Security and Democracy Forum

Buried deep in the Department of War’s (DOW’s) Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, is an indication that the Pentagon used the preparations for the FIFA World Cup as a readiness exercise to train for coalition combat. The Operations and Maintenance Justification Book notes a request to Congress for over $216 million for “Mission Partner Environment.” The explanation goes on to call out successful applications of this program in “establishing a common information-sharing environment for the...

The Security and Democracy Forum was founded on a simple belief: national security and democratic institutions are not competing priorities. They are mutually reinforcing. Our national security institutions protect the freedoms that allow democracy to flourish, while our democratic institutions provide the accountability, legitimacy, and resilience that make us more secure. Advancing that conversation requires more than policy advocacy. It requires creating a forum where scholars,...

In the summer of 2024, a Major in the Air Force received "career-enhancing" orders for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) from a joint assignment in D.C. to a remote installation in the Midwest. For his spouse—a licensed pediatric nurse with a decade of seniority—the move was a professional derailment. Within ninety days, she had resigned her position, navigated a gap in pay, and hit a wall of state licensing delays that kept her out of the workforce for six months. When that Major hits his...