Insights
Join 450+ former national security and intelligence officials as they break down today's most complex issues. Bound by a shared oath to defend the Constitution, The Steady State provides the expert commentary you need to navigate uncertain times.
Democracy Doesn’t Die When Strongmen Take Power. It Dies When We Accept Them.
The warning from Paraguay is not about one protest. It is about what happens when power becomes more important than institutions.
The Post Came Down. The Message Didn’t.
What a deleted DHS post reveals about how the government speaks—and whom it tells us to fear.
Crisis is the key test of leadership
When the stakes are highest, character matters more than rhetoric, bravado or blame.
The Troops Aren’t Supposed to Be There
The Constitution, federal law, and military tradition all draw a line between protecting the country and policing the ballot box.
The Enemy Next Door
Canada has been America’s neighbor, trading partner, and military ally for generations. So why the hostility now?
Twelve Years of Warnings. Now Iran.
America saw the threats coming. It failed to build the arsenal needed. And we attacked Iran anyway
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
What patterns are quietly keeping you up at night right now?
It wasn’t meant to be like this
After 9/11, America built institutions to make us safer without sacrificing the freedoms we were defending. Twenty-five years later, those lessons are being forgotten.
Hold Fast: Political Corruption
Charles A. Ray, and Kishla Askins
Political influence becomes a national-security concern when relationships, financial interests, and foreign connections become difficult to see.
I Had Time to Be Angry
What happened after 9/11 taught me something about loneliness, belonging, and the power of an open door.
Not So Fast
The Supreme Court puts the brakes on a last-minute overhaul of mail-in voting before the 2026 midterms.
A Son of Appalachia and Syria - 25 Years Later
9/11 changed the course of one immigrant's life—and turned a personal struggle with identity into a lifelong fight against hate and targeted violence.
From the Channel to the Counterterrorism Center
How 9/11 changed one intelligence officer’s career—and helped reshape how America fights terrorism.
THIS IS MORE THAN AUTOCRACY: WHAT CAN WE DO? GET UP, GET INVOLVED, KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
The danger extends beyond Washington. The immediate challenge is protecting the machinery of the 2026 election—and giving citizens somewhere to turn.
As He Later Acknowledged, That Evidence Was "Flawed"
The Steady State - by Margaret Henoch
Failure to Adhere to the Just War Theory Threatens to Turn Epic Fury into an Epic Failure
The Steady State | by Charles A. Ray
The Day Fear Came Home
What I remember about 9/11—and what happened when America turned fear into policy.
Our Constitution’s Halting Evolution Toward Equality Undermined by Authoritarianism
The Steady State | by Robert Bruce Adolph
25 Years Later: Will Fear Decide Who We Become?
Twenty-five years after 9/11, America is still wrestling with the question that began in those first terrible hours.