• U.S. Can’t Overcome Manufacturing Gap with China

    The United States should not kid itself. It will not recover its manufacturing position from China in any foreseeable future. Assuming zero growth of China’s manufacturing sector for the next 20 years, closing the manufacturing gap would require U.S. manufacturing to grow at a torrid rate of 6 percent per year. That’s just implausible.

  • G20 Johannesburg Endorses Critical Minerals Framework

    The Trump administration is trying to diversify critical minerals supply chains and reduce dependence on China, but this goal cannot be achieved without broad and deep cooperation with other countries. The U.S. absence from the 2025 G20 discussions on critical minerals weakens collective efforts to counterbalance China’s influence.

  • Economic Deterrence in a China Contingency

    Deterring China from launching an attack on Taiwan is a central focus of U.S. and allied security planning. A new report explores a scenario involving a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, followed by an invasion of the Island, and discusses what economic measures the United States and its allies might employ to deter such aggression.

  • Trump Allows More Foreign Ag Workers, Eases Off ICE Raids on Farms

    In a tacit admission that U.S. food production requires foreign labor, the Trump administration is making it easier for farmers to employ guest workers from other countries. The shifts come as many Americans are concerned about the rising cost of food.

  • Data Centers’ Insatiable Demand for Electricity Will Change the Entire Energy Sector

    When the first large language models were unleashed, it triggered a headache for authorities around the world as they tried to figure out how to satisfy data centers’ endless demand for electricity.

  • Not Indentured: H‑1B Visa Holders Have Changed Jobs 1.1 Million Times

    Critics of the H 1B visa for skilled foreign workers often claim that the status amounts to “indentured” servitude. Indentured servitude is a contract to work for a single employer for a predetermined period without pay. Although H 1B workers face more obstacles to changing jobs than US citizens, H 1B workers are not tied to a single employer and change jobs regularly.

  • Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts

    The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.

  • U.S. Economic Security: Winning the Race for Tomorrows Technologies

    Strategic competition over the world’s next generation of foundational technologies is underway, and U.S. advantages in artificial intelligence, quantum, and biotechnology are increasingly contested. The United States must address vulnerabilities and mobilize the investment needed to prevail.

  • Building Trust into Tech: A Framework for Sovereign Resilience

    Governments are facing a critical question: who can be trusted to build and manage their countries’ most sensitive systems? Vendor choices, for everything from cloud infrastructure to identity platforms, are no longer just commercial; they are strategic.

  • Time to Accept Risk in Defense Acquisitions

    U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth launched enterprising Pentagon reforms that prioritize speed in acquiring new military capabilities, but this ambitious proposal is at risk of running into the same bureaucratic obstacles that have plagued past efforts.

  • Even Out of China’s Hands, Mines Still Rely on Its Equipment

    The landmark critical minerals agreement between Australia and the United States is vital to both nations’ security and sovereignty. But the agreement signed carries an inherent vulnerability. The very partnership designed to reduce China’s coercive leverage is increasingly relying on Chinese technology to give effect to its objectives.

  • Building Climate Resilience Through Insurance Incentives

    Insurance does not have to be just a payout after a tragedy. When designed thoughtfully, it can act as a lever for resilience.

  • U.S.–China Cyber Relations and the Weaponization of Microsoft Platforms

    Cyber tensions between the United States and China show Microsoft’s central yet fragile role in global cybersecurity, where its platforms serve as both assets and targets. While both nations have exploited vulnerabilities within the platform to conduct cyber-espionage against each other, China has been particularly persistent in its operations.

  • Canadian-Based Company Fined by U.S. Commerce Department for Hiding U.S. Exports to Iran

    On October 2, 2025, a Canada-headquartered biotechnology company, Luminultra, agreed to pay the Bureau of Industry and Security $685,051 after admitting to illegally exporting water quality testing and analytical instruments to Iran by means of the United Arab Emirates.

  • Supreme Court Case on IEEPA Tariffs: Facts Should Matter

    The Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, but the facts contradict the administration “emergency” argument. The goods trade deficit and most of its alleged negative effects are rooted in domestic policy, not trade. The Supreme Court is now considering the case, and rules of evidence may limit the Court to arguments formally presented, but the justices would do the nation an injustice if they did not consider the facts.