If you haven’t yet voted in the Future of War essay contest, this is your last chance. I plan to tally the results on Sunday and run them sometime next week.  You can read the essays at this page. Then you can vote by e-mailing me using the address at the bottom of my bio. ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
by Enokson via Flickr
by Enokson via Flickr
by Enokson via Flickr

If you haven't yet voted in the Future of War essay contest, this is your last chance. I plan to tally the results on Sunday and run them sometime next week. 

If you haven’t yet voted in the Future of War essay contest, this is your last chance. I plan to tally the results on Sunday and run them sometime next week. 

You can read the essays at this page.

Then you can vote by e-mailing me using the address at the bottom of my bio. In the subject line, please put CONTEST, and vote for your no.1 and no. 2 choices, by the number on each essay.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On Military

Latest

Does Democracy Really Die in Darkness?

Confusion and Ambition Caused the My Lai Atrocities

What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War

How Women Are Reconciling Feminism With Faith

Israel Renews Strikes on Gaza After Weeklong Truce
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War
  2. 2
    Is Portugal’s Golden Visa Scheme Worth It?
  3. 3
    Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.

Trending

  1. What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War
    Review
    Franz-Stefan Gady

  2. Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
    Argument
    Annie Sparrow

  3. Is Portugal’s Golden Visa Scheme Worth It?
    Dispatch
    Kitty Greenwald

  4. At COP28, the World Needs to Prioritize Financial Reform
    Analysis
    Rajiv J. Shah

  5. Does Democracy Really Die in Darkness?
    Review
    Bronwen Everill