Between 2014 and 2015, hackers repeatedly broke into the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), stealing personal and biometric data for millions of federal employees. Several years earlier, Stuxnet wreaked havoc on centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear enrichment lab in Iran. Last year, numerous organizations and companies, including the New York Times, Twitter, Facebook, and …

The nation’s largest military service has found itself in search of a future as its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan wanes. For that reason, the National Commission on the Future of the Army’s report was met with anticipation, especially within the Army aviation community, where pilots have flown millions of combat flight hours in aircraft …

Software is eating the war, and it’s coming for airpower. In the future, air dominance will be determined not by large, non-expendable fifth-generation platforms, but by nimble drone swarms. The only way to stay ahead of the curve and ensure American air dominance is to begin designing the sixth-generation “fighter” as a rapidly reprogrammable adaptive …

With the U.S. Army largely returned to American soil after a decade and a half abroad, Army officials are eyeing security cooperation and assistance as long-term missions for the nation’s land force. These programs are not just beneficial at the strategic level, but at the tactical level as well — there’s plenty that American troops …

In recent years, the Obama administration’s foreign policy has emphasized precision strike stand-off capabilities, especially drones, as well as a policy of surging American military might from the continental United States (CONUS) after a crisis has already started, versus maintaining significant overseas force presence. In the face of the Great Recession and sequestration, these two …

I really don’t have much faith in congressionally mandated committees. I was a member of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). I found the experience to be unseemly and the shrill and naked advocacy of my fellow members very disappointing. Congressman Ike Skelton appointed Professor Dick Kohn and me to the QDR expecting us to …

“For almost twenty years we had all of the time and almost none of the money; today we have all of the money and no time.” Those words were spoken by Army Chief of Staff George Marshall in 1940 as he was facing the imminent entry of the United States into World War II. He …

The field telephone alongside my cot rang at 0230 on January 17, 1991. I was a U.S. Army battalion commander in the desert of northern Saudi Arabia. My battalion had arrived from Germany in mid-December and deployed swiftly to within a few miles of the Iraqi border. The call was from my brigade commander summoning …

In the last few years, additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, has transformed from an interesting hobby to an industry producing a wide range of products. It is on the path to causing major disruptions in global trade — and changing the international security environment. The explosion of additive manufacturing means it is virtually …

The final episode of this year’s worst reality television show — the GOP presidential primary contest — airs on CNN tonight. The final Republican primary debate of the year will likely bring more of the same: lots of colorful language and chest thumping on national security. Candidates will likely pledge to “get tough” on the …

The year is 2025. With his Iron Lion Brigade, Maj. Gen. Lukas Grigas watched news reports of a growing “Russian separatist movement” in the eastern districts of his home country. Just days into the weeks-old unrest, “little green men” had appeared, aiding the separatists in seizing key facilities in the region. These were clearly Russian …

On Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled Britain’s new National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review in the House of Commons. It marked the first time the United Kingdom has undertaken a review of its strategy and security within the new five-year schedule. This edition is also notable in that it combines the …

It is 2030. Russian leaders still use nationalism and threats of external conflict to distract their citizens from corruption at home. Despite a dysfunctional economy, the Russian government still fields a large conventional ground force that conducts snap exercises and threatens multiple NATO member states as part of a “New Generation warfare” campaign to secure …

VICTORY DISEASE. The affliction that is caught by most armies and nations after they have won a war. The disease is characterized by arrogance, a tendency to believe myths as to the underlying reasons for the victory, and a firm conviction that future conflicts should be fought the same way. — James Dunnigan and Raymond Macedonia …

Editor’s Note: This piece on the War on the Rocks Hasty Ambush blog is published in partnership with the Hoover Institution’s Military History in the News. In the 1990s, as a result of the overwhelming victory that U.S. military forces and those of their allies achieved over Saddam’s army in the war over Kuwait, a number of …