Mea Culpa: I Said Trump and Bibi Would Blow Up
But eight months in, the U.S. president is still playing nice with Israel — thanks to a moribund peace process.
David Bosco
Max Boot
Rosa Brooks
Thanassis Cambanis
Elizabeth Dickinson
Laurie Garrett
Kim Ghattas
Julia Ioffe
Leela Jacinto
Whitney Kassel
Jeffrey Lewis
Aaron David Miller
Suzanne Nossel
Thomas E. Ricks
David Rothkopf
Kori Schake
Emile Simpson
James Stavridis
Bruce Stokes
James Traub
Stephen M. Walt
Lauren Wolfe
Michela Wrong
Micah Zenko
Recent Voices
Veterans Administration throws suicide stats out the back door on Friday at 5 p.m.
Suicide rates for veterans climb to "staggering" proportions.
‘Vietnam’ Episode 2: There’s an iceberg ahead, but the ship speeds up
The message of this gloomy episode in the “Vietnam” min-series is that by 1963 the Vietnam War was in a downward spiral and doomed to failure no matter what else happened.
Harvard Fellowships Have Always Been a Joke
Chelsea Manning lost her gig at the university, but it’s not because she didn’t deserve the “honor.”
‘Vietnam’: Episode 1 starts the clock
It would be a spoiler to describe how this episode of the Ken Burns-led ‘Vietnam’ saga begins, except to say it reflects the cinematographer’s artistry at a high level of professional competence.
Edgar on Strategy (II): An anti-strategist’s view
What Tolstoy can teach us about the traps of self assurance.
Dogs: Sometimes you need to help them
Even if you are tired too.
Vietnam: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick take a long look at the war that took our sunshine away
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's new Vietnam War documentary is an opportunity to reexamine the noble intentions behind America's poorly executed war effort.
Will the USS Gerald Ford be remembered as the doomed Yamato of the carrier era?
What matters most is not how lethal a carrier is, but what threats it can endure.
Book excerpt: ‘The Final Mission of ‘Extortion 17’ in Afghanistan
This chapter documents the never-before-revealed final minutes of Extortion 17’s fateful mission into Afghanistan’s Tangi Valley.
The Four Seasons of Kremlingate
The summer of scandal is over, but the autumn is just getting started.
I am pleasantly surprised to see that two of my books are on the Army’s reading list
Fiasco's relevance endures.
Reading rainbow: Listing the lists
Some of H.R. McMaster’s greatest hits, and more.
Does the Military Need a Micromanager?
The Trump White House has delegated enormous responsibility to the Pentagon to look after itself, with predictable results.
Book excerpt: Why the U.S. Army can’t do mission command, even when it tries to
The most troubling aspect of the Army’s bureaucratic mindset is the relegation of commanders from the role of leader to manager/administrator-in-chief
Lebanon’s Shining Island of Example Is Shrinking
A tolerant and diverse cosmopolitan center, Beirut is a reminder of what the Arab world could be again.
The Case Against the Iranian Nuclear Deal Is One Big Lie
There’s no reason to trust any of the Trump administration’s criticisms of, or plans for replacing, the JCPOA.
Kroesen strikes out again: Are diversity and political correctness really what’s hurting the Army’s educational system?
Diversity, along with more rigorous academic standards, would greatly improve military education.
‘Dunkirk’: I finally saw it
My wife and I had some downtime in Portland, Maine, before I gave a talk there, so we dropped in to see “Dunkirk.”
Edgar on Strategy (I): Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m an anti-strategist
What we are trying to do, and why it's so hard to get there.
Tom is speaking in Belfast, Maine, tonight
The lessons of Churchill and Orwell for the modern world.
Hurricane Harvey dogs
Two puppies rescued from the flood.
Here we go again in Afghanistan
The newly announced Afghanistan strategy differs only in style, not substance, from the strategies of the past, and certainly from the current strategy.
What is moral injury, and how does it affect journalists covering bad stuff?
The psychologically debilitating hazards of crisis reporting impacts reporters who cover combat.
Teaching cadets in the age of Trump
After class, surrounded by the same dusty chalkboards I used as a cadet years ago, I quickly realized something was wrong.
USMC should drop the F-35 and V-22 — and perhaps the F-18 while it’s at it
Plus, more on the future of the UCAV carrier.
My Summer Holiday to the Forever War
America's military is scattered around the world fighting a battle they can't afford to lose — and don't have the resources to win.
15 assumptions about the behavior of North Korea’s Kim Family Regime (KFR)
he KFR will not give up its nuclear and missile programs.
Welcome to the Thermonuclear Club, North Korea!
Kim Jong Un's destructive power has grown in tandem with the rest of the world's powers of denial.
Reliefs and such: It’s been quite a summer
An Army major general is under investigation for sending racy texts to the wife of an enlisted man.
James Mattis Just Out-Trumped Trump on North Korea
The U.S. defense secretary has upped the ante on the president's most bellicose rhetoric, making war more likely than ever.
Best in the world? Nope. In fact, our small units are no longer as well trained as those of our allies, reports this Army captain.
At the squad, platoon, and company level, the U.S. Army is not as good as its allies, reports an Army captain.
Should this have been the American strategy in Afghanistan? Yes, I think so
In a new book on the American war in Afghanistan, Aaron MacLean presents this alternative approach as the road not taken.
Trump’s Next Self-Inflicted Crisis Is a Nuclear Iran
If the president kills the nuclear deal, the backlash will come sooner than he thinks.
Churchill had his faults, but he was a far better strategist than his generals were
In June 1944, after the D-Day landings in Normandy, his top military advisor, General Alan Brooke, wrote in his diary that, “We had a long and painful evening of it listening to Winston’s strategic ravings.”
Sept. 15, 1940: Churchill watches as the last of the RAF reserves are committed
After a week of this pounding, Churchill traveled to the headquarters of the 11th Fighter Group, the unit responsible for the defense of the air over London and southeastern England.
There Is No War in Afghanistan
And that's why the United States can't win.
The scariest article I have read in some time: Nuclear war is becoming thinkable, especially on the Korean peninsula
The new issue of International Security magazine contains a hair-raising article about nuclear weapons.
May 20, 1937: Orwell is shot in the neck
Orwell expected to remain at the front until late summer.
What Trump Got Right About Foreign Policy
(And screwed up anyway.)
Fury: A hard close-up view of small unit cohesion, both the good and bad sides
I give high marks to the film’s authenticity, which portrays true cohesion.
What I intended to do in Fury: The film’s writer and director responds to CSM Rush
It seems that, because of Fury, I will forever be known by some parties as the filmmaker who failed to do his homework.
McMaster’s former staff officer in Iraq: A general must not just stand by while a lie is being promulgated
Here is the response I received from retired Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, who was McMaster’s deputy commander in Iraq.
Best Defense’s special report from Paris: Security feels solid but not suffocating
Those on patrol look comfortable, not panicky, like they are used to this and can do their tasks without a lot of drama.
Women in national security: A tipsheet on some good Twitter accounts to follow
The other day, Vanity Fair's Jim Warren carried a comment of mine about how nowadays there are a lot of smart women in national security commenting on Twitter. Here’s the list I gave him.
Time Is Up on Rex Tillerson
Having proved a failure at every aspect of being secretary of state, he should do the country a favor and resign.
Book review: ‘American War’ — a grim novel about a second American Civil War
I’ve been harping in this blog for awhile on the possibility of another American division, so I was interested to see a new novel tackle that subject.
Back to the Future in Afghanistan
Trump’s “new approach” isn’t new at all, but it’s the least worst option.
Military reunions are more than just re-living old times — they also are a chance to gather needed strength from each other
Despite all the resources now available to our veterans, we were missing the one thing we needed most: each other.
How Not to Handle the Opioid Crisis
America’s drug pushers aren’t in Mexico — they’re right at home.
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