• Preventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say

    The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.

  • China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US, Top Pentagon Official Says

    Russia’s war in Ukraine — portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself — still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America’s security, according to a top Pentagon official.

  • Owners of China-Based Company Charged with Conspiracy to Send Trade Secrets Belonging to Leading U.S.-Based Electric Vehicle Company

    Defendants allegedly conspired to send millions of dollars-worth of trade secrets to undercover law enforcement officers posing as potential customers.

  • TikTok Ban Feared, Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Follow

    Soon after the news broke about the House, on 13 March 2024, passing a bill that could potentially lead to a nationwide ban of the popular social media platform TikTok, influencers and extremists from across the political spectrum began framing the bill as an outright ban and speculating that the bill is a product of Jewish or Zionist influence, calling it an effort to infringe on free speech by limiting the reach of pro-Palestinian content.

  • The Curse of Nostalgia: Industrial Policy in the United States

    Strategic competition, creating jobs for the future, fighting climate change—industrial policy is pitched as the cure for both geopolitical and societal ills. It is also being sold as the main tool by which those challenges can be addressed with the urgency they require. What is most surprising about industrial policy today is that the United States has taken the lead in advocating for strategic public investments at home and abroad. This has left many countries on edge, not least because it is a departure from longstanding U.S. skepticism toward government intervention in markets.

  • Larger Lesson About Tariffs in a Move That Helped Trump, but Not the Country

    Researcher details findings on policy that failed to boost U.S. employment even as it scored political points. Promising to reduce a longstanding trade deficit with China, curb theft of U.S. intellectual property, and reclaim manufacturing jobs, then-President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports in January 2018. By at least one key set of measures, the move was a failure.

  • Supreme Court Lets Texas’ Immigration Law Stand, Intensifying Fight Between Texas and the U.S. Government Over Securing the Mexico Border

    The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on March 19, 2024, that Texas can – at least for now – have state authorities deport undocumented migrants, which has traditionally been the federal government’s responsibility. Texas’ attempts to control its border with Mexico and intervene on immigration issues – historically both the responsibility of the federal government – derive in part from the fact that many Texans believe that their Lone Star State is unique.

  • New International Biosecurity Organization Launched to Safeguard Bioscience

    Amid rapid advances in bioscience and biotechnology that could  pose significant global security risks without effective guardrails, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) last month launched the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS), a first-of-its-kind organization to strengthen international biosecurity governance. IBBIS, an independent organization to be headquartered in Geneva, provides tools that will allow technological innovation to flourish, safely and responsibly.

  • Hizb Ut Tahrir U.S. Conference Features Antisemitism, Calls for Violent Destruction of Israel

    The U.S. wing of Hizb Ut Tahrir, an international Islamist organization that seeks to establish an Islamic theocracy, held their annual conference in Villa Park, Illinois. The group, which is banned in the United Kingdom, Germany and several other countries, featured speakers who called for an army to invade and destroy Israel, justified the October 7 Hamas terror attack, suggested men should travel to Gaza to fight Israel, implored followers to “resist“ the “LGBT genderism…agenda driven by the UN,” and, in several cases, espoused overt antisemitic rhetoric.

  • Protecting Australians from Convicted Terrorists

    From 9/11 and the Bali bombings, to the rise of ISIL and the threat of issue-motivated violence from the likes of white supremacists, a comprehensive approach is needed, including education, prevention, punishment and rehabilitation.

  • Bolsonaro Mulled a Coup: Brazil Military Leaders

    Jair Bolsonaro discussed with the Brazilian military a plan to remain in power after he lost the 2022 presidential election, according to the testimonies of two military officers recorded in federal police documents.

  • Bolsonaro, Trump Election Cases Share Similarities, but Not Rulings

    Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro both posed a serious threat to their countries’ democracies: they both worked hard to diminish voters’ confidence in democracy by routinely denigrating and discrediting their countries’ electoral processes even before a single vote had been cast; each succeeded in persuading many of their supporters to believe in the Big Lie – referring to a fictitious, imaginary “rigged” election as the reason for their loss; and then each tried to stay in power even though both had lost the election. Last June, Brazil’s electoral court blocked Bolsonaro from running for elections for eight years for publicly denying the legitimacy of the 2022 presidential election. The U.S. Supreme Court, sidestepping the question of whether or not Trump engaged in or provided aid and comfort to an insurrection, recently ruled that states cannot bar Trump from running for another term, and that it was a decision for Congress to make. 

  • Congress Renews Ban on Undetectable Firearms

    Congress has reauthorized the Undetectable Firearms Act, a decades-old law aimed at preventing people from sneaking guns through security checkpoints at schools, airports, concerts, and other public spaces. Lawmakers had been racing to extend the prohibition before it expired on March 8.

  • Germany's RAF Terrorism — Many Unanswered Questions

    Even today, talk of the Red Army Faction (RAF) often provokes a heated debate in Germany. More than a quarter of a century has passed since the terrorist organization announced its dissolution. Nonetheless, there are those who are still grieving, victims who are still injured, RAF members who are still on the run — and many unanswered questions.

  • West African Juntas Set Up Joint Anti-Terrorism Force

    Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are planning on a joint force to “overcome the security challenges” facing the Sahel countries. The three West African neighbors are located in the Sahel region and have all seen coups unseat their civilian governments. They have also been mired in a decade-long conflict involving Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the so-called “Islamic State.”