Our picks“Netflix-Worthy Terror Plot” | The Stakes in November | Children & Extremism, and more

What’s at Stake in This Election? The American Democratic Experiment (Dan Coats, New York Times)

·  “We hear often that the November election is the most consequential in our lifetime. But the importance of the election is not just which candidate or which party wins. Voters also face the question of whether the American democratic experiment, one of the boldest political innovations in human history, will survive.”

·  “If we fail to take every conceivable effort to ensure the integrity of our election, the winners will not be Donald Trump or Joe Biden, Republicans or Democrats. The only winners will be Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Ali Khamenei. No one who supports a healthy democracy could want that.”

Neo-Nazi Terror Leader Said to Have Worked with U.S. Special Forces(Ben Makuch, Vice)
The leader of The Base, Rinaldo Nazzaro, worked as a private military contractor for the Pentagon in 2014, which included briefing special forces.

Germany Dismisses Military Intelligence Official After Neo-Nazi Scandals(Katrin Bennhold, New York Times)
After years of playing down the risk of far-right infiltration in the military, political leaders are confronting an issue that has become too dangerous to ignore.

New IRA Links Confirm Hezbollah’s Growing Terror Threat in Europe(Con Coughlin, The National)
The Lebanese militia is investing in its network across the continent in a variety of ways on behalf of Iran

Children in Britain Showing Interest in Extremism, Says Senior Officer(Jamie Grierson, Guardian)
Teenagers talk about carrying out terrorism, MPs told, as extremism rises in pandemic

3 Steps to Safeguard Our National Security Supply Chain(Daniel N. Hoffman, The Hill)
The Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, Ellen Lord, last month emphasized the importance of transferring microelectronic production to the U.S. The Pentagon needs to exercise greater command-and-control over its acquisition of microelectronic technology, which is the foundation for 21st-century fast, disruptive technology such as “Big Data,” artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G wireless.
Bringing the supply chain to the U.S., which the Pentagon refers to as “reshoring,” would be a major step toward protecting the security of microelectronics from nefarious adversaries like China.

Watchdog Highlights Need for Better Cyber Coordination Across Government(Mariam Baksh, Nextgov)
A pair of reports point to confusion about the State Department’s new cyber bureau and the vacuum left behind by the eliminated White House cyber coordinator position.

Two Men Are Accused of “Netflix-Worthy Terror Plot” to Bomb the White House and Trump Tower in Support of ISIS (Harriet Alexander, Daily Mail)
Kristopher Matthews from South Carolina allegedly begun plotting last year. In April Jaylyn Molina from Texas joined in his chats on an encrypted network. The pair allegedly planned a series of ISIS-inspired attacks on U.S. sites including the White House in Washington DC and Trump Tower in New York. They were both arrested on Monday and charged with supporting terrorism

FBI Director: Feeding DOD’s Cyber Offense Operations Is Crucial to New Strategy(Mariam Baksh, Nextgov)
Senator says legislation is moving forward to thwart intellectual property theft from China and defend federal networks from cyberattacks.