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William D. Hartung

Rethinking Security: Military Security Versus Climate Security

The Biden administration and Congress need to act promptly to shift priorities towards a security policy that prioritizes dealing with climate change, even if it involves eliminating the filibuster rule, a formidable obstacle to forging a new direction.  The lives of future generations may depend on it.

Nuclear Weapons: Big Business, Bad Policy

The recent meeting between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a glimmer of hope in the form of a joint statement that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”  If they are serious about that, they should make substantial reductions in the nuclear arsenals of both sides as a step towards joining the international consensus in favor of eliminating nuclear weapons.

Rethinking Defense: Reducing Pentagon Spending While Increasing Security

The Biden administration’s first Pentagon budget proposal is now slated to come out in early May.  Rather than sticking with current levels of spending, the administration should craft a plan that reduces the Pentagon budget while freeing up funds for investment in other security priorities. Doing so would mark an important first step towards revising America’s approach to security and allocating resources accordingly.

Biden Outlines a Post-Trump Foreign Policy

Biden’s speech was a refreshing change from the erratic, transactional approach of the past four years, but there is much that needs to be fleshed out if the United States is truly going to set a new course where diplomacy indeed comes first and the militarized approach to foreign affairs that has characterized U.S. policy throughout this century and before is going to finally be abandoned in favor of a more constructive and effective approach to helping solve the most urgent threats to our safety and security.

Demilitarizing Our Democracy

These days, it’s completely normal for military and defense officials to weigh in endlessly on what once would have been civilian matters. As the Biden years begin, it’s time to give some serious thought to how to demilitarize our democracy.

Biden Should Reverse Trump’s Bomb Sales to Saudi Arabia

At a time when Biden has called for an American renewal, ending arms transfers to repressive regimes would be a welcome first step in ensuring that the U.S. role in the world reflects the values and commitments it seeks to promote at home.

Dr. King’s Prophecy and the Fierce Urgency of Now

This week marks the 92nd anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and 53 years since his assassination.  His radical vision is more relevant today than ever. 

President-elect Joe Biden speaks as Vice President during a welcoming and swearing in ceremony for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, March 14, 2013. (U.S. Department of Defense photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley/Released. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Will the Biden Administration Dare Cut Military Spending?

Now that Joe Biden is slated to take office as the 46th president of the United States, advice on how he should address a wide range of daunting problems is flooding in. Nowhere is there more at stake than when it comes to how he handles this country’s highly militarized foreign policy in general and Pentagon spending in particular.