What Does Mattis as Defense Secretary Mean for the Military and for Trump?
Mattis vs. Trump: Some big differences.
David Bosco
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
Military crime roundup: West Point, Louisiana NG, naval attaché in Manila
I was thinking the other day that I haven’t seen a lot of interesting military crime stories lately.
Flynn appears in: He’s no Kissinger, but neither is he a worn-out Capitol Hill hack
The rap on him in the intelligence world is that he is great tactically but clueless strategically.
An Army officer reviews ‘Hacksaw Ridge’: A good story but much unneeded carnage
Mel Gibson is back on a redemption tour.
Is Trump a Russian Stooge?
The Donald and Vlad might not be holding hands, but they’re clearly friends with benefits.
How to do this ‘innovation’ thing
Everyone in the defense world is into innovation these days. But how is it done?
To do better in the Middle East, listen less to our hearts and more to our experts
Even the world’s most experienced job coach won’t prepare Trump and his coterie for the havoc the Middle East can wreak on a presidential agenda.
Was Ft. Necessity really ‘a death trap’ foolishly chosen by George Washington?
I keep on reading that allegation but I wonder if it is really correct.
Will the generals obey Trump?
No, if he orders nuclear war. Yes, if he asks them to fiddle at the margins.
After 1 Week With President-Elect Trump, What Do We Really Know?
Even as the incoming administration fills its top cabinet and advisory roles, Trump’s foreign-policy plans are still a mystery.
What now? How the military taught me to survive having an uncertain leader
Will Trump be a pragmatic leader, or someone who lurches from one hasty, uninformed decision made solely on gut instinct to another?
There’s nothing new in military personnel policy: Troop rotation undercut Crusaders
Soldiers need a sense of a shared future, both with their comrades and their leaders.
Trump Appointments Send an Ominous Signal
Inexperience, horrible judgment, and a bad man are an awful combination.
Could There Be a Peace of Trumphalia?
Why a very old-school foreign policy doctrine might actually work for the Trump administration.
The Two-Hundred-Year Era of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ Is Over
The political categories we've inherited are obsolete, but we don’t have anything to replace them with yet.
A word of warning about all these Trump transition stories you are seeing
Transitions can be bruising experiences internally. There is a big difference between what a presidential candidate promises and what a president-elect can offer.
Something not discussed much: The joys of French collaboration with the Germans
In 1943, more books were published in France than in either the United States or Britain.
Don’t bring your allies to the surface and then fail to protect them from their foes
We need to redefine victory: It is not just removing the enemy, it is achieving the objective.
My military history roundup
My survey of new military history books is in this Sunday’s New York Times Book Review.
War Dog: Comforting the wounded, 1944
There’s a lot of people feeling wounded this week.
Can President Trump Undo Obama’s Legacy?
A stunning upset that sent shockwaves around the world is sinking in. Is the world order forever changed?
It’s Time to Audit NATO
Dismissing a President Trump's reservations about the premier Western military alliance won't wash.
Trump and the Shibboleths
On losing, gloating, and the future of the GOP.
Inside General Flynn’s brain
retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn is now one of the most influential voices in U.S. national security.
The Soldiers of the Soul and the Musters of the Mind
We each hold musters of the mind and hidden roll calls of our soul.
The Plot Against America
The darkest fears (and silver lining) of a Trump presidency.
What Happened?
The unthinkable is now the reality, and the hard work for both those who supported Trump and for those who opposed him is now just beginning.
Two thoughts on Trump and defense
As of today, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and Newt Gingrich are probably the two most influential voices in national security.
Wait a minute, it wasn’t ‘Time’ magazine that invented the term ‘blitzkrieg’?
I’d been taught that “blitzkrieg” was a pseudo-German term invented by the Anglo-American press to describe the emerging Nazi way of war.
Why today’s Navy minesweepers remind me of the ancient Melian Dialogue
Submarines and aviation get what they need, mine warfare suffers what it must.
Trump: Boy was I wrong
Time for some sober reflection.
How to Survive a Trump Hangover
The United States has endured what is arguably one of the most polarizing elections in recent history. How will America recover once it’s over?
What Kind of President Will Hillary Clinton Be?
What to expect on day one from the new Clinton administration.
Once more unto the breach: Back into that hazy space between war and peace
The U.S. government fails to recognize the space between war and peace, and so allows our adversaries to operate almost at will in that space.
It seems that not everyone likes those tough-minded ‘Military History’ reviews
Remember last month I said how much I like the no-holds-barred reviews in The Journal of Military History? Well, it turns out that not everyone agrees — especially some of those getting reviewed.
Norwegian naval officer: Putin’s navy reflects his stupid short-term thinking
Everything I see about Putin tells me that he is a classic short-term thinker.
Voting: Overseas, absentee and home
“The right to vote is precious, nearly sacred, and we must use it.”
It’s Time for the Elites to Rise Up Against the Ignorant Masses
The Brexit has laid bare the political schism of our time. It’s not about the left vs. the right; it’s about the sane vs. the mindlessly angry.
Will America’s Good Name Survive the 2016 Election?
The campaign shenanigans might end on Nov. 8, but the damage done to America’s reputation could be insurmountable.
The Internet of Things Is a Cyberwar Nightmare
But we can still prevent our household appliances from becoming an army of malicious computer zombies out to destroy the web.
Vladimir Putin Won’t Be Sweating the Election Result on Tuesday
Moscow insiders say it doesn’t matter who wins on November 8. Putin has America right where he wants it.
Is rate of fire no longer a key metric in assessing military effectiveness?
Rate of fire doesn’t seem to be important in today’s militaries. The problem seems to me firing too much and running out of ammunition.
The Pentagon wants to hear from you
I guess the Pentagon liked the Best Defense essay contests so much that they are starting their own
This sea dog appears ready for the overboard drill, but not happy about it
Butch is thinking, “I better get a goddam good treat if I have to jump in that cold water.”
Trump Is Less Hawkish Than Hillary. Who Cares?
Clinton’s instincts might be overly aggressive. Trump’s are an incoherent catastrophe.
“Stability,” Mister Tom? Señor, I think you mean “equilibrium,” yes no?
The key question in U.S. counter-terrorism operations in places like Somalia or Pakistan is: Are these operations part of the equilibrium or disrupting it in a favorable or unfavorable way?
There actually is a case to be made for giving police training in military tactics
Even if officers are only introduced to militarized tactics a single time in their career, it can still in a moment of crisis frame their mindset.
A professional view of China’s navy
According to an intelligence officer, "China’s navy is akin to a teenager who has grown into an unfamiliar muscular physique and has the keys to a used aircraft carrier with a new paint job."
The soldier’s load: Some basic facts that should be in every NCO’s rucksack
The Best Defense Council of the Former Enlisted (and the entire NCO Corps) needs to get a better education on the soldier's load.
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