The Trump administration has watered down U.S. global leadership to coercive deal-making. The dangerous contours of a world in crisis are now coming into stark relief.

TEL AVIV: Even as Mideast tensions escalate, with new Israeli strikes on Syria over the weekend and Iran exceeding international limits on enriched uranium, no less a figure than the director of Mossad sees a historic opportunity for peace. Why? Because Iran’s escalating aggression — especially attacks on its neighbors’ economic lifeline, oil exports —… Keep reading →

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wants to establish a 20-country coalition to protect commercial shipping in the Middle East. But the US already leads a 33-country coalition doing just that.

A key Trump ally, Sen. Lindsay Graham, bucks the White House on its proposed $8 billion arms sale.

“The training we have given them we know has paid off,” Mattis said of the Saudis. “We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and declined to drop even when they get the authority. We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there’s hospitals or schools.”

While Washington struggles to update its arms export policies, China is spreading its influence, one drone sale at a time.

CORRECTION: Multi-year contract three aircraft number restated WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) isn’t just wooing foreign customers for the V-22 Osprey. Deputy Program Manager Scott Hite revealed here Thursday that NAVAIR has also been talking to Air National Guard units about the tiltrotor transport as a search and rescue… Keep reading →

President Obama was recently depicted on the cover of The Economist as the new George W. Bush, forced to head back to Iraq. One can correctly argue that the President and his national security team have spent more time distancing themselves from Bush’s administration than looking hard into the future and shaping the strategic space within which… Keep reading →

PENTAGON; The outlines of the campaign against ISIL are beginning to come into focus. The bombings and missile attacks against ISIL in Iraq are largely tactical, designed to provide the Iraqi military with some breathing room until they and the Kurdish peshmerga can mount effective counterattacks to drive ISIL out of their territory. But the bombings and missile strikes in… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The allied air strikes against ISIL that brought together the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan “are a watershed moment” in the fight to solve terrorism, “the major security issue of our time,” one of the most rational defense lawmakers in Congress said today. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the strikes offered… Keep reading →