As I stumbled out of a burning Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, lucky to be alive while my office was in flames, the refrain playing through my head was simple: “How did this happen?” Similarly, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the nation — and especially the Navy — had to ask,…

The “frozen conflict” between Armenia and Azerbaijan has turned very hot. What may seem to many Westerners a minor clash in a remote corner of the world actually has significant implications for regional security, energy markets and the ambitions of two problematic strongmen: Vladimir Putin of…

When I was supreme allied commander at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, we had a small training mission in Iraq. President Barack Obama’s administration was in the process of drawing down the massive US troop presence there, which peaked at around 170,000. I visited Baghdad, and spoke at…

As a Greek-American who lived in Athens for three years, and as a US Navy mariner, I got to know the eastern Mediterranean well. It has been a strategic crossroads throughout history for Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Jews, Phoenicians, Romans, Crusaders and more modern sea warriors. Whenever I’ve…

A few months ago I was at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab in suburban Maryland, where I serve as a senior fellow. A group of us — mostly retired four-star military officers — were there to witness a computer-simulated dogfight of a unique character: man against machine. I was…

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week delivered a scorched-earth assessment of just how bad things have gotten between the US and China. He cited huge disagreements over theft of intellectual property, Chinese claims to the entire South China Sea, competition in 5G networking, antagonistic…

The fire that tore through US Navy amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard for more than four days starting July 12 devastated a $4 billion ship and injured more than 70 sailors and civilian firefighters. The resultant smoke that covered San Diego's harbor and downtown for days afterward seemed a…

Given the combination of Covid-19, economic turbulence and an election year, Americans can be forgiven if international security has been pushed out of mind. Congress, fortunately, has not been so distracted: The House Armed Services Committee last week passed a $740 billion annual defense…

As Americans consider news reports that Russia offered Taliban fighters bounties to kill US service members, it’s worth recalling the tortured history the two nations have in Afghanistan. Going back to the days of the Afghan mujahideen and “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Washington provided weapons —…

President Donald Trump has confirmed his intent to pull nearly 10,000 troops out of Germany, bringing the US presence there to under 25,000. It’s hard to overstate how poor a decision this is. Cutting these troops is an outright gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin, unnecessarily strains the…