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North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visiting the Chemical Material Institute. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) By Paul McLeary with Adam Rawnsley Biothreats. One of the known unknowns when it comes to North Korea is the size and nature of its chemical a bio weapons program. The Washington Post’s Joby Warrick unties the knots and finds that things might be […]Read More

Vladimir Putin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller examine a map of the Nord Stream gas project outside Vyborg, Russia on Sept. 6, 2011. (Alexey Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images) The Donald Trump administration has taken a soft line on Russia in many areas of contention, except when it comes to Moscow’s use of energy exports as a geopolitical […]

An atomic bomb blast in Nevada in 1951. (Wikimedia Commons) “Every policy document on cyberspace begins with the notion that it is interconnected — and yet we declare it a military domain, rather than a domain in which the military must operate simultaneously with allies, adversaries, the business sector, and individuals. Interconnectedness means that national […]

By Sebastian BaeBest Defense directorate of military memories In 2009, my infantry platoon was one of the few units left in forward operating bases (FOBs) across Iraq — largely forgotten by higher command and insurgents alike. Days often proved indistinguishable, a kaleidoscope of patrols and standing post in a small machine gun nest. The joke […]

It’s a warm day in Kandahar as we wait in the parking lot of the airport on the whim of the Afghan army. We are supposed to spend three days at the Kandahar air base, in one of the most violent provinces in Afghanistan, documenting the plight of injured Afghan soldiers. In the long struggle […]

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is seen in front of buildings in the Old City on Dec. 10, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Formal U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has not spawned the intense violence from the Arab and Muslim street that was commonly predicted. But the question remains whether, as President Donald Trump’s […]Read More

Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz makes a phone call during a party congress on December 9, 2017 in Berlin. (John MacDougall/AFP) It is not easy being a European social democrat these days. Just ask Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Schulz’s party, which governed together […]

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a forum on U.S.-South Korea relations at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 12. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson swung the door wide open to negotiations with North Korea, saying on Tuesday he is open to talks without preconditions as soon as […]Read More

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi speaks with Vladimir Putin in Cairo on December 11. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AFP/Getty Images) By Paul McLeary with Adam Rawnsley Putin to Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Russia’s Hmeymim air base in Syria on Monday, where he met with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and again declared victory […]

Edward III counting the dead after the battle of Crécy. (Wikimedia Commons) By Lt. Col. Dan Sukman, U.S. ArmyBest Defense office of military ethics There are multiple ways to describe retired Lt. Cols. David Bolgiano and John Taylor’s article in the December issue of Proceedings magazine. Rather than call a spade a spade in an ad hominem-type […]Read More

The U.S. capitol building on Sep. 27, 2013. (Getty Images) In October, President Donald Trump took an important step toward countering Iran’s ever-expanding list of illicit activities by refusing to certify to Congress that the flawed nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration remained in America’s national security interest. Now he needs to stop Congress […]Read More

A US Air Force (USAF) F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter aircraft flies over Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada (NV), during the joint service experimentation process dubbed Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02). (Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II via Wikimedia Commons). Harold Brown doesn’t get talked about much nowadays, but he did two crucial things in his tenure […]