Articles & Multimedia
Showing 1-20 of 50 Publications
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Schedule F: An Unwelcome Resurgence
Commentary
The U.S. government is able to take on high-risk, high-cost ventures—nuclear security, pandemic response, environmental clean-up, food safety, and more—because civil servants ...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Make Good Choices! National Security Transitions and the Policy and Process Decisions
Commentary
Who leads, how agencies implement policy, and the role of the National Security Council process draw less attention than strategy and policies, but they shape the impact of a ...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Alex Tippett
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Congress Can Do Far More to Oversee America’s Foreign Wars
Congressional attention to the use of force should today be at a premium....
By Richard Fontaine & Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Congress must use its tools to influence the decisions of war
Commentary
With its informal toolkit, Congress can question existing military and political strategies and test assessments about how the fight is going....
By Richard Fontaine & Loren DeJonge Schulman
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The Iranian Missile Strike Did Far More Damage Than Trump Admits
Commentary
Over 100 American soldiers have been treated for traumatic brain injuries following Iran’s missile strike on Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq. The strike came in retaliation f...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Paul Scharre
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Why did the Pentagon ever give Trump the option of killing Soleimani?
Commentary
Sending the U.S. military to use force is among the most consequential decisions presidents can make. Matters may get out of control even with the most careful and deliberate ...
By Alice Hunt Friend, Mara Karlin & Loren DeJonge Schulman
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The Many Questions Trump’s Pardons Raise About Civil-Military Relations
Commentary
When President Donald Trump granted pardons to two Army officers—one convicted of war crimes, the other accused of them—and reversed the demotion of a Navy SEAL who was convic...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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The military needs immigrants. The Trump administration wants to keep them out.
Commentary
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is now the latest in a line of immigrants challenged about whether it’s truly possible for them to serve the United States as patriots. Vindman, a r...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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National Security Is Made of People
Commentary
For several years, members of Congress and senior defense officials have worried, dramatically and out loud, about the state of military readiness, devoting bipartisan harangu...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Two Cheers for Esper’s Plan to Reassert Civilian Control of the Pentagon
Commentary
The longest-ever gap in civilian leadership atop the Department of Defense came to an end on July 23, when Mark Esper was sworn in as secretary of defense. His presence in the...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman, Alice Hunt Friend & Mara Karlin
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Acting or Not, the Play’s The Thing
Commentary
The musical chairs of “acting” officials at the Defense Department has taken on a dizzying pace. Army Secretary Mark Esper became the acting defense secretary after Patrick Sh...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Democrats Face a Defense Spending Conundrum
Commentary
On Wednesday and Thursday, 20 of the two dozen contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination will converge on stage in Miami to make their case to the American people....
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Managing the National Security Workforce Crisis
Commentary
The federal national security workforce is entering a perfect storm shaped by workforce demographic trends, short-sighted leadership, slow adaptation to modern challenges, and...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Military and Public Service Policy Forum
Commentary
The National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) held a hearing on potential policies to encourage or require military, national, and public service ...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman, Elsa B. Kania & Dr. Jason Dempsey
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To Remind You of My Love: Reforming the Impulsive Affection of U.S. Efforts to Build Partner Militaries
Commentary
The movie Downfall, about the final days of Adolf Hitler, contains a scene that has been turned into countless memes with various subtitles. In the original, Hitler learns tha...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Post-CHAOS Homework on Civil-Military Relations
Commentary
From the moment his nomination was hinted, Secretary of Defense James Mattis presented a rich canvas for the civil-military relations wonks and amateurs to ply their trade. Th...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Progressives Should Embrace the Politics of Defense
In his essay on what a progressive national security agenda should look like, Van Jackson proposes to stretch the common progressive position of anti-militarism to a more real...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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The Messy Reality Inside the Pentagon, Captured in Fiction
Commentary
“Thank you for your service” is one of the most frequently uttered phrases to those toiling in Americans’ most trusted, but least understood, institution: the United States mi...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman
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Trump’s Secret War on Terror
President Donald Trump has dramatically expanded the War on Terror. But you—and perhaps he—would never know it. Since he came into office, Trump has reportedly abandoned Obama...
By Loren DeJonge Schulman & Daniel Rosenthal
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Pentagon Gender Gap Persists in Trump Era Even as Women Rise in Industry
Commentary
When Kathy Warden takes over as CEO of Northrop Grumman in January, women will run three of the primes, as the largest American defense firms are known. Warden joins Marillyn ...
By Michèle Flournoy & Loren DeJonge Schulman
