*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. You know there’s a national security problem brewing when in the space of seven weeks, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs opines on the widespread challenges North Korea presents, followed closely by visits to South Korea from the secretaries of…
*Note: This essay was originally published at War on the Rocks on March 16, 2017 and is available online here. When twelve stars tell you to knock it off, there’s a problem. At several points throughout this past presidential campaign, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Flynn’s partisan political behavior, while legal, was so out-of-line for a…
*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. North Korea’s aggressively destabilizing behavior has hit the headlines again, this time several unannounced, unsanctioned missile tests—part of a national double-time march to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead capable of striking the United States by 2020.…
*Note: This essay was originally published at Rally Point’s “Command Post” on March 2, 2017. “I don’t want to go! It’s not for me!” This past holiday season brought the annual war over religious service attendance. Our inter- and multi-faith loved ones squabbled over the need to go, together, to this annual social tradition. It…
*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. I would never actively cheer an administrational death, but, paraphrasing Clarence Darrow, I did smile a bit while reading Michael Flynn’s resignation in the newspaper. It wasn’t for any personal ill will or partisan reason (my stance on political neutrality is well documented), but my grin…
*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. We’re past idea, beyond buzzword, and have shot right past cliché—overuse and overapplication has rendered the phrase “Third Offset” effectively meaningless. When I hear the term used, it’s akin to the dashboard warning light in my aging car, letting me…
*Note: This essay was originally published at The National Interest on February 8, 2017. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis spent the tail end of last week in Seoul and Tokyo conferring with allies about the extreme challenge posed by a belligerently nuclear North Korea. When he gets back, Secretary Mattis should provide President Donald Trump with an option to straitjacket…
*Note: This essay was originally published on the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site. There are lessons from wars of the past. There are lessons from wars of the present. And there are lessons from wars of the future. MWI Fellow August Cole proves this third point in his exceptional work of short fiction,…
After a heated, bitterly contested election season, now that the peaceful transfer of power is complete and temperatures have subsided a bit—it’s important for the Profession of Arms to reflect on its critical role in this democratic society. In the spirit of this important reflection, recently, I made the case that, while they should always…
Retired Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap has written, perhaps unintentionally, a truly ironic essay for The Hill publication. While he may have meant to disagree with my earlier-written opinion that military officers should not vote to maintain their professional obligation to reduce cancerous political partisanship in the ranks, his response’s immense irony is noteworthy.