• Importing Even More Crime

    The number of encounters with illegal immigrants recorded by the Border Patrol in FY2020 was 458,088. In FY22021, that number increased to about two million. The number of encounters with illegal immigrants who already had criminal records in FY2020 was 2,438. In FY2021, it rose to 10,763.

  • Getting Serious About the Threat of High Altitude Nuclear Detonation

    The ongoing commercialization of space with cost effective bulk electronics presents a tantalizing target for nations with a space disadvantage to target long-before a conflict could escalate to nuclear exchange. Robert “Tony” Vincent writes “the Department of Defense should get serious about planning for and countering the threat of high altitude nuclear detonations, starting with its various science and technology funding organizations.”

  • Venezuela Committing Crimes Against Humanity to Crush Opposition: UN

    The UN says President Maduro is directing security agencies to arrest and torture political opponents. Abuses are also rife in the south, where gold mining profits have put a target on the backs of indigenous peoples

  • The Inflation Reduction Act Is the Start of Reclaiming Critical Mineral Chains

    One important component of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, has been largely overlooked. “Built within the IRA is a commitment to increasing the domestic U.S. supply of critical minerals—lithium, nickel, manganese, and graphite, among others—to provide the materials necessary for a vast expansion in electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and renewable power production infrastructure,” Morgan Bazilian writes. “The United States needs more wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars. But to make that possible, it will need more mines.”

  • Heading Off a Future Constitutional Calamity

    The Electoral Count Reform Act offers the opportunity to address a potentially existential national security threat with a relatively small number of keystrokes revising the U.S. Code—but time is short to get it done.

  • Let’s Stop Being Cavalier About Civilian Control of the Military

    The message of a remarkable open letter by former secretaries of defense and former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, published last week, is straightforward: The United States needs to review the basic principles of civilian control of the military and recommit to best practices in civil-military relations. Peter Feaver and Michèle Flournoy write that the statement dismisses what might be called the naïve theory of civilian control — the idea that every whim of the president should be immediately executed as a direct order without any further thought. “In a democracy, that can be as dangerous as rank insubordination, if a president is reckless,” they write. “It is hard not to think of President Trump and the way his impulsive, idiosyncratic approach to the commander-in-chief role made this rearticulation of first principles necessary.”

  • How the Midterms Could Weaken U.S. Election Security

    Candidates who support former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election would, if elected in November, gain the power to open up access to their states’ voting machines. Eric Geller writes that this is a prospect which election security experts and cybersecurity analysts describe as potentially catastrophic for American democracy.

  • “Mega Study” Points to Ways to Strengthen Democracy

    American democracy is at risk, Stanford scholars and others have warned. Many studies have found anti-democratic attitudes and support for partisan violence are at concerning levels among the American public, partisan animosity is growing, and Americans are willing to compromise democratic principles for partisan gain. A Stanford-led project has identified a set of strategies to counter anti-democratic attitudes and reduce partisan animosity.

  • Reinforcing Democracy by Building Trust

    Trust is a critical ingredient for cultivating a robust civil society and resilient democracy, analysts attest. By the mid-1990s, several Western democracies, including the United States, were showing signs of political decay, distrust, and declining civic and political engagement.

  • ‘Silicon Lifeline’: Report Reveals Western Technology Guiding Russia’s Weapons in Ukraine

    Microelectronics produced in the United States and allied countries are crucial components of Russian weapons systems used in the Ukraine invasion. A new report says more than 450 foreign-made components have been found in Russian weapons recovered in Ukraine. The report’s authors say Moscow acquired critical technology from companies in the United States, Europe and Asia in the years before the invasion.

  • Chinese Firms Leaving New York Stock Exchange Could Be First of Many

    A long-running battle between U.S. securities regulators and Chinese companies that sell their shares in the United States is expected to result in five large state-controlled Chinese firms leaving the New York Stock Exchange, with other departures possible in the future.

  • Man Charged with Making Threat to Arizona Election Official

    A Missouri man was indicted for allegedly threatening election officials in Arizona. “These unlawful threats of violence endanger election officials, undermine our electoral process, and threaten our democracy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

  • Why Presidential Papers Don't Belong to Presidents

    The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 established that all presidential records are owned by the public and automatically transfer into the custody of the National Archives as soon as a commander-in-chief leaves office. The PRA was passed after President Richard Nixon, in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal, fought to destroy White House records, including secret tape recordings, in order to conceal criminal activity by himself and his staff. Nixon argued that the White House records were his private property to do with them what he wanted.

  • Drones Approved for Aerial Inspections of Power Facilities

    Drones have allowed companies new ways to stretch the boundaries of current regulations. One of the latest wins for drone technology is a waiver from the FAA that gives Dominion Energy, one of the U.S. largest energy companies, permission to use drones to inspect power-generation facilities in seven states.

  • Texan Who Prosecutors Say “Lit the Match” of Jan. 6 Riot Sentenced to More Than 7 Years in Prison

    Guy Reffitt, a 49-year-old Wylie resident, never entered the Capitol but helped ignite the crowd “into an unstoppable force,” a prosecutor at his trial said. His sentence is the longest given out so far from the Jan. 6 riot.