Ben Wolfgang is a national security correspondent at The Washington Times, a senior member of its Threat Status team, and the host and producer of the award-winning Threat Status Podcast. Ben covers national security, foreign policy, military affairs, the defense industry and the rapidly evolving landscape of military technology. A Pennsylvania native, he joined The Washington Times in 2011 after serving as a political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa. Over the course of his career, Ben has covered the White House, Congress, and four presidential campaigns. His reporting has earned recognition from some of journalism's most respected organizations, including the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists' Washington, D.C. Chapter, among other honors. Ben has interviewed heads of state, chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior military commanders, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, and the CEOs of many of the nation's largest and most influential defense companies. Ben is a frequent guest on broadcast media, with appearances on C-SPAN, the Sirius XM POTUS channel, and other outlets. He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
Lukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov died Thursday after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, according to media reports, immediately sparking speculation about whether his death may be linked to the oil and gas giant's public criticism earlier this year of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Iraq descended deeper into chaos Monday after influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced his "definitive retirement" from politics, sparking deadly clashes at Baghdad's presidential palace and potentially opening the door for Iran-backed militia groups to emerge from the turmoil with more power.
America's former top general in the Middle East said Sunday he advised President Biden against withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan last summer, and he said that the Pentagon made clear to the White House that a full withdrawal would almost surely lead to a rapid Taliban takeover of the country.
Two American warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday for the first time since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan earlier this month, sparking an angry warning from the Chinese military and further ratcheting up tensions between Washington and Beijing.
U.S. forces launched a series of deadly counterstrikes Thursday against Iran-backed militias inside Syria, the latest move in an escalating battle between the two sides that is casting a dark shadow over the Biden administration's push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
Iran-backed militants launched a rocket attack on two U.S. military installations in northeast Syria late Wednesday, injuring three American service members, Pentagon officials said.
The Biden administration on Wednesday inched closer to restarting a controversial nuclear deal with Iran, brushing aside stark warnings from key American ally Israel and sidestepping mounting evidence that Tehran and its proxies have not moderated their behavior on other fronts and remain intent on targeting U.S. troops, officials, allies and interests.
A majority of Americans say the U.S. should keep providing weapons and other support to Ukraine until all Russian troops withdraw from the country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's momentous decision to invade Ukraine has taken turns that few predicted, from Moscow's stunning military missteps in the early days of the conflict to the rapid expansion of NATO and the massive disruptions to global food and fuel supplies.
Iran signaled Monday that it still has objections to the West's "final" proposal to restore the Obama-era nuclear deal, while officials in Tehran justified the weekend stabbing of author Salman Rushdie and Iranian state-controlled media warned that former President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could soon face similar violent attacks.
The Biden administration must take seriously the threat from Iranian "hit squads" intent on killing U.S. officials on American soil, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, days after revelations that an Iranian paramilitary tried to carry out an assassination plot against him.
The State Department on Thursday stood behind the effort to strike a new pact with Tehran to limit the country's nuclear weapons program, with a top diplomatic spokesperson telling reporters that Washington is prepared to "immediately" implement an agreement if Iran drops several of its demands.
Al Qaeda's top leader was hiding out inside the country with no apparent fear of arrest. Women and religious minorities face systematic oppression, international aid groups say, as the government rolls back basic human rights and steadily imposes a media blackout to cover it up.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left for Asia on Sunday as a heated debate raged back home over her potential visit by her congressional delegation to Taiwan, a move that Beijing has warned against but one that some U.S. officials say would demonstrate American strength amid China's attempted intimidation of the island democracy.
An apparent drone attack hit Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters Sunday, injuring at least six people and interrupting celebrations marking Russia's major Navy Day holiday.
Moscow is attempting to unleash its leverage from space and global energy markets in a revamped effort to break Western solidarity and punish the United States and Europe for militarily supporting Ukraine during the more than five months since the Russian invasion.
The Army will shift about $1 billion to recruiting programs and will rely more heavily on reserve units as its ranks dwindle and the service struggles to attract new soldiers, Army officials said in a memo this week that described a high-stakes "war for talent" that confronts America's armed forces and comes at a crucial moment for U.S. national security.
Russia has struggled to meet any of its top strategic goals in the nearly five-month invasion of Ukraine. But the U.S. and its NATO allies may be on the verge of meeting one of theirs.