Hal Brands is a distinguished professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a leading voice on U.S. foreign policy, defense strategy, and grand strategy. He contributed pieces to The Weekly Standard focused on military spending, defense policy, and American strategic posture.
The bipartisan budget deal sealed by Congress in the early hours of February 9 was a win for the Pentagon—but not as big a win as it might initially appear. Having jacked up the defense top-line for this fiscal year and next, defense hawks in Congress will be tempted to congratulate themselves for…
In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush worried less about rallying the nation to action against the terrorist threat than about warning an enraged public that the campaign would not end anytime soon. The president referred to the emerging “global war on terror” as a…
Foreign policy, Walter Lippmann wrote, entails "bringing into balance, with a comfortable surplus of power in reserve, the nation's commitments and the nation's power." If a statesman fails to balance ends and means, he added, "he will follow a course that leads to disaster."
Foreign policy, Walter Lippmann wrote, entails “bringing into balance, with a comfortable surplus of power in reserve, the nation's commitments and the nation's power." If a statesman fails to balance ends and means, he added, "he will follow a course that leads to disaster."