'Making compensation more competitive with civilian careers is crucial'

'US shouldn't draft women — or men. We need to keep an all-volunteer military.'

Marla Bautista at USA Today 

"Requiring women to register for the Selective Service would be a significant step toward gender equality in national defense," but "compulsory service could lead to a less motivated and less cohesive military," says Marla Bautista. The strength of the military "lies in its all-volunteer force, where men and women willingly choose to serve." Instead of a draft, the U.S. should "make military service a more attractive option for women and men who freely choose to enlist."

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'I'm a doctor and a voter. Here's how I'm thinking about the health of Trump and Biden.'

Daniela J. Lamas at The New York Times

It is "natural to assume that physicians might have a better understanding than other voters of how healthy either Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden is," but "it's not that simple," says Daniela J. Lamas. The public "should know if a presidential candidate has a high chance of dying while in office," and when it comes to health concerns, "age is real." But "this does not mean that someone in their 80s is not competent enough to become president."

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'Don't fall for Putin's Crimea cries — he's coldly preying on Biden's escalation fears'

Mark Toth and Jonathan Sweet at the New York Post

The Kremlin is "mightily crying foul and essentially accusing Ukraine and the United States of violating the Geneva Conventions," but "this is projection at its absolute worst," say Mark Toth and Jonathan Sweet. It is "not the time for the White House to fall again for Putin's escalation bluster or allow Ukraine to be further handcuffed." Russia is "endeavoring to paralyze the Biden administration into submission — yet, somewhat laughably, is doing so from a position of weakness."

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'Europe may be declining, but America isn't'

Walter Russell Mead at The Wall Street Journal 

"Talk of U.S. decline has become fashionable again," but "after a long look at Europe, I'm not convinced," says Walter Russell Mead. Europe "remains locked in denial about how grim the global situation has become — and how rapidly German and European influence is evaporating around the world." If we "keep developing new technologies, integrating immigrants and generating wealth on a staggering scale, American society will be too dynamic for decadence and too busy for decline."

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