On September 11, 2001, I was 15, a sophomore in high school, in Houston, Texas. I don’t remember the weather, though my guess is hot and humid. I don’t remember the bus ride to school or first-period geometry, though as a non-math person, I’m sure I thought then that that class would be the worst part of […]
$1 Trillion and Counting: A Deep Dive Into the Pentagon Budget
This year, the Trump administration asked Congress for nearly $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons in its annual President’s Budget Request — a huge increase over last year’s already massive request. This is a number that 59% of people believe is too high, according to recent polling from ReThink Media and the Costs […]
Front and Center: August 23, 2026
JOIN US AT THE CENTER’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE: $1 TRILLION AND COUNTING: THE PENTAGON BUDGET SQUEEZING OUR REAL SECURITY You are invited to attend the Center’s annual conference online September 15 from 5–7:15 p.m. Eastern. This year’s topic is: “$1 Trillion and Counting: The Pentagon Budget Squeezing Our Real Security.” Our fantastic lineup of speakers and panelists […]
How ‘The Brink of War’ Calls Us to Action
by Emma Sandifer In 1986, with the Cold War winding down and the Soviet Union on its last legs, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met in a tiny house on the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland, to decide whether there would be peace or war in the world. The new movie, […]
Reflections On My Summer Internship: Lyle Seeligson
by Lyle Seeligson, Policy Intern, Summer 2026 My first conversation about nuclear weapons was with my mother. It was 2008; I had just turned ten years old. She explained that we were in a war in a place called Iraq. She told me how the war had been started because we thought Iraq had dangerous weapons. She said I shouldn’t worry, though — those weapons […]
