National Security

The National Interest IN THE first century BC, the Roman historian Sallust wrote that the republic had descended into internal strife because of the destruction of its enemy, Carthage, in the Third Punic War. Fear of the enemy, or...

National security decisions have increasingly become centralized within the White House in what is called “palace politics," where those with access to the President help to shape national security decisions. Cabinet members face getting boxed out of the decision-making...

Humanities and Social Sciences Online Paul Shemella is a retired US Navy captain teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a fellow at the Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR). His military career was largely spent in...

The National Interest Moscow just can’t catch a break. Last month, the Kremlin was shifting the discussion on Ukraine away from Russia’s involvement towards Ukraine’s noncompliance with the Minsk Accords, and preliminary discussions were underway among European Union ministers...

World Politics Review Following meetings with Ukrainian officials in Kiev early this month, the vice president of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, who holds the energy portfolio for the EU as a whole, laid out his vision for how...

Reuters For decades, the dispute over ownership of four islands in the Kuril archipelago has prevented Russia and Japan from developing closer economic ties and ending tensions dating to World War Two.   Japan views the Russian occupation of...

War on the Rocks Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was curt to his former aide. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “is a national disgrace and an international pariah,” he wrote. In the leaked email, Powell, whose public persona...

Over the last decade, the spread of drone technology to militaries and violent non-state actors around the world has produced a dramatic change in the American perspective on warfare. Not too long ago, it would have been major news...

The number of conflicts is again on the rise as both states and violent actors contend for influence and seek to establish their position. Contrary to optimistic depictions of the present international system, there are powers seeking to alter...

The Atlantic On September 5, The New York Times reported that the Obama administration is weighing whether to adopt a so-called “no-first-use” nuclear doctrine. This would allow the United States to launch nuclear weapons only if the enemy deployed them...