U.S. Defense

Soldiers wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at an event to mark the 62nd anniversary of the Second Taiwan Strait crisis in Kinmen, Taiwan, August 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan

Tell me how the US-China war ends

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Monday, January 17, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet for the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Pool

Europe

Russian threat requires flexible and creative solutions: Here are two suggestions

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Monday, January 17, 2022

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attend security talks at the United States Mission in Geneva, Switzerland January 10, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Order from Chaos

Around the halls: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the European security order

Pavel K. Baev, Jessica Brandt, Vanda Felbab-Brown, Samantha Gross, Daniel S. Hamilton, Marvin Kalb, Patricia M. Kim, Kemal Kirişci, Michael E. O’Hanlon, Steven Pifer, Melanie W. Sisson, Constanze Stelzenmüller, and Angela Stent

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a military exhibition before an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia December 21, 2021. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

Order from Chaos

Russia’s draft agreements with NATO and the United States: Intended for rejection?

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Reports

Belgium, Brussels, 2021/11/15. European Council President Charles Michel (right) welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before their bilateral meeting at the EU headquarters. Photograph by Dursun Aydemir / Pool / Hans Lucas.Belgique, Bruxelles, 2021/11/15. Le President du Conseil Europeen Charles Michel (droite) donne le bienvenu au Secretaire General de l OTAN Jens Stoltenberg avant leur reunion bilaterale au Conseil Europeen. Photographie de Dursun Aydemir / Pool / Hans Lucas.

Europe

Opportunities to deepen NATO-EU cooperation

Giovanna De Maio

December 2021

U.S. successfully conducts SM-3 Block IIA Intercept Test against an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Target The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS John Finn (DDG-113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System-equipped destroyer, intercepted and destroyed a threat-representative Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) target with a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile during a flight test demonstration in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii, Nov. 16 At approximately 7:50 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, (12:50 a.m., Nov. 17, Eastern Standard Time), the ICBM-representative target was launched from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, located on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, toward the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii. In this developmental test, the destroyer used engage-on-remote capabilities through the Command and Control Battle Management Communications (C2BMC) network as part of a defense of Hawaii scenario. After receiving tracking data from the C2BMC system, the destroyer launched a SM-3 Block IIA guided missile which destroyed the target.Where: Hawaii, United StatesWhen: 16 Nov 2020Credit: MDA/Cover-Images.com**VIDEOS AVAIL & MORE WORDS: INFO@COVERMG.COM**

Arms Control

Missile defense and the offense-defense relationship

Andrey Baklitskiy, James Cameron, and Steven Pifer

October 2021

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a presser held as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit.

Defense & Security

Finding the right role for NATO in addressing China and climate change

Agneska Bloch and James Goldgeier

October 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron take part in the final session of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall in Britain, June 13, 2021. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS

Europe

Trans-Atlantic Scorecard — October 2021

Thursday, October 21, 2021

A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, is joined by Republic of Korea air force F-15s, during a 10-hour mission from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, into Japanese airspace and over the Korean Peninsula, July 30, 2017. Photo taken July 30, 2017. Tech. Sgt. Kamaile Casillas/Pacific Air Forces/DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

Arms Control

No first use of nuclear weapons is still a bridge too far, but Biden can make progress toward that goal

October 2021

Blog Posts

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - DECEMBER 3, 2021: Russia's President Vladimir Putin is seen in his office in the Kremlin as he chairs a videoconference meeting of permanent members of the Russian Security Council. Mikhail Metzel/POOL/TASS.

Order from Chaos

What Biden should say to Putin on Ukraine

Monday, December 6, 2021

Display of books published by Brookings Foreign Policy in 2021.

Order from Chaos

20 Brookings Foreign Policy books for 2021

Ted Reinert and McCall Mintzer

Thursday, December 2, 2021

China's first domestically-built polar research vessel and icebreaker "Xuelong 2" prepares to take water at Jiangnan Shipyard in Chongming's Changxing Island in Shanghai, China, 10 September 2018.China's first wholly domestically conceived and built icebreaker Xuelong 2 took to the sea on Monday (10 September 2018) at Jiangnan Shipyard in Chongming's Changxing Island. Construction of the vessel began in December 20, 2016. Xuelong 2 will be put into service in the first half of 2019. It will team up with another icebreaker Xuelong on polar expeditions next year. The vessel is 122.5 meters in length and 22.3 meters wide, with a draught of 7.85 meters and displacement of 13,990 tons. It can reach 15 knots and it has a range of 20,000 nautical miles. Xuelong 2 can break 1.5-meter ice with a thick covering of snow at speeds of 2 to 3 knots. Its combines the requirements of a new-generation research vessel with environmental protection having an azimuthing electric propulsion system. Researchers can make observations of environmental elements like the ocean water, sea ice and polar air from the vessel and take samples from the marine environment in connection with climate change.No Use China. No Use France.

Order from Chaos

The Polar Silk Road will be cleared with Chinese icebreakers

Jeremy Greenwood

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

View All Blog Posts

Events

Is the NATO-EU divide an obstacle to a European foreign policy?

10:00 AM - 11:15 AM EST

Russia, China, and the future of strategic stability

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

The future of America’s defense industrial base

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

View All Events

Related Books

ToRuleTheWaves

To Rule the Waves: How Control of the World’s Oceans Shapes the Fate of the Superpowers

By Bruce Jones

2021

artofwar

The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint

By Michael E. O’Hanlon

2021

defense101

Defense 101: Understanding the Military of Today and Tomorrow

By Michael E. O’Hanlon

2021

Experts

Robert Einhorn

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative

John R. Allen

President, The Brookings Institution

Pavel K. Baev

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe

View All Experts

Multimedia

A member of Taliban forces keeps watch at a checkpost in Kabul, Afghanistan August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Podcast Episode

The Taliban takes Afghanistan

Vanda Felbab-Brown and Fred Dews

Friday, August 20, 2021

FILE PHOTO: A U.S. soldier of 2-12 Infantry 4BCT-4ID Task Force Mountain Warrior takes a break during a night mission near Honaker Miracle camp at the Pesh valley of Kunar Province, Afghanistan, August 12, 2009. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Afghanistan

Biden announces a military withdrawal from Afghanistan

Madiha Afzal, Bryce Klehm, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff

The Lawfare Podcasst

Friday, April 16, 2021

Photo: Aerial of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington DC, with I-395 freeway on the left, and the Air Force Memorial up middle.

Podcast Episode

What’s the significance of Biden’s first military strikes in Syria?

Michael E. O’Hanlon and Adrianna Pita

Friday, February 26, 2021

View All Multimedia

More on U.S. Defense

Officials, including Afghan former President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban's deputy leader and negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, attend the Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

It’s time for the West to engage with the Taliban

Michael E. O’Hanlon, Rory Stewart, and Obaid Younossi

Thursday, December 16, 2021

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pose for a photo prior to a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 13, 2021. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS

Russia-Ukraine conflict: America needs a better idea than NATO expansion to keep the peace

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the G20 summit in Rome, Italy October 29, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

AUKUS: A cautionary tale for French-American relations

War on the Rocks Monday, December 13, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the G20 summit in Rome, Italy, October 29, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

AUKUS: A cautionary tale for French-American relations

Monday, December 13, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds talks with U.S. President Joe Biden via a video link in Sochi, Russia December 7, 2021. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Putin is taking a huge gamble

Friday, December 10, 2021

Military helicopters carrying tremendous Taiwan flags conduct a flyby rehearsal ahead of National Day celebration, near Taipei 101 , amid escalating tensions between Taipei and Beijing, China, in Taipei, Taiwan 7 October 2021. Taiwan has been constantly building fosters with the US, Japan, Australia, UK, and some other European countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, France and Germany, with China increasing military pressure on Taiwan. (Photo by Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

Here’s the strategy to prevent China from taking Taiwan

Michael E. O’Hanlon and David Ochmanek

Wednesday, December 8, 2021