• ENERGY SECURITYOPEC Agrees to Cut Oil Production

    The 23-member alliance has decided to reduce production by 2 million barrels per day. The move could increase crude oil prices and aid Russia, which is grappling with Western attempts to reduce its financing.

  • ENERGY SECURITYNord Stream Pipeline Sabotage: How an Attack Could Have Been Carried Out and Why Europe Was Defenseless

    By Christian Bueger

    Whatever caused the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, it appears to be the first major attack on critical “subsea” (underwater) infrastructure in Europe. This raises the question of the vulnerabilities of European pipelines, electricity and internet cables, and other maritime infrastructure. Europe will have to revisit its policies for protecting them.

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  • CRITICAL MINERALSMagnesium Market Highlights Continuing Fragility of Global Supply Chains

    By John Coyne

    Magnesium is a critical input for major and emerging economies’ economic and industrial development. It has diverse high-tech applications in a wide range of sectors, from renewable energy to aerospace, defense to transport, and telecommunications to agriculture. The problem is that for both industry and governments, magnesium supply chains are vulnerable to sudden disruptions.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPTurning Taiwan into a Porcupine | Downside of Imperial Collapse | U.S. Dependence on China, and more

    ··OPEC, Allies Move to Slash Oil Production, Eliciting Blistering White House Response
    Russia, Saudi Arabia lead oil production cut, adding to inflation pressures

    ··Nuclear Annihilation Is a Threat Again
    The war in Ukraine presents perils of equal magnitude to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

    ··America’s Dependence on China Is a Crisis in the Making
    Increasing domestic shipping and shipbuilding are key to U.S. national security and its economy

    ··U.S. Aims to Turn Taiwan into Giant Weapons Depot
    Taiwan needs to become a “porcupine” to withstand a Chinese invasion

    ··The Downside of Imperial Collapse
    When empires or great powers fall, chaos and war rise

    ··The World Putin Wants
    Distortions about the past feed delusions about the future

    ··The Abraham Accords and the Imposed Middle East Order
    An imposed top-down regional order is inherently unstable

    ··Frequent Breaks in Undersea Pipelines Mean Fixes Are Possible for Nord Stream
    Underwater pipelines have sophisticated protection measures and repair techniques

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  • ASYLUMDHS Revokes Trump-Era Asylum Reforms That Were Tied Up in Court

    By Elizabeth Jacobs

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently canceled reforms made in 2020 to modernize the asylum system. DHS should have at least considered lawful alternatives before revoking.

  • H-2B VISASWill DHS Again Leave H‑2B Winter Industries Short Workers?

    By David J. Bier

    The H 2B program allows employers to hire foreign workers for seasonal or temporary nonfarm jobs. USCIS recently announced that employers had already reached the H 2B cap of 33,000 visas for the winter months before the start of the season. The H 2B program is filling jobs in relatively niche areas or positions where the shortages are most severe. DHS should immediately raise the cap to allow more H 2B workers to enter these positions.

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  • DISASTER COSTSThe “Hurricane Tax”: Ian Is Pushing Florida’s Home Insurance Market Toward Collapse

    By Jake Bittle

    Hurricane Ian has dissipated, but it will bring even more turmoil to the Sunshine State in the coming months. This damage will be financial rather than physical, as ratings agencies and real estate companies have estimated the storm’s damages at anywhere between $30 and $60 billion. The storm is poised to be one of the largest insured loss events in U.S. history.

  • DISASTER COSTSThe U.S. Needs to Prepare for More Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters Like Hurricane Ian

    By Alice C. Hil

    Billion-dollar disasters such as Hurricane Ian are on the rise in the United States. Officials should take swift action to reduce the damage and protect Americans.

  • CLIMATE CHALLENGESThe Cost of Rising Temperatures

    From crop damage to cooling failures at cloud-based data centers, climate change affects a wide variety of economic sectors. The study found that economies are sensitive to persistent temperature shocks over at least a 10-year time frame.

  • OUR PICKSHurricane Sinks Unsinkable “Dome Home” | Biden Completing Bits of Trump’s Wall | Sounding Alarms Ahead of Midterms, and more

    ··Ian Sinks Florida ‘Dome Home’ Built to Survive Hurricanes
    Hurricane Ian sinks Cape Romano’s Dome Home, a forebear of hurricane readiness

    ··The Biden Administration Is Quietly Completing Bits of Donald Trump’s Wall
    The border is more than a political problem for Democrats: It is an actual problem

    ··DHS Taps Key Architect of 9/11 Response to Oversee Domestic Counterterrorism Efforts
    Nicholas Rasmussen will lead DHS’s broad campaign against domestic terrorism

    ··Talk of ‘Civil War,’ Ignited by Mar-a-Lago Search, Is Flaring Online
    Twitter mentions of “civil war” had soared nearly 3,000 percent

    ··Violent Threats and Disinformation Have Officials Sounding Alarms Ahead of Midterms
    U.S. authorities say that election denialism is a huge concern

    ··Lisa Smith’s Sentence for Being at ‘Lowest Level’ of Isis Terror Group Excessive, Court Told
    Lawyer for former IS member said she went to Syria, “got married, kept house and that’s it”

    ··Plan to Secure Open Source Software Involves Agencies Using More of It
    Guiding agencies toward—not away from—using and contributing to open source code libraries

    ··The United States Isn’t Ready for the New Phase of Climate Change
    Washington needs a national adaptation strategy

    ··More Americans Are Moving into Hurricane Zones Even as Climate Risks Mount
    More people are moving to the Southeast, putting themselves in harm’s way

  • NUCLEAR WEAPONSRumors Grow of Russia's Nuclear Weapons Moves

    European news outlets have been reporting that in the past twenty-four hours the Russian military has been moving components related to a nuclear weapon launch closer to the Russia-Ukraine border. NATO intelligence officials have said that a Russian submarine carrying nuclear-armed underwater drones has “disappeared” from its port in north Russia.

  • NUCLEAR WARNuclear War: Does It Take Luck or Reasoning to Avoid It? Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis, 60 Years On

    Sixty years ago, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John Kennedy told his cabinet that he estimated the odds of an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union to be “somewhere between one in three and even.” How close we are to a nuclear war with Russia today? It is hard to tell. Deliberate escalation may be unlikely, and we may avoid the worst-case scenario. However, there are many situations that could unintentionally lead to disaster.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPDrone Surprises in Ukraine | India Rising | Fracking in Europe, and more

    ··Russia’s Small Nuclear Arms: A Risky Option for Putin and Ukraine Alike
    Small is dangerous

    ··Russia’s Nuclear Bluster Is a Sign of Panic
    Yielding to Putin’s blackmail would be folly

    ··India Is Quietly Laying Claim to Economic Superpower Status
    India recently overtook UK as the world’s fifth biggest economy – and it could be third by 2030

    ··India Can’t Be a Superpower If It Can’t Create Jobs
    India’s bloated, inefficient military is the result of lack of good jobs for young men

    ··What Accounts for the Economic Gap Between China and India?
    China stole a march on India in manufacturing

    ··Why Fracking Cannot Solve Europe’s Energy Crisis
    Europe’s shale-gas reservesare much smaller, and its population denser

    ··What Surprised One Drone Maker About Russia’s War on Ukraine
    Drones proved effective in Ukraine, but they are no substitute for larger weapons

    ··A Stronger but Less Ambitious NATO
    Sweden and Finland will resist the alliance’s missions outside Europe

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREViolent Extremists, terrorists Targeting U.S. Critical Infrastructure

    Violent extremists and terrorist organizations of numerous ideological persuasions have conducted devastating attacks on critical infrastructure in the United States. Today’s terrorism threat picture in the U.S. is incredibly fluid, dynamic, and dangerous, and under this backdrop authorities are increasingly worried about an uptick in terrorist plotting against critical infrastructure.

  • TERRORISMTerrorists Use Humor in English-language Propaganda Magazines to Reinforce Identity

    Humor is used in English-language jihadi terrorist magazines to reinforce identity and help groups bond, research suggests. The study says the regularity of dehumanizing humor in ISIS’s magazines reflects their overall aggressive and uncompromising stance on outsiders and opponents.

  • BIOMETRICSFacial Recognition Technology and Counter-Terror Operations

    By Akshat Upadhyay

    The use of facial recognition technology in counterterrorism must address several formidable challenges before being adopted. This means we should proceed careful, even cautiously, before operationalizing the technology.

  • ENERGY SECURITYSolar Harvesting System May Generate Solar Power 24/7

    With all the research, history and science behind it, there are limits to how much solar power can be harvested and used – as its generation is restricted only to the daytime. A new type of solar energy harvesting system that breaks the efficiency record of all existing technologies. And no less important, it clears the way to use solar power 24/7.

  • OUR PICKSFuture Border Technology | Deadly Heat Dome | Consumer Cyber Hygiene, and more

    ··Seven States Continue to See Unusual Levels of Threats to Election Workers
    Disturbingly high number of election threats to election workers in seven battleground states

    ··FBI Got Tip About Oath Keepers’ Plans for Armed Fight in November 2020
    Oath Keepers began planning in November 2020 for armed assault on the Capitol

    ··In New Jersey ‘Hotbed’ for Extremists, Lawmakers Examine Spike in Antisemitic Incidents
    Extremists flock to New Jersey

    ··Future Borders 2030: From Vision to Reality
    Border security technology is in an era of compressed transformation

    ··New Report Shows Significant Improvement in Consumer Cyber Hygiene
    Consumers are doing more to improve their cybersecurity

    ··Deadly Heat Dome Was a 1-in-10,000-Year Event
    Last year’s Pacific Northwest heat disaster occur just once every 10,000 years

  • CHINA WATCHChina’s Extensive Use of Genetic Information Sounds a Warning

    By Yvonne Lau

    As China increasingly relies on biometric data collection for public and national security purposes, it is time for democracies to address its role in their systems.

  • ARGUMENT: ENERGY SECURITYPermanent Rupture: The European-Russia Energy Relationship Has Ended with Nord Stream

    Last Monday’s blasts that tore through the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have already blown up whatever was left of five decades of German energy policy. For Germany, abandoning the Nord Stream pipelines signified a fundamental transformation of Germany’s energy security strategy, and its approach to relations with Russia. “The Nord Stream pipeline was the last gasp of Ostpolitik and this week’s damage is likely fatal.” Emily Holland writes.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPGermany Is Failing to Lead | Brazil: Waiting for the Generals | India's Divisive Politics & U.K. Diaspora Community, and more

    ··Here’s What Putin’s Nuclear Disaster Would Really Look Like
    Russian plans for “tactical nuclear strike” in Ukraine could quickly spiral out of control

    ··Norway Deploys Soldiers at Oil, Gas Plants In Wake Of Nord Stream Leaks
    Norway deploys soldiers to guard energy facilities, pipelines

    ··India’s Divisive Politics Spill Over to U.K. Diaspora Community
    Social media spreads Indian communal tensions to diaspora communities

    ··Poland Demands €1.3 Trillion in WWII Reparations from Germany
    Warsaw has estimated German WWII damage to Poland at €1.3 trillion

    ··Putin’s World Is Now Smaller Than Ever
    Putin had made four major miscalculations

    ··Security Forces Audio Recordings Allowed as Evidence in Terror Trial
    Covert recording entered as evidence in a long-running terror trial in Belfast

    ··Olaf Scholz and Why Germany Is Failing to Lead
    Geopolitical angst and strategic self-indulgence is paralyzing Germany

    ··Waiting for the Generals
    Brazil is perched on a knife edge

    ··Don’t Assume China’s AI Regulations Are Just a Power Play
    China’s new regulations of companies’ recommendation algorithms raise questions

    ··Poland’s Judicial Reform Falls Short of EU Expectations, Complicating Cooperation Against Russia
    Poland’s tweaking of its judicial reforms may not be enough for the EU

  • ELECTIONSMaking Each Vote Count

    By Leda Zimmerman

    MIT Ph.D. candidate Jacob Jaffe uses data science to identify and solve problems in election administration. A key takeaway from his ensemble of studies is that “while it’s relatively rare that elections are bad, we shouldn’t think that we’re good to go,” he says. “Instead, we need to be asking under what conditions do things get bad, and how can we make them better.”