• Why NATO Has Become a Flash Point with Russia in Ukraine

    Russian leaders have watched with mounting resentment as the transatlantic alliance has nearly doubled its membership since the end of the Cold War. President Vladimir Putin has drawn a red line in Ukraine.

  • How Long Could Ukraine Hold Out Against a Russian Invasion?

    A RAND report from last year and more recent military analyses have examined Russian operational tactics, but far fewer have looked at the other side of the coin: How long could Ukraine’s armed forces hold out against a bigger, more powerful military force like Russia’s?

  • U.S. Still Searching for “Havana Syndrome” Answers

    The CIA has concluded a mysterious illness plaguing American diplomats and other officials around the world is not nearly as widespread as initially feared and is most likely not the work of a foreign adversary. But the agency also cautioned that a smaller number of cases continue to defy explanation.

  • Massive Cyberattack Targeting Ukraine’s Government Websites

    Several Ukrainian government websites have been targeted in a massive cyberattack amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia, which has massed troops and military equipment near the border with Ukraine.

  • The Big Promises and Potentially Bigger Consequences of Neurotechnology

    Neurotechnology is an umbrella term for a range of technologies which interact directly with the brain or nervous system. This can include systems which passively scan, map or interpret brain activity, or systems which actively influence the state of the brain or nervous system. There are growing excitement and growing concern about the potential applications of neurotechnology for everything from defense to health care to entertainment.

  • Are New and Emerging Technologies Game-Changers for Smaller Powers?

    We are now entering into what is usually referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, which is characterized by the fusion of technologies and platforms in the form of a “system of systems.” Michael Claesson and Zebulon Carlander write that “In previous industrial revolutions, innovation was integrated into military capabilities, such as weapons systems, logistics, and organization. The fourth industrial revolution will be no different.” The add that “New and emerging technologies might therefore offer a new arena for small and medium states in which they can exploit possibilities to offset the capabilities of bigger and better-resourced adversaries.”

  • Autonomous Air and Ground Vehicles Swarms Take Flight in Final Field Experiment

    DARPA’s OFFSET program envisions future small-unit infantry forces employing large-scale teams of unmanned air and/or ground robots to accomplish diverse missions in complex urban environments. OFFSET specifically focused on advancements in collaborative swarm autonomy and human-swarm teaming capabilities.

  • What Will Taiwan Do If China Invades?

    China claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island 160 kilometers away and has not dropped the threat of force, if needed, to capture it. The two sides have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. The specter of a war has captured attention since mid-2020 when the People’s Liberation Army began almost daily military aircraft flyovers over a sea west of the island, which experts said is China’s attempt to normalize its military operations near Taiwan.

  • UN Fails to Agree on “Killer Robot” Ban While Nations Pour Billions into Autonomous Weapons Research

    Autonomous weapon systems – commonly known as killer robots – may have killed human beings for the first time ever last year, according to a recent UN Security Council report on the Libyan civil war. History could well identify this as the starting point of the next major arms race, one that has the potential to be humanity’s final one.

  • To Intervene or Not to Intervene: That Is the Question

    When a crisis or conflict threaten U.S. interests, a direct military intervention is one of the options American decisionmakers must consider. A new report offers a framework that can be used to rigorously consider the trade-offs between intervening militarily early in a war or crisis, intervening later, and not intervening at all, as well as the trade-offs involved in decisions regarding the size of the potential intervention force to be employed.

  • The Impact of Drone Warfare on World Order

    Much of the current literature on armed drones focuses on their proliferation across countries, effectiveness against terrorists, and the legal, moral, and ethical impacts of their use. A new collection of essays examines the trade-offs imposed by drone warfare for global order.

  • Why China’s Advancements in Quantum Technology Worry Others

    Quantum refers to a type of computing that lets high-powered machines make calculations that are too complex for ordinary devices. China’s advances in quantum computing will give a new advantage to its armed forces, already the world’s third strongest, analysts say.

  • How China Could Cyberattack Taiwan

    China has the means to launch a disabling cyberattack against political rival Taiwan ahead of any military invasion, experts say, as the technology is already targeting the island’s political leadership. A straight-up military invasion would cost lives and mobilize U.S. forces for Taiwan’s defense. Disruptive cyberattacks could sow chaos and soften Taiwan’s defenses, potentially making an invasion less costly for Beijing, experts say.

  • China Expands Military-Political Education Programs In Developing Countries

    China has vastly expanded its military training programs for military officers from developing countries. In these programs, in which military officers from more than 100 countries have participated, Beijing combines military training with ideological education to promote authoritarian governance, especially its “Party-Army model” with the army subordinate to the ruling party. A new report says that these efforts are “an increasingly important component of China’s engagement. These efforts include training programs aimed at future military and political leaders.”

  • Hypersonic Missiles Are Fueling Fears of a New Superpower Arms Race

    Hypersonic missiles are often defined as missiles launched by a rocket into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of Mach 5 and above (five times the speed of sound or 6,174 kilometers (3,836 miles) per hour), before maneuvering towards a target. Several countries already have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that travel just as fast – or even faster – but these cannot change trajectory once launched. The new generation of hypersonic missiles are equipped with glide vehicles that approach their targets at high speed in the final phase of flight.