This year’s defense budget is coming into focus, and the picture isn’t pretty. Congress and the president will probably agree to increase defense spending by a small amount, but they will probably also take money away from future defense budgets. This will allow them to say that they have increased defense spending while in reality the wholesale unraveling of American…

There’s a reason rogue regimes such as North Korea try so hard to acquire nuclear capability. It empowers their conventional aggression by protecting them from reprisals that threaten to remove them from power. That’s because the civilized world knows that, if pushed too far, the regimes can use nuclear weapons against undefended targets. Even if the threat to launch is a…

The last few months have made crystal clear what was increasingly evident anyway: that every category of primary risk to American security is growing. In January, a Chinese vessel locked a radar fix on a Japanese ship. That’s equivalent to a sniper fixing a laser sight on the forehead of a prospective target. It was a deliberately provocative act, and it comes on the…

The United States typically maintains two carrier groups in the Persian Gulf at the same time. That number was not picked out of a hat; it turns out that, among other important missions, it is much easier to protect the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane, with one carrier group inside the Strait and another positioned in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, or nearby…

Most of the debate over the Hagel nomination has focused on his views regarding Israel, and understandably so. The United States has a long history of strong support for the Jewish state. That policy has expressed itself in material aid to Israel, close partnership with the Israelis on defense and intelligence, public support for Israel’s basic strategy in dealing with…

It’s time for a status report on the state of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers. 1) Q. What is the fiscal cliff? A. Under existing law, $494 billion in tax increases are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013. There are three main categories of tax increase that are coming. About a third of the…

The storms of war have broken in Afghanistan and are gathering in the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, eastern Europe, and even in south and central America. Not since the end of World War II has America more urgently needed honest and clear thinking about its enduring national interests and a bipartisan commitment to building up the capabilities—civilian and…

When it was announced that Hitler had died, my grandmother commented: “The Devil has a companion.” Thanks to our heroic American special operations forces, the Devil has yet another companion. Many people are commenting that this event, while satisfying, portends no major change in what President Obama refuses to call the War on Terror. But it could portend such a…

On March 21, the United States entered its third “unexpected” war in less than a decade. President Obama announced that, while the U.S. would initially take the lead role in the Libyan operation, we would quickly turn over operations to other powers. Still, the White House acknowledged that the operation could not have gotten off the ground without American military…

As this article is written, the Republican House and the Democratic Senate are wrangling over the budget; there is a chance that the government will close down; and the president is scheduled to leave town and make a speech about energy policy in Indianapolis. Confrontations over the budget are not a new thing in Washington. They have happened before, the most recent…

The United States is in another war for the purpose of changing another regime. Those who deny this are kidding themselves. President Obama has repeatedly said that Qaddafi has to go. In addition, military force was used against him only when it appeared the rebellion might be defeated without it; the war is part of an international campaign to force Qaddafi out; and the…

The WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic cables was despicable. But it did, at least, demonstrate that even Muslim leaders believe Iran is an aggressive and ongoing sponsor of terrorism, must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons capability and cannot be trusted. Those who have been skeptical of similar Western claims should heed the warnings of Arab leaders…

No one questions the contributions to national security of Defense Secretary Robert Gates or his skill at getting his way within the Department of Defense and with Congress. Gates is intelligent, strong-willed, and well-schooled in the ways of Washington. Early in his tenure, he put those talents to good use in implementing the “surge” and reestablishing confidence in our…