Contribute to Cogs of War

Cogs of War is our dedicated vertical on defense technology and defense industrial base issues, produced in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton.

Who Are We Looking For?

Are you working on the front lines of defense innovation? Grappling with the challenges of scaling production? Navigating the intersection of policy, finance, and technology? Are you one of the following?

  • Technologist, Builder, or Industry Leader (from start-ups to primes and everything in between)
  • Investor
  • Policymaker
  • Civil Servant
  • Servicemember
  • Analyst

Then we want to hear from you. And by ‘you,’ we mean actually you. We do not accept pitches or submissions from third-party communications or public relations firms. Pitches arriving via intermediaries will be automatically turned down.

Opinion Pieces

We prefer that you pitch us your idea first. You can communicate with us, starting with your pitch, by going to https://submissions.warontherocks.com. Please note that we also no longer accept pitches at cogsofwar@warontherocks.com.

  1. Your Core Argument: What is the central argument of your article? State it clearly in one or two sentences.
  2. Why It Matters: Explain why this topic is important now for the Cogs of War audience.
  3. Your Expertise: Briefly outline why you are the right person to write this piece. Feel free to attach a short bio or CV.

If we accept your pitch, we will invite you to submit a full draft. Please note that we do not accept pieces that have been published elsewhere or are under consideration by other outlets.

Artificial Intelligence and LLMs

The use of AI-generated and AI-assisted writing has quickly become the most common reason we reject articles. We now have a zero-tolerance policy: There is no usage of AI in writing that we can accept.

Both pitches and submissions should reflect self-evident and genuine human voice, judgment, and expertise. We run all submissions through a custom tool we developed in-house to detect AI-generated writing and cross-check hard cases with Pangram.

All of these are prohibited: Using AI for light polishing, rewriting or rephrasing sentences, improving clarity or flow, correcting grammar or punctuation, expanding notes or outlines into prose, and translating text into English. If you do not write fluently in English or if English is not your first language, we would rather receive poorly constructed prose with good ideas behind them than anything that AI has touched. This includes the use of tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grammarly’s AI-powered writing assistant, and DeepL Write.

Writing Guidelines

  • Do not use AI to write your draft.
  • 1500 to 2000 words.
  • Open the article with a provocative question, an engaging anecdote, or a striking fact.
  • State your main argument early. Use evidence to support your points. Consider using subheadings to guide the reader.
  • Write clearly and concisely. Avoid jargon and acronyms.
  • Do not use bullet points or numbered lists.
  • Use embedded hyperlinks for sources whenever possible. No footnotes.
  • Submit as a Word document. Use double-spacing and standard margins.

The Review and Editing Process

All submissions undergo a review process, potentially involving both internal editors and external subject matter experts. This can take time — anywhere from a few days to several weeks. We will work with you on edits, but please be prepared for a collaborative process.

The Podcast

Our podcast is released every two weeks, and features elected and appointed officials, industry leaders, scientists and engineers, and other subject matter experts. Please note that we do not accept pitches for the podcast. Most of our episodes are structured as panels. Our goal is an engaging, informative discussion for our audience (no “gotcha” questions) that challenges assumptions and surfaces lesser-known perspectives. Heterodox thinking — when supported by evidence — is right up our alley.

Don’t just add to the noise. Help us amplify the signal.