Latest columns

Risking All in the Defense of Liberty

by Jeanine Hayden

Thinking about the Fourth of July, Independence Day, always takes me back to my school days when I studied the Revolutionary war and learned about the kind of men and women that it took to win our...

Maybe It is About Guns (At Least Partly)

by General Michael Hayden

After Orlando (and now Istanbul on top of San Bernardino and Paris and Brussels), will we ever feel safe again?  Why can’t our governments protect us from these senseless atrocities?  These...

The North Korea Threat

by Joe Detrani

North Korea is threatening the Global Community with its reckless nuclear and missile behavior.   They have consistently disregarded U.N. Security Council Resolutions and have made clear,...

Beyond Illegal Orders: Concern About a Misuse of Executive Power

by Rhea Siers

During this unusual political season, I hear a recurring question from former, present, and aspiring intelligence officers.  It’s a question that I have rarely heard before, no matter the...

Financing Nuclear Modernization: Tough Decisions for the Next President

by Walter Pincus

The next president, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, will have to make hard decisions about whether to go ahead with the current, enormously costly, U.S. nuclear weapons modernization plan, though...

At the Gates of Fallujah

by Ambassador Ryan Crocker

An assortment of Iraqi forces will drive Islamic State from Fallujah. Then the real trouble will start. In addition to army and police, a number of extremist Shia militias are on the scene. They are...

Implications for the U.S. of the Brexit Vote

by Ambassador James F. Jeffrey

President Barack Obama attracted much attention, positive and negative, for his comments during his April trip to the UK, advocating for Britain to remain in the EU.  The invitation to come to...

The Walls We Build

by Admiral James Stavridis

As the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, my operational headquarters was in central Belgium, not far from the World War One battlefield at Verdun.  During my time in command, I would...

The Affordability Challenge of Nuclear Modernization

by Walter Pincus

The White House and some Republicans in Congress are taking a second look at the need for, and the $1 trillion cost of, the planned, decades-long program to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons...

Worse Before It Gets Better: The Threat From ISIS

by Michael Morell

Last Thursday, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the current capabilities of the Islamic State saying,...