Archive for August, 2011

Nonstate violence is the new norm

In “The Invention of Peace,” British historian Michael Howard notes that it was the rise of the modern state, with powerful kings, that first brought the …

TO DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES for his latest defense reforms, an adept attempt to get ahead of the debt-crisis curve. In his plan to cut $78 billion over the next five years, …

Planning, prioritization and testing are the hacker’s worst enemies

Each day’s headlines bring news of cyber attacks that have become more sophisticated, more creative and more targeted than ever before. Today’s cyber …

The latest blizzard of memos released by former SecDef is pure Rummy

All snowflakes look alike, but no two are identical. That’s especially true when the snow machine is former Defense Secretary …

Global demand for amphibious forces outstrips resources

When a crisis erupts the first question U.S. leaders often ask is, “Where are the aircraft carriers?” This historical axiom, however, has expanded over time …

To President Obama for reversing the long-standing policy of not sending condolence letters to families of troops who commit suicide while deployed to the Iraq or Afghanistan war zones.

Defense Secretary Leon …

Integrating unmanned aircraft into civil airspace must address safety

The huge increase in unmanned aircraft use — most apparent in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — makes it easy to assume that …

Libya has highlighted the diminishing power of the Atlantic alliance

The continued viability of the NATO alliance, the bedrock of U.S. and European defense policy since 1949, is in jeopardy. I suppose …

To the Space Shuttle. When Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, a 30-year chapter of American human spaceflight was brought to a close. Given the cost of …

Retired Col. Bob Killebrew’s insightful article on the changing nature of national security threats [“A Darwinian world,” May AFJ] seemed to mirror the mission set faced by Army North (Fifth Army) every …