Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall was kind enough to spend some time with Ryan talking about the reorganization of the Department of the Air Force and modernization. They also discussed the challenges new entrants have breaking into working with the Defense Department. And they closed with a brief discussion about resistance to plans to move...

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Sergei Shoigu from defense minister to secretary of the...

In the early 1990s, India responded to the end of the Cold War with a new “Look East” policy, which it subsequently rebranded as “Act East” in 2014. Today, India has developed a “Think West” policy, focused on what those in the West call the Middle East. So which way is India thinking, looking, and acting today? Much as India’s “Look/Act East” policy...

 Imagine a scenario in which a junior Army captain is taking command of an airborne infantry company. This officer has never been to airborne or ranger school or completed an infantry field problem. But the officer has conducted countless offensive cyber operations, maneuvering through hostile networks to close with and destroy a digital adversary —...

Editor’s Note: This is part of a short series examining maritime geography and strategic challenges in specific bodies of water, ranging from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Guinea and the South China Sea. With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, there has been renewed focus on the strategic situation in the Baltic Sea. By joining the alliance, the two...

If war breaks out in the Indo-Pacific, it will not be over Taiwan but over the atolls and shoals dotting the South China Sea. At least, that’s the argument the Philippine ambassador to Washington has made, calling these sovereignty disputes, particularly between China and the Philippines, the region’s “real flashpoint.” Today, the South China Sea facilitates...