William Hartung
Senior Research Fellow, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (website)
twitter: @WilliamHartung        
email: hartung [at] quincyinst [dot] org
phone: (917) 923-3202

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defense industry (and offsets) | export control, transfer policy and laws | F-35 | security assistance | Middle East 

William Hartung a Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His work focuses on the arms industry and U.S. military budget. He was previously the director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy and the co-director of the Center’s Sustainable Defense Task Force.

He is the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex (Nation Books, 2011) and the co-editor, with Miriam Pemberton, of Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War (Paradigm Press, 2008). His previous books include And Weapons for All (HarperCollins, 1995), a critique of U.S. arms sales policies from the Nixon through Clinton administrations.

From July 2007 through March 2011, Hartung was the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. Prior to that, he served as the director of the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute. He also worked as a speechwriter and policy analyst for New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams. Hartung’s articles on security issues have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and the World Policy Journal. He has been a featured expert on national security issues on CBS 60 Minutes, NBC Nightly News, the Lehrer Newshour, CNN, Fox News, and scores of local, regional, and international radio outlets. 

Recent Publications:​

•  "Has Congress Learned the Lessons of the Iraq War?," Defense One, March 29, 2023. 
• "An End To Pentagon Wish Lists?" Forbes, March 29, 2023.
• ​"The Pentagon's Budget from Hell," TomDispatch, March 26, 2023.
• "US dominates global arms trade as exports to Europe surge," Responsible Statecraft, March 13, 2023.
• "Biden’s new whopping $886B defense budget request," Responsible Statecraft, March 9, 2023.
• "Cranes, Planes, and Surveillance Balloons: Hyping the China Threat Harms U.S. Security," Forbes, March 7, 2023.
• "New Bill Injects Note of Sanity Into Pentagon Spending Debate," Forbes, February 22, 2023.
• "Merger Mania in the Military-Industrial Complex," TomDispatch, February 14, 2023.
• "Will the Debt Limit Fight Impact Pentagon Spending?," Forbes, January 30, 2023.
• ​"MLK’s anti-war views are more relevant than ever," Responsible Statecraft, January 15, 2023.
• "Hawks blow a lot of hot air over proposed budget cuts," Responsible Statecraft, January 10, 2023.
• "When It Comes to Defense, Money Isn't Everything," Inkstick. January 3, 2023.
• "Will the Freedom Caucus Tank the Pentagon Budget?," Forbes, January 9, 2023.
• "Rhetoric vs. reality: Biden’s foreign policy in review," Responsible Statecraft, December 29, 2022.
• ”New Ukraine aid is a go — and it’s more than most states get in a year,” Responsible Statecraft, December 23, 2022.*
• "Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation In The Arms Industry," Forbes, December 12, 2022.
• "New spending bill squanders billions on dysfunctional weapons programs," Responsible Statecraft, December 9, 2022.
• "If the Biden administration won’t hold Mohammed Bin Salman accountable, Congress should," The Hill, November 21, 2022.
• ​"Corporate Weapons Heaven Is a Hell on Earth," TomDispatch, November 17, 2022. ​​
• "It’s Time to Cut Off Arms Sales to the Saudi Regime," The Nation, November 15, 2022.
• "Pentagon Blocks Contractor Push for Inflation Bailout," Forbes, November 7, 2022. ​
• "Despite Outcries About Inflation, Major Arms Makers Are Doing Just Fine," Forbes, October 28, 2022.
• "The U.S-Saudi Relationship Is Overrated," The National Interest, October 25, 2022. ​
• "Promoting Stability or Fueling Conflict? The Impact of U.S. Arms Sales on National and Global Security," Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, October 20, 2022.
• "Bombs & guns: Biden’s ‘business as usual’ approach to US arms sales," Responsible Statecraft, October 20, 2022.
• "Contractor Push For Inflation Increases Could Enable Profiteering," Forbes, October 10, 2022.
• “An end to US military support for Saudi Arabia is long overdue," The Hill, October 12, 2022.
• "In Pursuit of Higher Revenues, Weapons Contractors Exaggerate Impacts of Inflation," Forbes, September, 15, 2022. ​
• “Spending Unlimited: Contractors Cash in as Congress Adds Billions to the Pentagon Budget," TomDispatch, September 11, 2022.
• “Weapons Contractors Thrive Despite Pandemic, Supply Chain Issues,” Forbes, August 9, 2022.
• "House military spending bill is a boon to the arms industry," Responsible Statecraft, July 15, 2022.
• "Fueling the Warfare State," Tom Dispatch, July 7, 2022.
• ​"Biden’s Mideast Agenda Could Increase the Risks of War," Forbes, June 30, 2022.
• "Arsenal of Autocracy," Tom Dispatch, May 24, 2022.
• "Spending Smarter on Defense means Spending Less," Forbes, May 16, 2022.
• "The costs and risks of the new Ukraine aid package," Tribune News Service, May 10, 2022.
• "Don’t Overinflate the Pentagon Budget," Defense One, May 5, 2022.
• ​"Putting Biden’s new whopping $33B Ukraine package into context" Responsible Statecraft, April 28, 2022.
• "Global military spending tops $2 trillion for the first time," Responsible Statecraft, April 25, 2022.
• "The New Gold Rush: How Pentagon Contractors Are Cashing in on the Ukraine Crisis," Tom Dispatch, April 17, 2022.
• "Biden’s new Pentagon budget request is too damn high," Responsible Statecraft, March 28, 2022.
• "Commentary: Yemen: The forgotten war," Tribune News Service, March 24, 2022.*
• "Washington Should Think Twice Before Launching a New Cold War," Tom Dispatch, March 22, 2022.*
• "We’re #1: The U.S. Government is the World’s Largest Arms Dealer," Forbes, March 18, 2022. 
• "Support Ukraine, But Don’t Implement a No-Fly Zone," Forbes, March 8, 2022.
• "War in Ukraine Spells Bounty for Weapons Contractors," Inkstick, March 7, 2022.
• "Don't embrace Saudi Arabia and the UAE because of the Ukraine crisis," The Hill, March 12, 2022.
• "Pathways to Pentagon Spending Reductions: Removing the Obstacles," Quincy Institute, March 2, 2022. 
• "Any aid package for Ukraine should focus on humanitarian assistance," Responsible Statecraft, March 1, 2022.
• "What a Waste! $778 Billion for the Pentagon and Still Counting," TomDispatch, February 3, 2022.
• "As Congress moves to enshrine Abraham Accords, a look at the promised ‘peace’," Responsible Statecraft, January 31, 2022.
• "US announces $2.5B arms deal on anniversary of Egypt’s Arab Spring," Responsible Statecraft, January 26, 2022.*
• "Dr. King’s 1967 anti-war speech wasn’t popular, but it was prescient," Responsible Statecraft, January 17, 2022. 
• "How Private Contractor Disguise The Real Costs of War," Inkstick, January 12, 2022. 
• "Arms sales to repressive regimes are more than just a human rights issue," Responsible Statecraft, January 6, 2022. 
• "Biden’s Arms Sales Policy In 2021: A Year of Missed Opportunities," Forbes, January 4, 2022. 
• "Arming Repression: U.S. Military Support for Saudi Arabia, from Trump to Biden," Center for International Policy, December 2021.
• "The Biden Administration's Missile Sale to Saudi Arabia Is Offensive, and Must Be Stopped," Forbes, November 28, 2021.*
• "The Philippines is a frontline of another cold war," The Hill, November 27, 2021.
• "Reining in the Pentagon," TomDispatch, November 9, 2021.*
• "Congress Should Cut Off U.S. Military Support for Saudi Arabia," Forbes, November 8, 2021.
• "The Heritage Foundation's Index of Military Distortions," Forbes, October 28, 2021.
• "Three Years After His Murder, the Biden Administration Should Do More to Bring Justice for Jamal Khashoggi," Forbes, October 11, 2021.
• "It's time for the US to end its involvement in the deadly Yemen war," Inkstick, September 22, 2021.
• "Profits of War: Corporate Beneficiaries of the Post-9/11 Spending Surge," Costs of War Project, September 12, 2021.
• "US trained Khashoggi's killers. A review of all military training programs is necessary" CNN, August 30, 2021.*
• "Afghanistan Is Just the Latest Case of U.S. Arms Ending Up With U.S. Adversaries," Forbes, August 27, 2021.
• "Failure In Afghanistan, Over 40 Years in the Making," Forbes, August 18, 2021.
• "If Biden can’t stand up to Saudi Arabia, then Congress should, and now," Responsible Statecraft, July 21, 2021.
• "How Much Is Enough? Pentagon Spending and the Quest for Security," Medium, July 14, 2021.
• "What Price 'Defense'? America's Nearly $1.3 Trillion National Security Budget Isn't Making Us Any Safer," Tom Dispatch, June 29, 2021.
• "End Military Aid to Saudi Arabia," The New York Times, June 24, 2021.
• "Exaggerating Challenge From China Threatens U.S. Security," Forbes, June 22, 2021.
• "Congress should cut military aid to the Philippines," The Hill, June 16, 2021. 
• "There is still time to stop the $735 million arms sale to Israel," Responsible Statecraft, June 9, 2021.
• "Israel’s Military, Made in the USA," the Nation, May 21, 2021.*
• "Pentagon Waste Takes Many Forms," Forbes, May 20, 2021.
• "Executive Excess: CEO Compensation in the Arms Industry, 2020," Arms and Security Program, Center for International Policy, May 4,  2021.
• "Mixed Signals and Mixed Results Characterize Biden’s Foreign Policy at 100 Days," The Baraza, April 29, 2021.
• "At 100 Days, Grading Biden’s Progress Toward a More Responsible US Arms Trade Policy," Just Security, April 28, 2021.*
• "Selling Arms To The UAE Is Not In U.S. Security Interests," Forbes, April 23, 2021.

* indicates additional authors.