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.
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The Signal You Send is the Policy You Make
For decades, U.S.-South Korean exercises have communicated readiness, resolve, and mutual commitment. Abruptly weakening them—without clear strategy or allied consultation—risks telling North Korea, South Korea, and China something Washington may not intend: that American reliability is conditional.
“Maybe” Is Not A Strategy
Trump says Iran is in a “so good” situation. Six months into the war, Washington still cannot explain what winning looks like.
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
How do institutions rebuild trust after years of people feeling talked at instead of listened to?
Hold Fast: Navigating the Ballot - What Voters Should Listen for
A tool to help voters spot vague slogans, evasion, and dangerous policy shortcuts.
Purged by Tweet
What my clearance revocation taught me about the destruction of a nonpartisan public service.
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
How do we reach people under 30 in a moment shaped by instability, outrage, and exhaustion?
Make America Yesterday Again
Trump’s assault on science, human welfare, American alliances and the modern world
Hold Fast: Navigating the Ballot - Why Alliances Matter
America’s greatest strategic advantage has never been going it alone.
The Era of Asking Is Over
Congress was never supposed to depend on executive permission to exercise its constitutional powers.
Hold Fast: Navigating the Ballot
A Practical Voter Guide Series on National Security Matters
The Veneer of Strength
America’s real strength is built in laboratories, shipyards, institutions and people, not painted onto monuments.
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
"In a culture obsessed with instant gratification, how do we encourage curiosity?"
What We’re Fighting For Is the Right to Fight
Why The Steady State’s mission is bigger than any particular political issue.
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
“I don’t know how to help, but I care enough to ask.”
America’s Allies Are Making Other Plans
America’s allies are no longer waiting for Washington to find its way back. They are preparing for a world in which it may not.
America First = Trump First, America Last
It's about making presidential power unconstrained.
Gen Z: It’s not Apathy; It’s Exhaustion
Political burnout isn’t surrender. It’s what happens when hope goes too long without results.
When Intelligence Becomes an Election Weapon
How raw intelligence, stitched together and without normal analytical safeguards, was presented as the foundation for an unprecedented claim of presidential authority over American elections.
Madison’s Lesson for America: Capture the Congress
From Madison and Hamilton to the midterms, history teaches that citizens first build the instrument of power before they can reclaim their republic.