U.S. Defense

The Air Force in 2020: A strategy to modernize

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California at 11:01 p.m. On February 25, 2016. The unarmed Minuteman III missile blasted off from a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late on Thursday, headed toward a target area near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific. REUTERS/Kyla Gifford/U.S. Air Force Photo/Handout via Reuters FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Don’t let New START die

Thursday, February 6, 2020

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 2:10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, U.S., August 2, 2017. Picture taken August 2, 2017. To Match Special Report USA-NUCLEAR/ICBM U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Ian Dudley/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

Trump’s bid to go big on nuclear arms looks like a fizzle

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Iraqi people gather during a funeral procession for militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed by U.S. air strike at Baghdad airport, in Basra, Iraq, January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani

Stuck in the middle: Iraq and the enduring conflict between United States and Iran

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber aircraft fly with a Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) F-2 fighter jet over the East China Sea July 7, 2017. Picture taken July 7, 2017. Japan Air Self-Defense Force/USAF/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGES WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

Rising to the China challenge

Rush Doshi, Ely Ratner, Daniel Kliman, The Honorable Chris Doherty, Richard Fontaine, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Paul Scharre, Loren Dejonge Schulman, Susanna V. Blume, Peter Harrell, Martijn Rasser, Eric Sayers, Daleep Singh, Neil Bhatiya, Ashley Feng, Joshua Fitt, Megan Lamberth, Kristine Lee, and Ainikki Riikonen

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Members of South Korea and U.S. Special forces take part in a joint military exercise conducted by South Korean and U.S. special forces troops at Gunsan Air Force base in Gunsan, South Korea, November 12, 2019. Photo taken November 12, 2019. Capt. David J. Murphy/U.S. Air Force/DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

Don’t gut the US-South Korea alliance

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Thursday, January 23, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to attendees with a sheet of bullet proof glass and the Washington Monument in the background as he hosts a 4th of July "2020 Salute to America" to celebrate the U.S. Independence Day holiday at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 4, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

To Prove Trump’s Bad Faith, Don’t Argue Policy. Show He Subverted the Process.

Scott R. Anderson

Defense One Thursday, January 23, 2020

An Iranian flag flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger - RC13159EFD90

Averting a new Iranian nuclear crisis

Friday, January 17, 2020

A US Air Force missile maintenance team removes the upper section of an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead in an undated USAF photo at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. Reviews of the U.S. nuclear arsenal show significant changes are needed to ensure the security and effectiveness of the force, a Defense Department report said November 14, 2014. REUTERS/USAF/Airman John Parie/handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Deterrence, modernization, and alliance cohesion: The case for extending New START with Russia

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during the cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, January 15, 2020. Official President website/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Is deterrence restored with Iran?

Daniel L. Byman

Thursday, January 16, 2020