Military

A Player, but No Superpower

Why China's military is a threat to its neighbors, but shouldn't concern the United States on its home turf.

BY ANDREW S. ERICKSON, ADAM P. LIFF | MARCH 7, 2013

A Very Special Envoy

Why Obama should make Dennis Rodman his man in Pyongyang. Seriously.

BY JOEL WIT, JENNY TOWN | MARCH 7, 2013

Tehran Tanking

Iran's popularity in the Arab world is way down, but sectarianism is on the rise.

BY MARC LYNCH | MARCH 7, 2013

A First Draft of the Third War

Why President Obama should commission a history of targeted killing.

BY MICAH ZENKO | MARCH 6, 2013

Why Being So Right Feels So Bad

Why did it take the State Department 10 years and billions of dollars to figure out that Iraq reconstruction was a massive failure?

BY PETER VAN BUREN | MARCH 6, 2013

Gentle Giant

Why isn’t India spending more on its military?

BY DHRUVA JAISHANKAR | MARCH 6, 2013

Speak Softly and Let Others Carry the Big Stick

The problem with the 'light footprint' approach to U.S. military policy.

BY JONATHAN MORGENSTEIN | MARCH 6, 2013

What Have We Learned About Xi Jinping?

China’s new leader has consolidated his power. So what is he going to do with it?

BY KERRY BROWN | MARCH 5, 2013

Caveat Preemptor

How Obama has adopted the Bush doctrine.

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | MARCH 5, 2013

The Inside Story of How the White House Let Diplomacy Fail in Afghanistan

"My time in the Obama administration turned out to be a deeply disillusioning experience."

BY VALI NASR | MARCH 4, 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

The FP Survey: The Future of War

FP polls the world's top military thinkers on everything from cyberwar to shrinking budgets.

PRODUCED BY ELIAS GROLL, MARGARET SLATTERY | MARCH 4, 2013

Lessons Learned (and Not)

Seven things we've learned after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | MARCH 4, 2013

The Evolution of Uncle Sam

How U.S. military recruitment posters have changed over the past 150 years.

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

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Democracy is in retreat. And there's a surprising culprit.

BY JOSHUA KURLANTZICK | MARCH 4, 2013

What Happened in Luvungi?

On rape and truth in Congo.

BY LAURA HEATON | 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

Give Us the Weapons We Need to Beat Assad

The chief of staff of the opposition Syrian Military Joint Command calls on the United States to provide arms, not just non-lethal aid.

BY SALIM IDRIS | MARCH 1, 2013

Let Them Eat Subsidies

The Obama administration could revolutionize aid and save billions -- if only Congress would stand up to the farm lobby.

BY JOHN NORRIS | MARCH 1, 2013

It’s Not an Intifada

Palestinians aren't ready to rise up -- yet.

BY JONATHAN SCHANZER | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

26 Days Later

On March 27, the sequester will rise from the dead.

BY GORDON ADAMS | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Ending the Syrian War

It’s time for the United States to do what is necessary to bring down Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

BY SEN. ROBERT P. CASEY, JR. | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Vote M for Murder

In Kenya, politics is simply the continuation of war, by other means.

BY JAMES VERINI | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Most. Dangerous. World. Ever.

The ridiculous hyperbole about government budget cuts.

BY MICAH ZENKO | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

How Not to Withdraw from Afghanistan

Lessons from America's other war.

BY JIM MCDERMOTT, LAWRENCE WILKERSON | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Real Genius

Does the Pentagon need a creative director?

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | FEBRUARY 25, 2013

The First Rule of Drone Club

The bad lessons Turkey learned from Obama's war from above.

BY AARON STEIN | FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Hagel's Revenge

How Obama's new Pentagon chief can get back at his Republican enemies.

BY LAWRENCE J. KORB, LAUREN LINDE | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

The Signal and the Noise

Why subtlety and national security don't mix.

BY MICAH ZENKO | FEBRUARY 20, 2013