Violence worsens as Israeli forces move deeper into Palestinian territories in search of an Israeli soldier held by militants. Regional efforts to secure the soldier's release have had little effect as Palestinians continue launching rockets at Israel and the Israeli government escalates its military campaign.

Israeli forces have broadened their ground and air assault from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, where they arrested some dozen Hamas cabinet ministers and lawmakers. The operation came as Palestinian factions neared agreement on an approach to peace talks that could commit Hamas to an implicit recognition of Israel's right to exist.

Talks of reconciliation with insurgents and a planned pullout of U.S. forces have experts and officials abuzz with end-game solutions to the war in Iraq.

Allegations of massacres by U.S. Marines in Iraq are further complicating American efforts to win over Iraqis' "hearts and minds."

With a new government in place, security concerns will dominate the Iraqi leaders' agenda. Reforming the country's decrepit police will be paramount for Iraq to end its cycle of violence.

The U.S. postwar military strategy in Iraq has been a lightning rod for criticism, but there are fresh signs military officials may be getting the message.

U.S. casualties in Iraq have been declining in recent months. Yet this is more a product of changing strategies among U.S. and insurgent forces than a sign of calm setting in.

With the anniversary of the war in Iraq approaching, the United States finds itself mired in a conflict rocked by sectarian violence, an unbowed Islamic insurgency, political bickering, and uneasiness at home about the ability of U.S.-led forces to find a way out.

Sectarian violence in the wake of this week’s attack on the Shiite Golden Mosque in Samarra have raised fears that an Iraqi civil war is imminent. Civil war would destroy the chances of the newly elected central government and create even more instability across the region.

Grounded in a realistic assessment of technology, Matthew C. Waxman and Kenneth Anderson outline a practical alternative with which to evaluate the use of autonomous weaponry that incorporates codes of conduct based on traditional legal and ethical principles governing weapons and warfare.

In light of Afghan president Karzai's recent comments, Leslie H. Gelb advocates an expedited withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Micah Zenko says, "Most analysts and journalists have focused on President Obama's expanded scope, intensity, and institutionalization of targeted killings against suspected terrorists and militants. However, perhaps the enduring legacy of the Obama administration will be its sustained, rigorous effort to shape and define-down the idea of war."

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

Micah Zenko says unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a different kind of weapon, and one that is quickly proliferating

Kenneth Anderson and Matthew C. Waxman say some view automated technology developments as a crisis for the laws of war. But provided we start now to incorporate ethical and legal norms into weapons design, the incremental movement from automation to genuine machine autonomy already underway might well be made to serve the ends of law on the battlefield.

The female veterans who filed the lawsuit say combat exclusion is unfair and outdated, based on stereotypes, inhibits recognition and promotion of servicewomen—and ignores the realities of the modern battlefield, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

Max Boot offers his recommendations for books on military history just in time for the gift-giving season.

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.

Prospects for a smooth handover of security to Afghan authorities appear dismal, but new leadership from Washington could improve this interval, says Daniel Markey.

Examining the decline of violence in Iraq at the end of 2007, Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey A. Friedman, and Jacob Shapiro argue, "A synergistic interaction between the surge and the [Sunni] Awakening was required for violence to drop as quickly and widely as it did: both were necessary; neither was sufficient."