The former Afghanistan and special forces commander talks frankly about his accomplishments, his mistakes, his lessons learned, and the future of the new American way of war he helped create.

For half a century, deterrence was the backbone of U.S. national security strategy. But now, Washington doesn't seem to know how and when to use it properly. The United States has needlessly applied deterrence to Russia, failed to apply it when it should have against Iraq and Iran, and been dangerously confused about whether to apply it to China. U.S. policymakers need to relearn the basics of deterrence in order to apply it successfully in the appropriate circumstances.

People love to talk about "red lines" for all sorts of challenges, and the Iranian nuclear program is no exception. The United States can, in principle, threaten stronger sanctions if Iran crosses certain red lines. It can threaten military action if Iran crosses others. But it's not clear that setting red lines—particularly in public, where failing to follow through on threats can be costly—is a productive course.

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Experts analyze how changes in defense spending would affect U.S. military strategy.

Max Boot gives his top five recommendations for books on guerillas.

Micah Zenko asks why we aren't asking Chuck Hagel about the stuff the secretary of defense actually does.

Richard N. Haass argues that many of the same issues that we faced in 2012 will continue to be problematic in 2013.

Secretary of Defense Panetta held this press conference previewing his final international trip as secretary, on January 14, 2013. His travel will include Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain.

President Obama and President Karzai held a joint press conference at the White House on January 11, 2013, to discuss the transition in Afghanistan.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey held this press conference on January 10, 2013. They discussed Afghan President Karzai's visit, defense sequestration, and possible chemical weapons in Syria.

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for South Asia Doug Lute held this conference call on January 8, 2013, to preview President Karzai's visit to the White House.

The United States' approach to counterinsurgency, championed by General David Petraeus, helped produce stunning results in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. Senate voted on December 4, 2012 to approve amendment 3262 to the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 3254. The amendment requires Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to provide a report to the Armed Services Committees regarding U.S. military options in Syria.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave this speech, "The Fight Against Al Qaeda: Today and Tomorrow", at the Center for a New American Security on November 20, 2012.

On the subject of targeted killings, Micah Zenko says nations must be transparent about their adherence to international law and defend attacks' proportionality.

Rather than focus on dramatic raids and high-tech drone strikes, special operations should refocus its attention on working with and through non-U.S. partners to accomplish security objectives, says Linda Robinson.

In this world of grave uncertainty and looming threats, it is unlikely that the United States will ever have a peacetime president again, says Micah Zenko.

The argument of Thomas Ricks' new book, The Generals, is simple: since the end of World War II, the combat performance of the U.S. Army has been subpar, primarily because the highest-ranking generals have been reluctant to fire underperforming generals lower in the chain of command.

While effective, Special Operations Forces (SOF) have little lasting effects, so the increased reliance on SOF to get the job done in the Middle East and South Asia is worrisome, says Max Boot.

Micah Zenko says that while it's admirable for senior defense leadership to adopt a forward-looking approach, the U.S. military cannot predict where future conflicts will emerge and where they will be deployed to fight.