• TERRORISMAfghan Terrorism Is a Small Threat in the United States

    By Alex Nowrasteh

    It is still not clear whether Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who murdered a West Virginia National Guard member in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, was a terrorist – but assuming he is a terrorist, it would mean that since 1975, Lakanwal is the only Afghan terrorist to have murdered somebody on U.S. soil in an attack. In other words, the annual chance of being murdered in an Afghan terrorist attack on U.S. soil is about 1 in 14.2 billion per year. The annual chance of being murdered in a normal homicide is about 1 in 14,000 per year, approximately one million times greater.

  • IMMIGRTIONTrump Administration’s Immigrant Detention Policy Broadly Rejected by Federal Judges

    By Cassandra Burke Robertson

    In response to the Trump administration’s practice of rounding up and jailing immigrants without a hearing — a departure from fundamental constitutional protections — federal judges have systematically rejected the administration’s attempt to drastically expand who can be locked up without a hearing while awaiting deportation proceedings.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHThe First MAGA National Security Strategy

    By Rebecca Lissner

    Trump’s ideologically driven statement of strategic intent indicates that the United States could be willing to interfere abroad to promote an illiberal world—a stunning victory for the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHThe Rise of the Far-Right in Japan

    By Saman Ayesha Kidwai

    Sohei Kamiya’s far-right populist Sanseito captured 14 seats (in addition to a previously existing seat) in the July 2025 elections to the House of Councilors, the Upper House of the Japanese Diet. The Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, along with its defining policy approaches and worldview, has found resonance among certain sections of the electorate in Japan.

  • DIGITAL IDThe UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID. Here’s Why.

    By Paige Collings

    In late September, the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government’s plans to introduce a new digital ID scheme in the country to take effect before the end of the Parliament (no later than August 2029). This is the latest example of a government creating a new digital system that is fundamentally incompatible with a privacy-protecting and human rights-defending democracy.

  • NUCLEAR SAFETYProtecting Next-Gen Reactors

    By Sarah Lusk

    As the United States accelerates deployment of advanced and small modular reactors (A/SMRs), the nuclear energy sector is embracing a digital future. While digital systems provide operators with big benefits, they can also create vulnerabilities that enable criminals to access critical infrastructure.

  • ELECTION SECURITYVoting by Mail Faces Uncertain Moment Ahead of Midterm Elections

    By Jonathan Shorman

    Across the United States, voting by mail faces a moment of uncertainty ahead of the midterm elections next year, as the U.S. Supreme Court could require all mail ballots to arrive by Election Day.

  • AIA Prisoner’s Dilemma in the Race to Artificial General Intelligence

    A new report from RAND aims to represent the ongoing policy debate on the race to artificial general intelligence (AGI) in a mathematically neutral model which allows policymakers to compare the outcome of alternative strategies in international technology competition.

  • CYBERSECURITYUniversity of Central Florida’s Tinley Park MHC secures top spot at the 2025 DOE CyberForce Competition

    The University of Central Florida’s Tinley Park MHC proved victorious in DOE’s CyberForce Competition, valiantly defending a simulated cyberattack on an offshore oil rig’s control system. The competition challenges students to solve real-world cybersecurity problems, focusing on protecting the nation’s energy systems.

  • COUNTER-DRONE TECHCapturing Rogue Drones

    A new system is capable of repelling and capturing unauthorized drones. The defensive system’s own drones are equipped with an extendable net which snags unruly drones.

  • LESSONS OF THE VIETNAM FAILUREBookshelf: War Lessons from Robert McNamara

    By Robert Wihtol

    Robert McNamara was the architect of the wasteful, unwinnable U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In retrospect, he stressed the importance of understanding local conditions and having an exit strategy: “Before each operation there should be a paper on how to get out. And if you can’t get out, don’t do it.” As the administration is considering expanding its questionable military efforts in the Caribbean into an invasion of Venezuela, it would do well to heed McNamara’s advice.

  • FORENSICSScientists Pioneer Breakthrough Fingerprint Forensic Test

    For decades, investigators have struggled to recover fingerprints from weapons because any biological trace is usually destroyed by the high temperatures, friction and gas released after a gun is fired. Scientists have developed a method to recover fingerprints from ammunition casing, once thought nearly impossible.

  • QUOTE OF THE DAYThreats to Public Health

    “Members of the medical and scientific community who have long supported an active government role in health issues likely never expected that a controversial figure like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—who has often made unsubstantiated claims about vaccine safety, environmental toxins, and food additives, and has fueled public fears leading to a drop in childhood vaccination rates—would become the leader of the country’s public health system.”

    — Jeffrey A. Singer, “Breaking the Government’s Grip on Medical Debate,” CATO Institute

  • TARGETING SCIENCEEPA’s Climate Science Erasure

    The EPA has removed scientific data and climate change information from the agency’s webpages, including all references to the contribution of human activities to climate change. The EPA also removed critical research evaluating the risks that climate change poses to the health of Americans, and to the impact of global warming on the U.S. economy through the intensification of natural disasters such as droughts, extreme precipitation, and wildfires.

  • OUR PICKSMilitary Competition in Space Will Intensify | Microsoft Needs to Untangle Itself from Beijing | AI Is About to Transform Nuclear Energy, and more

    ·  Military Competition in Space Will Intensify

    ·  When Leaders Mistake Brutality for Strength

    ·  Dan Bongino Admits to Lying During His Pundit Days

    ·  Must the Military Disobey Unlawful Orders? Pam Bondi Has Said Yes.

    ·  The EPA Is Wiping Mention of Human-Caused Climate Change from Its Website

    ·  AI Is About to Transform Nuclear Energy, and the United States Isn’t Ready

    ·  Microsoft Needs to Untangle Itself from Beijing

  • WORLD ROUNDUPWhat Would Teddy Roosevelt Think of the “Trump Corollary”? | Japan’s Efforts to Wean Itself Off Chinese Rare Earths | Vietnam Tries to Escape the U.S.-China Trap, and more

    ·  Trump Calls Europe “Decaying” Group of Nations with Weak Leaders

    ·  Why Trump’s “America First” Security Strategy Is Misguided, and Dangerous

    ·  It’s Time Europe Got to Grips with the MAGA Challenge

    ·  The Neocons Were Right

    ·  Trump’s Team Sees Europe’s “Erasure.” Europeans See a Hostile U.S.

    ·  What Would Teddy Roosevelt Think of the “Trump Corollary”?

    ·  China Knows How to Punish Countries That Offend It

    ·  Vietnam Tries to Escape the U.S.-China Trap

    ·  Lessons from Japan’s Efforts to Wean Itself Off Chinese Rare Earths 

  • MASS SHOOTINGMass Killings Hit a 20-year Low, Northeastern Data Shows — but Public Perception Hasn’t Caught Up

    By Tanner Stening

    As 2025 winds to a close, new data show a surprising trend: this year is on track to record the fewest mass killings in two decades.

  • TARGETING SCIENCECDC Advisers Drop Decades-Old Universal Hepatitis B Birth Dose Recommendation, Suggest Blood Testing After One Dose

    By Mary Van Beusekom, Laine Bergeson, Liz Szabo, and Chris Dall

    Scientists say that hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective, and that dropping the decades-old practice of a universal dose at birth will have only one result: hepatitis B rates and resulting liver cancer, cirrhosis, and premature death will rise among the unvaccinated or undervaccinated—whether in infancy or later in life, when unprotected adults will be vulnerable to infection.

  • TARGETING SCIENCEAluminum in Vaccines: Separating RFK Jr.’s Claims from Scientific Evidence

    By Antony Black

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s belief that aluminum in vaccines can cause health issues is contradicted by scientific evidence, a fact which RFK Jr. does not allow to interfere with his campaign against vaccination. What is incontrovertible is that increasing vaccine hesitancy and reduced vaccination rates lead to more vulnerable people and more infectious diseases, illnesses, and deaths. It is important to question medical interventions, but this questioning should be informed, rational, and open.

  • TRUTH DECAYNew Study Explains Why People Fall for Fake News

    In a world where misinformation spreads faster than fact, a new study is offering insight into why so many people fall for fake news, even when they suspect it’s false.

  • SEARCH & RESCUEUsing Smartphones to Improve Disaster Search and Rescue

    When a natural disaster strikes, time is of the essence if people are trapped under rubble.When visibility is limited, sound that can penetrate through rubble is the key to finding trapped victims quickly.

  • ENERGY SECURITYFuture of Geothermal in New Mexico

    By Diana Hackenburg

    New Mexico is known for bringing the heat with its famous green chiles, but a new report points to another source of heat that’s causing excitement. A new report lays out the opportunities —and challenges —to harnessing the state’s geothermal resources as a reliable, sustained domestic source of energy.