During World War II 1,154,486 black Americans served in uniform. Not only did they face continued brutal racism and discrimination when they returned home

Editor's note: The three authors recorded a companion podcast for this article for the Russia Contingency, the War on the Rocks members-only show that

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

In December 2019, Alexandra Hall Hall resigned from her post as Brexit counselor at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. In this article, she writes about how she came to that decision and situates...

Among the vineyards seeded with improvised explosive devices in Zhari, Kandahar, there was no possibility of maneuver. By 2012, the Taliban had place so

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

America’s strategic leaders are quick to use the phrase “allies and partners” in today’s dynamic global security environment. They describe it as a unique

Editor’s note: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to Russia’s war against Ukraine.   “We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine,” U.S.

Finland doesn’t often make it into international headlines. When it does, it is usually because of the country’s world-renowned education system or for

Editor’s note: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to Russia’s war against Ukraine.    Vladimir Putin is a bad strategist. He does not understand the

Editor's Note: On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, effectively desegregating the U.S. military. The move was a key event

Last month, a Taiwanese air force pilot radioed a Chinese military aircraft that it was breaching the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait between

The Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is proud to announce, in conjunction with the Center for Strategic and

With protests across the nation rallying against institutionalized racism, it is well past time for the Army to follow the Marine Corps and Navy in

Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared in The Interpreter, which is published by the Lowy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan

Editor’s note: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to Russia’s war against Ukraine.   Conventional wisdom can change quickly. Whereas many

I had a feeling the whistleblower making headlines might be a CIA analyst because I recognized the writing style used in the complaint. The director of

Four months ago, as America’s monument to Dwight D. Eisenhower readied to open officially just off the national mall in Washington, the celebration was

In a Feb. 26 Twitter post, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister for digital transformation, asked the SpaceX chief executive, Elon

With Moscow’s announcement that the core aim of its invasion of Ukraine is now just to secure the Donbass, the conflict has entered a new phase. Michael

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

Editor’s note: Don’t miss our comprehensive guide to Russia’s war against Ukraine.   The United States is edging closer to what may be the most

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts have argued that Taiwan could benefit from a similar asymmetric defense strategy to deter or defeat

What was the reason that induced Georgia to take the step of secession? This reason may be summed up in one single proposition. It was a conviction, a

Mark Mazower, The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe (Penguin Press, 2021) Imagine a poor nation on the edge of Europe. Its people,

While the United States and Europe have taken significant action to assist Ukraine and pressure Russia, there is increasing pressure to “do more.” With

We are in an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment. Many of the factors that shape civil-military relations have undergone extreme strain

Whispers of a global race war echo from the darkest corners of the internet. These cyphered messages are for members and supporters of a supremacist

As COVID-19 began to roll across China, leaving thousands dead and catapulting a pathogen on a lethal global trajectory, President Donald Trump had

Editor’s Note: In honor of Christmas, we proudly publish the text of Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's 1944 Christmas letter to the U.S. 101st Airborne

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

President Donald Trump withdrawing the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan has set off a cascade of former professionals from the

On Dec. 21, 2018, President Donald Trump surprised his own closest advisors by deciding to pull troops out of Syria and to reduce the 14,000 American

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

Today, Ukraine is the site of a violent struggle between an embattled democracy and a repressive, irredentist, authoritarian regime bent on subduing it.

In war, nothing is inevitable and not much is predictable. But the war in Ukraine has a direction that observers can see and that we should name. What

When Capt. Brett Crozier’s memo detailing the spread of COVID-19 on the USS Roosevelt leaked to the press on March 31, it painted a picture starkly at

“The ruling idea of the Germans in the conduct of this war was speed. Faced by the undisputed evidence of Germany’s new tactics, we ignored, or wholly

In February, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a military-wide “stand down” after civilian and military leaders alike raised concerns about the

Editor's Note: On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, effectively desegregating the U.S. military. The move was a key event

Editor’s Note: This is a heavily revised and updated version of an article written by the authors for these pages in 2016. Don’t miss

Editor’s Note: This is a heavily revised and updated version of an article written by the authors for these pages in 2016. Don’t miss

President Joe Biden failed America’s allies — and my family — in 1975. He should not repeat his mistake in 2021. My mother was a Vietnamese national who

When Shinzo Abe was slain weeks ago by an assailant wielding a homemade firearm, it sent shockwaves rippling around Japan and beyond, prompting a

When NATO members agree on a new Strategic Concept at their summit in Madrid, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will dominate the discussion. But with this

The most important development for Taiwan’s security might be unfolding right now in Japan. Tokyo’s strategy toward Taiwan is dramatically shifting. Once

Alarms regarding the number of casualties and the depth of destruction to Gaza’s physical infrastructure continue to ring loudly in the throes of the

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine set off a flurry of handwringing over Taiwan. Russia, in this interpretation, “broke the ice” by attacking Ukraine,

America is facing more challenges at home than just a pandemic. Political polarization, racism, and deep-seated inequality all roil U.S. society and

Melvyn Leffler, Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq (Oxford University Press, 2023) Historians have always faced the

Editor’s Note: This is adapted from remarks by the author at the recent Carnegie International Policy Scholars conference in Minnowbrook, New York. So

While the Russian military is on the back foot in Ukraine, its shifting operations reveal severe shortcoming in Ukraine’s arsenal and capabilities — one

“By nightfall, you’ll have driven 30,000 to 50,000 Baathists underground. And in six months, you’ll really regret this.” Such a warning from a local CIA

This is a free edition of our members-only newsletter, In Brief, where each week we ask three experts to weigh in on a key issue or event. To receive more

In a recent piece warning about an emerging arms race in hypersonic missiles, The New York Times quoted Will Roper, the Air Force’s senior acquisition and

On the first night of our platoon’s scheduled four-day weekends, we would huddle in clumps around our muggy, maroon-carpeted barracks to drink and talk

“We are where NATO should be,” says Rima Žiūraitienė, Managing Director of Blue/Yellow Ukraine. Her non-governmental organization communicates directly

John McCain’s visit to Saigon in the fall of 1974 was not exactly big news. At the time, the big story for reporters in Vietnam was a massive movement

During the past two weeks, Serbia’s president has hailed Chinese President Xi Jinping as his “brother” and kissed the Chinese flag, while leaders across

Our friend Michael Kofman popped in for another conversation with Ryan about where things stand in the Russo-Ukrainian War. He gives a wide-ranging

With military circles abuzz that Ukraine might be preparing to launch a counter-offensive against Russian-held Kherson, Michael Kofman of CNA's Russia

In May 2019, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Finland to deliver remarks to the Arctic Council, using the occasion to do some

Army intelligence lags behind most of the intelligence community in one key respect. In 2007, the intelligence community established analytic tradecraft

Joseph Conrad had a long career as a merchant mariner before he ever ventured to write fiction. Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857 to Polish

Looking at a satellite image of Ukraine online, I realized it was from Capella Space — one of our Hacking for Defense student teams who now have seven

The Ukraine conflict has blown open the door on how open-source information — broadly defined as publicly and commercially available data — can be a

In the summer of 2002 as an Air Force major, I was sent to Washington to work as deputy director of U.S. Southern Command’s office in the capital. U.S.

Editor's note: Don't miss our comprehensive guide to Russia's war against Ukraine.  People all over the world are watching Russia's assault on Ukraine

America’s ground forces are not accustomed to looking at the sky. That’s because the last time the United States sustained a reported casualty from an

Retired Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks and Gen. Sembé Bobo don’t have a lot in common. Hicks led U.S. Special Operations Command, Africa, from 2017 to 2019. Bobo,

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Doyle Hodges, executive editor of the Texas National Security Review, sits down with Sam Jackson, assistant

Whispers of a global race war echo from the darkest corners of the internet. These cyphered messages are for members and supporters of a supremacist

The war in Ukraine demonstrated something that many already knew: Long-range strike weapons are of great utility for fighting wars. The ability to engage

The Army is busy determining how it can graduate from the industrial age to the information age. But it is worth asking whether, in every instance, the

A week after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the joint chiefs of staff issued a memorandum to the joint force condemning the assault on Congress and the

The sudden fall of Afghanistan marks the very first time that the U.S. military has clearly lost a war fought solely by volunteers. This defeat will have

“I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of

Early in the morning of July 7, 2021, a heavily armed group entered the home of Haitian President Jovenel Moise and killed him in his bedroom. The

War On The Rocks Platinum An All-Access Pass to War on the Rocks Newsletter Sign Up Keep up to date The latest articles and podcasts from War on the

In 1924, the Army Industrial College opened its doors for the first time. In the wake of the difficulties in mobilizing the American economy and

The evening sick call aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt unfolded on the night of March 23, 2020 in much the same way that it had for the past two weeks since

It is a story so well known it has become a meme. “Americans: Willing to cross a frozen river to kill you in your sleep on Christmas.” George Washington’s

Amb. Clint Williamson, Lead Coordinator of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) for Ukraine, spoke about the Russian military's war crimes in Ukraine

Watching Russia falter in Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping may conclude that if he decides to invade Taiwan, he cannot hope to achieve victory with