Our mission
To inform citizens, thought leaders, and policymakers of the importance of a strong, dynamic military—used more judiciously to protect America's narrowly defined national interests—and promote a realistic grand strategy prioritizing restraint, diplomacy, and free trade to ensure U.S. security.
Policy explainers
Expert features
By Anna Mulrine Grobe
The idea that rich European nations can’t ultimately come together to deter and, if necessary, to beat Russia without U.S. aid defies credulity, Dr. Menon says.
“Europe should have the means to defend itself,” Dr. Menon says, “in the event that 1-800-Uncle Sam fails to get a response.”
By Kim Hjelmgaard
Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank, said a lot of America's overseas relationships are "pretty institutionalized" and amount to a major check on presidential power.
By Andreas Kluth
It’s tempting to argue, as Lyle Goldstein at the think tank Defense Priorities does, that America “should not go to war over rocks or reefs or shoals.” But there’s more at stake than fish, coral and sand, as Jacob Stokes at the Center for a New American Security told me. The stakes are both similar to those in today’s other conflicts and different.
By Ashley Parker
Edward King, founder and president of Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank, praised Trump for “at the very least getting the attention of Europeans” when it comes to NATO.
“Absolutely I’m in favor of rethinking the U.S. role in NATO,” King said. “I’m skeptical of permanent alliances, because that offers all sorts of trouble in the form of entanglements and getting involved in conflicts because of our relationships with countries rather than a sober look at U.S. security interests.”
By Ella Sherman
Not every war watcher sees a potential path to victory for the Ukrainians, at least not through actions on the battlefield. Defense Priorities' Daniel Davis argued Tuesday that the country cannot win the war militarily.
Davis said that Ukraine needs to attempt to negotiate as soon as it can with Russia to end the war. Through negotiations, Ukraine could buy time to build back its national security and industrial capacity.
"This war cannot be won militarily by Ukraine, period, at any point," the defense expert said, adding that "no matter whether they get $60 billion from the US, if they got sustained funding for a long time, it will not matter because the fundamentals that go into building combat power and national military power are decisively in Russia's favor."