• ELECTION SECURITYSecurity Agencies Warn Election Officials to Brace for Attacks on U.S. Presidential Race

    By Jeff Seldin

    U.S. intelligence and security agencies are trying to prepare election officials across the United States for a wave of new attacks aiming to destroy voter confidence in November’s presidential election, just as a series of reports warn that familiar adversaries – Russia, China, and Iran — are starting to ramp up their efforts.

  • CHINA WATCHSuozzi, Smith Relaunch the Congressional Uyghur Caucus

    In July 2021, Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) launched the bipartisan Congressional Uyghur Caucus to raise awareness of China’s systemic human rights violations against the Uyghur people and to support legislation aimed at addressing this coordinated human rights abuse. Suozzi decided not to run in 2022 for another term – but won the seat (NY-3) again in a special election in February this year. One of his first acts in Congress: Relaunching, with Smith, the Uyghur Caucus.

  • NUCLEAR WEAPONSKey Weapons Component Development Milestone

    By Kenny Vigil

    Sandia and the Kansas City National Security Campus completed a crucial weapons component development milestone, prior to full rate production. The Mark 21 Replacement Fuze interfaces with the W87-0 warhead for deployment onto the Minuteman III and, eventually, the Sentinel ICBM.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSAustralia’s Leadership Imperatives in Critical Minerals

    By Ian Satchwell

    Australia, like Canada, is well placed to be a global leader in the critical minerals sector. The country has the natural endowment, technical expertise and experience, global mining footprint, and mining capital base to back a claim to worldwide leadership.

  • COASTAL CHALLENGESSinking Land Increases Risk for Thousands of Coastal Residents

    By Travis Williams

    One in 50 people living in two dozen coastal cities in the United States could experience significant flooding by 2050, according to new research. The study projects that in the next three decades as many as 500,000 people could be affected as well as a potential 1 in 35 privately owned properties damaged by flooding.

  • WATER SECURITYProblems with Glen Canyon Dam Could Jeopardize Water Flowing to Western States

    By Problems with Glen Canyon Dam Could Jeopardize Water Flowing to Western States

    Without upgrades to the Glen Canyon dam’s infrastructure, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s ability to get water downstream to the lower Colorado River basin as required by the Colorado River Compact could be in jeopardy. This may be, in the words of concerned groups, “the most urgent water problem” for the Colorado River and the 40 million people who rely on it.

  • OUR PICKSUnpacking the FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill | There’s No Easy Answer to Chinese EVs | Google’s Location History Program & Digital Surveillance Law, and more

    ·  Trump’s Challenge to Democracy through the Lens of Transitional Justice
    Viewed comparatively, the events surrounding the January 6 U.S. Capitol Attack reflect a larger erosion of democratic norms and setbacks to liberal constitutionalism across western countries

    ·  How Google’s Location History Program Could Upend Digital Surveillance Law
    Federal courts may eliminate Fourth Amendment protections for cell phone data based on dubious claims about Google’s Location History

    ·  Unpacking the FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill
    The FISA reauthorization bill has something to interest everyone from addressing the use of U.S. person query terms to formalizing oversight

    ·  Far-Right Sheriffs Want a Citizen Army to Stop ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Voters
    Speakers at a conference for Constitutional Sheriffs claimed that militias need to patrol polling stations to stop the “expected flood” of immigrant voters

    ·  There’s No Easy Answer to Chinese EVs
    Supercheap electric cars or an American industrial renaissance: Pick one

  • WORLD ROUNDUPThe Terrorist Threat the West Still Ignores | Iran’s Nuclear Crisis Has No Military Solution | An ISIS Terror Group Draws Half Its Recruits from Tiny Tajikistan, and more

    ·  The Terrorist Threat the West Still Ignores
    Domestic far-right terrorism has been increasingly internationalized—and requires a coordinated response

    ·  Is the EU’s Image Failing in Southeast Asia? 
    A new survey shows the EU is losing face with business and government “elites” of Southeast Asia. Respondents showed less confidence in Brussels on issues like upholding free trade and global order

    ·  China is Battening down for the Gathering Storm Over Taiwan
    There is no apparent countdown to D-day for initiating a blockade or invasion, but major strategic indicators clearly show that General Secretary Xi Jinping is still preparing his country for a showdown

    ·  Iran’s Nuclear Crisis Has No Military Solution
    Whether Tehran weaponizes its program remains tied to threat perceptions by political leadership

    ·  An ISIS Terror Group Draws Half Its Recruits from Tiny Tajikistan
    Young migrants from the former Soviet republic were accused of an attack on a concert hall in Moscow that killed 145 people

  • IMMIGRANTS & CRIMECrime Rates, Not the Number of Crimes, Are a Better Way to Judge Immigrant Criminality

    By Alex Nowrasteh

    Focusing on crime rates rather than the number of crimes is essential to compare criminality between populations such as immigrants and native‐born Americans. Otherwise, there is no basis for arguing that one or the other is more criminally inclined, which really matters when discussing public safety.

  • EXTREMISMFar-Right Extremism in Europe: From Margins to Mainstream

    By Julia Jose

    The influx of migrants over the decades has festered resentment within the local European population, who fear the undermining of ethno-national identities and access to adequate social and economic opportunities.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSA More Efficient Way to Extract Lithium from Mining Sites, Oil Fields, Used Batteries

    Lithium is a lightweight metal commonly used in energy-dense and rechargeable batteries. Electric vehicles, which are needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, rely on lithium-ion batteries. Chemists have invented a more efficient way to extract lithium from waste liquids leached from mining sites, oil fields and used batteries.

  • FLOODS & BATTERIESFrom Florida Floods to Idaho Desert: Understanding Impacts of Flood Damage on Vehicle Batteries

    By Michelle Goff

    Electric vehicles offer some clear advantages over gasoline-power cars including zero emissions and lower operation and maintenance costs. But they also present some new challenges. Recent storms have revealed that seawater-flooded EVs can pose safety concerns for passengers, emergency responders and recovery personnel.

  • ENERGY SECURITYSubterranean Storage of Hydrogen

    By Mollie Rappe

    Hydrogen is an important clean fuel: It can be made by splitting water using solar or wind power, it can be used to generate electricity and to power heavy industry, and it could be used to energize fuel-cell-based vehicles. Sandia scientists are using computer simulations and laboratory experiments to see if depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs can be used for storing this carbon-free fuel.

  • WATER SECURITYAccelerating Research and Development for a Secure Water Future

    By Lauren Core

    Water and energy are interdependent – water is used to produce nearly every major energy source, and energy is critical to transporting and treating water. A research consortium will continue to lead a DOE desalination hub to drive innovation for sustainable water security.

  • OUR PICKSRussian Influence Operations Targeting U.S. Election Have Begun | The Jews Aren’t Taking Away TikTok | Why Biden Should Not Debate Trump, and more

    ·  Why Biden Should Not Debate Trump
    The networks want their show, but to give the challenger equal status on a TV stage would be a dire normalization of his attempted coup

    ·  The Jews Aren’t Taking Away TikTok
    But conspiracy theories that say otherwise are coming for democracy itself

    ·  Microsoft Finds Russian Influence Operations Targeting U.S. Election Have Begun
    Russia-linked accounts are disseminating divisive content aimed at U.S. audiences, including criticizing American support of Ukraine in its war with Russia

    ·  Hackers Linked to Russia’s Military Claim Credit for Sabotaging US Water Utilities
    Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, a group with ties to the Kremlin’s Sandworm unit, is crossing lines even that notorious cyberwarfare unit wouldn’t dare to

    ·  Big Tech Says Spy Bill Turns Its Workers into Informants
    One of Silicon Valley’s most influential lobbying arms joins privacy reformers in a fight against the Biden administration–backed expansion of a major US surveillance program

  • WORLD ROUNDUPHistory Has Been Made as Arabs Fought Alongside Israel | The Rape Denialists | Israel’s Retaliation Dilemma, and more

    ·  History Has Been Made as Arabs Fought Alongside Israel
    Contrary to narratives that Israel has isolated itself, several Arab states have lent their support to defend the country

    ·  The U.S. Navy Has Now Proven It Can Stop Ballistic Missiles
    Exo-atmospheric kill vehicles successfully used to defend Israel

    ·  Israel’s Retaliation Dilemma
    Even if regional conflict is avoided, Israel’s freedom of action against Iran may be effectively curtailed in the future

    ·  Benjamin Netanyahu is Pushing for War with Iran
    The Israeli prime minister has a history of encouraging Washington to get involved in Middle Eastern conflicts

    ·  The Rape Denialists
    Why has it proved so hard for so many on the left to acknowledge what happened on October 7?

  • FLOODSFEMA Is Making an Example of This Florida Boomtown. Locals call it “Revenge Politics.”

    By Jake Bittle

    When U.S. homeowners buy subsidized flood insurance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they make a commitment to build back better after flood disasters, even if it costs them. The Biden administration is trying to punish Lee County for rebuilding flood-prone homes. The state’s Republican politicians are fighting back.

  • IRAN’S THREAT'Nightmare Scenario': The Risks of Escalation as Israel Mulls Iran Response

    By Kian Sharifi

    In the wake of Iran’s attack, Israel has been weighing up its options, which analysts say could range from a diplomatic offensive to isolate Iran to directing military strikes on the Islamic republic. With the risk of escalation higher than ever, the worst-case scenario of an all-out war between Iran and Israel is a distinct possibility, analysts say.

  • CHINA WATCHUnder Biden, U.S. Reimagines Asian Alliances as 'Lattice' Fence

    By William Gallo

    For decades, U.S. policy in Asia has relied on what was informally known as the “hub and spokes” system of bilateral alliances. But lately, U.S. officials have used another analogy to describe their vision for the region: a lattice fence. It may sound like only a metaphorical tweak, but say it could have big implications, as they try to create a durable plan to respond to China’s growing power.

  • EXTREMISMU.S. Antisemitic Incidents Soared 140 Percent in 2023 – Breaking All Previous Records

    Massive spike Post-Oct. 7 recorded; campus incidents tripled; bomb threats targeting Jewish institutions up 10 times.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSSoutheast Asia’s Potential in Critical Minerals

    By Han Phoumin

    Global critical mineral demand is expected to increase dramatically in coming decades, from a 7.1 million tons in 2020 to 42.3 million tons in 2050. All manner of sophisticated industries, including defense manufacturing, will also compete for these materials. Southeast Asia has significant natural reserves of several key critical minerals, including nickel, tin, rare-earth elements (REEs) and bauxite, and the region is still not fully explored for more of them.

  • CLIMATE MIGRATIONThe Flooding Will Come “No Matter What”

    By Abrahm Lustgarten

    Another great American migration is now underway, this time forced by the warming that is altering how and where people can live. For now, it’s just a trickle. But in the corners of the country’s most vulnerable landscapes —on the shores of its sinking bayous and on the eroding bluffs of its coastal defenses —populations are already in disarray. The complex, contradictory, and heartbreaking process of American climate migration is underway.