On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

Foreign policy is the domain of the executive branch, but Congress plays a key constitutional role by passing budgets and conducting oversight. As the Department of Defense reorients its strategy and outlook to deterring, and if necessary, defeating near-peer great competitors, Congress must ensure that the department is building a force that will address the nation’s security challenges while also stewarding U.S. taxpayer resources.

On March 2, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, joined Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon in a conversation on defense policy. Now in his final term, Rep. Thornberry is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a distinguished former chairman. An advocate of on-time annual defense budgets, Rep. Thornberry was instrumental in realizing the Trump-era increases in defense spending, and in advancing the Obama-era “Third Offset” to enhance U.S. competitiveness before that. Their conversation spanned the defense budget, the role of Congress in overseeing the Defense Department, and the wide range of security challenges confronting the United States.

Questions from the audience followed.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

Protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy. A man videotaping protesters on a police vehicle outside Prime Minister's office.

Protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy. Police officers gathering outside Prime Minister's office.

Protesters hold signs and shout slogans against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy.

Protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy. Police officers gathering outside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office. Tokyo tower in the background.

Protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy. Police officers gathering outside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office. Police vehicles in a line.

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

Protesters hold signs and shout slogans against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to change Japan's pacifist policy.

Foreign policy is the domain of the executive branch, but Congress plays a key constitutional role by passing budgets and conducting oversight. As the Department of Defense reorients its strategy and outlook to deterring, and if necessary, defeating near-peer great competitors, Congress must ensure that the department is building a force that will address the nation’s security challenges while also stewarding U.S. taxpayer resources.

On March 2, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, joined Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon in a conversation on defense policy. Now in his final term, Rep. Thornberry is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a distinguished former chairman. An advocate of on-time annual defense budgets, Rep. Thornberry was instrumental in realizing the Trump-era increases in defense spending, and in advancing the Obama-era “Third Offset” to enhance U.S. competitiveness before that. Their conversation spanned the defense budget, the role of Congress in overseeing the Defense Department, and the wide range of security challenges confronting the United States.

Questions from the audience followed.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

As the first woman in U.S. history to lead a combatant command, retired General Lori Robinson, who has joined The Brookings Institution as a nonresident senior fellow, was at the forefront of NORAD and U.S. Northern, Central, and Indo-Pacific Command missions to defend and secure America and its interests. Now retired, she brings a wealth of experience to understanding how the United States ought to confront the pressing national security challenges it faces, from a rising China and a revanchist Russia, to Iran and North Korea, to extremist groups still metastasizing in unstable regions and failed states. To address them, the United States needs a wide range of tools and capabilities—but above all dedicated public servants with the perspective and skill to match the demands of an increasingly unpredictable and unstable world.

On December 18, Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon hosted Gen. Robinson at The Brookings Institution for a conversation on defense policy and the international security environment. Questions from the audience followed.

Photo Credit: Paul Morigi

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

Foreign policy is the domain of the executive branch, but Congress plays a key constitutional role by passing budgets and conducting oversight. As the Department of Defense reorients its strategy and outlook to deterring, and if necessary, defeating near-peer great competitors, Congress must ensure that the department is building a force that will address the nation’s security challenges while also stewarding U.S. taxpayer resources.

On March 2, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, joined Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon in a conversation on defense policy. Now in his final term, Rep. Thornberry is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a distinguished former chairman. An advocate of on-time annual defense budgets, Rep. Thornberry was instrumental in realizing the Trump-era increases in defense spending, and in advancing the Obama-era “Third Offset” to enhance U.S. competitiveness before that. Their conversation spanned the defense budget, the role of Congress in overseeing the Defense Department, and the wide range of security challenges confronting the United States.

Questions from the audience followed.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

Foreign policy is the domain of the executive branch, but Congress plays a key constitutional role by passing budgets and conducting oversight. As the Department of Defense reorients its strategy and outlook to deterring, and if necessary, defeating near-peer great competitors, Congress must ensure that the department is building a force that will address the nation’s security challenges while also stewarding U.S. taxpayer resources.

On March 2, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, joined Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon in a conversation on defense policy. Now in his final term, Rep. Thornberry is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a distinguished former chairman. An advocate of on-time annual defense budgets, Rep. Thornberry was instrumental in realizing the Trump-era increases in defense spending, and in advancing the Obama-era “Third Offset” to enhance U.S. competitiveness before that. Their conversation spanned the defense budget, the role of Congress in overseeing the Defense Department, and the wide range of security challenges confronting the United States.

Questions from the audience followed.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

Foreign policy is the domain of the executive branch, but Congress plays a key constitutional role by passing budgets and conducting oversight. As the Department of Defense reorients its strategy and outlook to deterring, and if necessary, defeating near-peer great competitors, Congress must ensure that the department is building a force that will address the nation’s security challenges while also stewarding U.S. taxpayer resources.

On March 2, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, joined Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon in a conversation on defense policy. Now in his final term, Rep. Thornberry is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a distinguished former chairman. An advocate of on-time annual defense budgets, Rep. Thornberry was instrumental in realizing the Trump-era increases in defense spending, and in advancing the Obama-era “Third Offset” to enhance U.S. competitiveness before that. Their conversation spanned the defense budget, the role of Congress in overseeing the Defense Department, and the wide range of security challenges confronting the United States.

Questions from the audience followed.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

America’s maritime forces are implementing significant changes to address the realities of great power competition. Evolving technology, uncertainty about the budgetary and fiscal environment, and accelerating innovation by America’s emerging competitors have forced the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to adapt to fulfill the vision laid out for America’s armed forces in the National Defense Strategy. Much work, though, remains to be done.

On February 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy, to discuss naval modernization, the budgetary environment, and the challenges of great power competition. Following his conversation with Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon, Modly answered questions from the audience.

Photo credit: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

As the first woman in U.S. history to lead a combatant command, retired General Lori Robinson, who has joined The Brookings Institution as a nonresident senior fellow, was at the forefront of NORAD and U.S. Northern, Central, and Indo-Pacific Command missions to defend and secure America and its interests. Now retired, she brings a wealth of experience to understanding how the United States ought to confront the pressing national security challenges it faces, from a rising China and a revanchist Russia, to Iran and North Korea, to extremist groups still metastasizing in unstable regions and failed states. To address them, the United States needs a wide range of tools and capabilities—but above all dedicated public servants with the perspective and skill to match the demands of an increasingly unpredictable and unstable world.

On December 18, Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon hosted Gen. Robinson at The Brookings Institution for a conversation on defense policy and the international security environment. Questions from the audience followed.

Photo Credit: Paul Morigi

As the first woman in U.S. history to lead a combatant command, retired General Lori Robinson, who has joined The Brookings Institution as a nonresident senior fellow, was at the forefront of NORAD and U.S. Northern, Central, and Indo-Pacific Command missions to defend and secure America and its interests. Now retired, she brings a wealth of experience to understanding how the United States ought to confront the pressing national security challenges it faces, from a rising China and a revanchist Russia, to Iran and North Korea, to extremist groups still metastasizing in unstable regions and failed states. To address them, the United States needs a wide range of tools and capabilities—but above all dedicated public servants with the perspective and skill to match the demands of an increasingly unpredictable and unstable world.

On December 18, Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon hosted Gen. Robinson at The Brookings Institution for a conversation on defense policy and the international security environment. Questions from the audience followed.

Photo Credit: Paul Morigi

As the first woman in U.S. history to lead a combatant command, retired General Lori Robinson, who has joined The Brookings Institution as a nonresident senior fellow, was at the forefront of NORAD and U.S. Northern, Central, and Indo-Pacific Command missions to defend and secure America and its interests. Now retired, she brings a wealth of experience to understanding how the United States ought to confront the pressing national security challenges it faces, from a rising China and a revanchist Russia, to Iran and North Korea, to extremist groups still metastasizing in unstable regions and failed states. To address them, the United States needs a wide range of tools and capabilities—but above all dedicated public servants with the perspective and skill to match the demands of an increasingly unpredictable and unstable world.

On December 18, Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon hosted Gen. Robinson at The Brookings Institution for a conversation on defense policy and the international security environment. Questions from the audience followed.

Photo Credit: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

On December 6, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and its counterpart committee in the Senate agreed on the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). President Biden signed it into law on December 23. The act promotes resilience, innovation, and military readiness and allots $858 billion to implement the National Defense Strategy.

Having served on the HASC since he started in Congress and as chairman from 2019 to 2023, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has played a decisive role in shepherding the annual NDAA through Congress and forging bicameral and bipartisan consensus across a variety of defense policy issues amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, the ongoing rise of China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On January 11, 2023, the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings hosted a conversation featuring Rep. Smith to discuss the FY23 NDAA, reflect on his chairmanship of the HASC under two different administrations, two crucial national defense strategies, and multiple DOD leadership teams, and to consider what the future holds for defense policy. The panel was followed by questions from the in-person and virtual audience.

Online viewers submitted questions by emailing events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsFP using #DefensePolicy.

Photo Credits: Paul Morigi

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl and other Defense Department policy leaders, participate in a virtual meeting with Defense Policy Directors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Captured in the charged months of late 1995, this image reflects a pivotal moment in the Bosnian War’s aftermath—a transition of authority from the United Nations to NATO-led forces. Parked against a crumbling wall, the dusty Ford Transit van becomes an unlikely witness to history. On its rear window, the word “NATO” has been hastily scrawled, an informal, almost sardonic gesture of rebranding that mirrors the broader shift from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to NATO’s Implementation Force (IFOR). Behind the van, graffiti on the wall repeats the acronyms “IFOR” and “FOR,” remnants of the international presence now recast under new command.

This was a time of urgent diplomatic recalibration. Following the signing of the Dayton Accords in December 1995, NATO took control of peacekeeping operations across Bosnia and Herzegovina. The transition wasn’t just geopolitical—it played out on the ground in makeshift ways like this: soldiers crossing out old identifiers, slapping on new insignia, and continuing patrols in the same battered vehicles and barracks. For civilians and troops alike, the symbolism was both heavy and hollow—peacekeeping was rebranded, but the human toll remained visible everywhere.

Shot on film, the sepia-toned grain of the image enhances its documentary power. Barbed wire crowns the wall, hinting at the ongoing tension. The rear light of the van is crudely patched. The wear and grime speak volumes about the duration and difficulty of the mission.

Moments like these—the informal scribbles, the graffiti, the exhausted infrastructure—tell the quiet stories behind official timelines. The camera becomes an eyewitness to the surreal pragmatism of wartime transitions: change the letters, keep the mission going.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl and other Defense Department policy leaders, participate in a virtual meeting with Defense Policy Directors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl and other Defense Department policy leaders, participate in a virtual meeting with Defense Policy Directors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl and other Defense Department policy leaders, participate in a virtual meeting with Defense Policy Directors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl and other Defense Department policy leaders, participate in a virtual meeting with Defense Policy Directors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom from the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)