Military
803 Articles
Two Notable Omissions in the Mattis National Defense Strategy
The Pentagon has a new National Defense Strategy (NDS), its first in 10 years, and, on Friday, released an 11-page summary of it. Signed by Defense Secretary James Mattis, the…
Words Matter in War
Command Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxell, the senior enlisted adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared this attention-grabbing message with his more than…
How to Fix the US Military’s Broken Targeting System
The recent groundbreaking investigation by the New York Times into civilian casualties in Iraq uncovered a shocking truth for the many Americans who believe the United States is…
Thoughts on Erik Prince’s Proposal to Privatize Intelligence Gathering
This week we learned, via the Intercept, of Erik Prince’s proposal to provide the Trump Administration with a private intelligence outfit. According to the Intercept, “The…
When Erik Prince Called US Intelligence Assessment of Russian Election Hack “too cute and very, very thin”
Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, testifies on Thursday afternoon before the House Intelligence Committee in the Russia investigation. The committee will later release a…
Giving Thanks While Safeguarding Our Country’s Most Important National Security Assets
What are our country’s most important national security assets? While new weapons and hardware (drones, the latest fighter jet or technological wonder) receive a significant…
Congress Steps Up Accountability for Drones Strikes and Other Military Operations
On the same day that The New York Times Magazine published a disturbing account of the monumental gap between the number of acknowledged civilian casualties and the number of casualties…
The Lethal Autonomous Weapons Governmental Meeting (Part I: Coping with Rapid Technological Change)
This week nations meet at the United Nations to discuss lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), including robotic weapons that might hunt for targets on their own. It has been…
Episode 45 of the National Security Law Podcast: An Inter-Jurisdictional Cluster-You-Know-What?
Has it only been a week? Yeesh. Well, we are back! In this episode, Bobby Chesney and I focus on three topics: The Mueller investigation and the prospect that Mike Flynn…
Congressional Oversight and the Niger Attack
President Donald Trump’s handling of military condolences has dominated the coverage of the Oct. 4 deaths of four U.S. Special Operations forces soldiers in Niger. However, there…
Widening the Gap: John Kelly and the Civil-Military Divide
When White House Chief of Staff and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly participated in a press conference on Thursday, he delivered an emotional, moving, and ultimately divisive message.…
Military Planning for the Climate Century
Climate change has been described as the world’s greatest environmental threat. But it is also increasingly understood as a national security threat, that serves as both a “threat…