defense spending

Send the Nukes Back to South Korea

At the stroke of a pen, President Obama could reassure a key ally and put Pyongyang back in its box. Here’s how.

BY BENNETT RAMBERG | MAY 6, 2013

1 Pentagon Weapons System That Was on Time and Under Budget

Look on the bright side: It could have been 0.

BY JOHN REED | APRIL 29, 2013

Storming the Hill

Thomas P.M. Barnett lets the White House off the hook for the Pentagon's dysfunction.

MAY/JUNE 2013

Paper Tiger

Why isn't the rest of Asia afraid of China?

BY DAVID KANG | APRIL 25, 2013

Mrs. Ballarin's War

The improbable tale of a West Virginia heiress the Pentagon hired to take on Somalia's jihadists.

BY MARK MAZZETTI | APRIL 15, 2013

Round One Goes to the Budget Hawks

How the neocons lost the sequester battle -- but maybe not the war.

BY CHRISTOPHER PREBLE | MARCH 7, 2013

Gentle Giant

Why isn’t India spending more on its military?

BY DHRUVA JAISHANKAR | MARCH 6, 2013

Mad Libs: War Edition

FP asked more than 70 top military thinkers to fill in the blanks on the world's global conflicts -- from the drone wars to the budget wars.

MARCH 4, 2013

Think Again: The Pentagon

The military's Chicken Littles want you to think the sky is falling. Don't believe them: America has never been safer.

BY THOMAS P.M. BARNETT | MARCH 4, 2013

Obama's Grand Strategy

America's relative decline means that defense and social spending will have to compete head to head, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

MARCH 4, 2013

Refusal to Lead

In a dangerous and changing world, President Obama is just wishing away the problems America faces.

BY MARCO RUBIO | FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Is America Training Too Many Foreign Armies?

Events in Mali show why it’s time to take a fresh look at the Pentagon’s military assistance programs.

BY JOHN NORRIS | JANUARY 28, 2013

Currency War

Debating Robert Zoellick's vision for reintegrating economics into U.S. foreign policy. 

JANUARY 2, 2013

Fiscal Cliff: A Short History

How did the phrase become shorthand for Washington's embrace of budget brinkmanship?

BY URI FRIEDMAN | DECEMBER 18, 2012

Armageddon on a Budget

Don't worry, we can still nuke Russia even if we go over the fiscal cliff.

BY JEFFREY LEWIS | NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Pork Will Find a Way

How Congress can fund its pet projects -- even without earmarks.

BY LAURA PETERSON | NOVEMBER 26, 2012

The Opposite of Thinking

The key ingredient missing in our policymaking these days? Creativity.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | DECEMBER 2012

Rockets' Red Glare

No, Iron Dome does not prove that "Star Wars" was right.

BY YOUSAF BUTT | NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Fix Bayonets!

If the Pentagon cuts R&D, the U.S. military will take a huge step backward.

BY SHARON WEINBERGER | NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Air Wars

How defense is playing in the 2012 campaign.

BY GORDON LUBOLD, KEVIN BARON, JOHN REED | NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Strategic Misdirection

Are the latest U.S. moves on missile defense making it less safe?

BY TOM Z. COLLINA | OCTOBER 26, 2012

Tell Us the One About the Robots, Mr. President

Want to lead the free world? You'd better figure out what to do about the rise of the machines.

BY PETER W. SINGER | OCTOBER 24, 2012

The Joint Chiefs of Lobbyists

Pentagon honchos loudly claim that national debt is the greatest security threat to America. They're dead wrong -- they just want more money for the military.

BY MICHAEL A. COHEN | OCTOBER 3, 2012

Budgeteers to the Rescue

Can accountants save the Pentagon?

BY GORDON ADAMS | SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Off Course

Mullen and Gates get it wrong.

BY GORDON ADAMS | SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

The Boom Economy

Why 2012 is a great year to be in the arms business.

BY BATES GILL | SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Highway Robbery

Why do Mitt Romney and Barack Obama want to hand over so much of your money to men with guns?

BY ROSA BROOKS | AUGUST 22, 2012

What’s $2 Trillion Among Friends?

Romney criticizes Obama's defense plan, but the real problem is his own running mate.

BY LAWRENCE KORB, MAX HOFFMAN, ROBERT WARD | AUGUST 20, 2012

The Golden Gun

Want to win big at the Olympic Games? Buy a bunch of overpriced tanks and fighter jets.

BY JOHN NORRIS | AUGUST 13, 2012

Budget-Waving Contest

Romney's ridiculous fight about who's got the bigger military doesn't worry Obama. But should it?

BY MICHAEL A. COHEN | AUGUST 8, 2012