(B) National Defense and Foreign Policy

By Andrew A. Michta – Meantime, over the past 30 years the U.S. defense industry has consolidated from 51 to five aerospace and prime defense contractors. This mismatch has led to multiyear delays for weapons and munitions deliveries to our forces and allies. As a result, our military isn’t positioned to fight simultaneous and potentially uncontrollable conflicts on the horizon—a problem that no amount of strategic finessing, rebalancing between theaters, or technological sophistication can resolve. There’s a way forward, but it will require that we invest in expanding the military and the defense industrial base. Read More

By John P. Walters – Ukraine and Taiwan are on the front lines of the global struggle between freedom and tyranny. Both face larger, wealthier opponents with huge militaries that threaten to extinguish their freedom. Both also depend on America for security. As Mr. Kishida’s and Ms. Tsai’s words suggest, the outcome of the war in Ukraine will shape how the U.S. is perceived far beyond the shores of Europe. Just as America’s feckless withdrawal from Afghanistan reinforced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, so, too, the U.S. performance in Ukraine will affect Beijing’s calculations in the South Pacific. Read More

By Walter Russell Mead – These concerns are real and have their place, but they miss the main point. Vladimir Putin’s ill-judged, ill-planned and ill-prosecuted war has ignited a national awakening in Ukraine. The country emerging from Putin’s War will be a formidable new force in Europe whose interests and outlook place it firmly in alignment with the U.S. Read More