• Emerging Threats to the U.S. Financial System

    In early 2021, a freewheeling, freethinking group of investors on Reddit plowed their money into GameStop, a video game retailer that several big hedge funds had bet against. The stock price shot up, some people made millions—and, to the delight of those on Reddit, the hedge funds had some very bad days. Researchers saw the GameStop story as a cautionary tale. If investors on Reddit could work together to move the markets like that, what could an adversary like China do?

  • Venezuela Travel Advisory

    With the security situation in Venezuela continuing to deteriorate, the U.S. Department of State has issued a travel advisory which urges would be travelers to note Venezuela’s “to crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws.” The advisory further urges people to “Reconsider travel due to wrongful detentions, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure” in Venezuela.

  • Why Biden Wants to Block the Nippon-U.S. Steel Deal

    A proposed Japanese takeover of U.S. Steel, a century-old icon of American industry, is facing domestic political pushback that could challenge the Biden administration’s foreign policy aims. Biden’s opposition to the deal risks undercutting his administration’s efforts to strengthen U.S. alliances and supply chains, experts say.   

  • The Government Wants to Buy Their Flood-Prone Homes. But These Texans Aren’t Moving.

    The recent floods in Harris County, Texas, show why home buyout programs can be important. These programs involve the government buying, and demolishing, houses in flood-prone zones, that is, areas which typically flood first and worse. The Harris County flood control district wants to buy properties along the San Jacinto River that have flooded repeatedly. Some residents aren’t leaving.

  • History Says Tariffs Rarely Work, but Biden’s 100% Tariffs on Chinese EVs Could Defy the Trend

    Earlier this month, President Biden announced a hike in tariffs on a variety of Chinese imports, including a 100% tariff that would significantly increase the price of Chinese-made electric vehicles. Tariffs have a troubled history, but Biden’s move might defy historical precedent and succeed where other tariffs have failed. The Biden tariffs can succeed in giving the U.S. EV industry room to grow, and encourage similar protective actions elsewhere, reinforcing the global shift toward securing supply chains and promoting domestic manufacturing.

  • Beyond Watermarks: Content Integrity Through Tiered Defense

    Watermarking is often discussed as a solution to the problems posed by AI-generated content. However, watermarking is inadequate without other methods of detecting and sorting out AI-generated content.

  • America’s Grid Isn’t Ready for a Renewable Future. A New Federal Rule Could Change That.

    America’s energy system has a problem: Solar and wind developers want to build renewable energy at a breakneck pace, but too often the power that these projects can produce has nowhere to go. That’s because the high-voltage lines that move energy across the country don’t have the capacity to handle what these panels and turbines generate. At the same time, electric vehicles, data centers, and new factories are pushing electricity demand well beyond what was expected just a few years ago.

  • U.S.-China Trade War: Why Joe Biden Has Raised the Stakes

    In a move to safeguard domestic industries and address unfair trade practices, the US president has quadrupled tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and raised levies on other green tech.

  • Investigation: How Russia's Warplanes Get Their 'Brain Power' From the West, Despite Sanctions

    The sanctions Western countries have imposed on Russia have many vulnerabilities –a recurring complaint for Kyiv as, handicapped by a deficit of weapons and ammunition, it watches Russian forces advance, hammering soldiers, civilians, and vital infrastructure.

  • Tech Diplomacy: What It Is, and Why It’s Important

    We need to get used to a new concept in international security: tech diplomacy. It means technological collaboration across sectors and between countries, but the simplicity of the idea shouldn’t disguise its importance.

  • Cybersecurity Education Varies Widely in U.S.

    Cybersecurity programs vary dramatically across the country, a review has found. The authors argue that program leaders should work with professional societies to make sure graduates are well trained to meet industry needs in a fast-changing field.

  • Knocking Cloud Security Off Its Game

    Public cloud services employ special security technologies. Computer scientists at ETH Zurich have now discovered a gap in the latest security mechanisms used by AMD and Intel chips. This affects major cloud providers.

  • China Seeks to Harvest User Data from Global Apps to Boost Propaganda Efforts

    In the global discussion around data privacy and security, much attention has been rightfully placed on the Chinese-owned platform TikTok, with concerns that the user data it collects is accessible to Chinese authorities. But the issue of data collection on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and its integration into propaganda efforts, extends far beyond a single app.

  • The Sources of Renewed National Dynamism

    What does the historical record reveal about national recovery from long-term national decline? What factors distinguish cases of successful anticipatory renewal from those that fail? Is the United States entering a period of decline, and does it meet the preconditions for anticipatory renewal?

  • Securing Competitiveness of Energy-Intensive industries Through Relocation: The Pulling Power of Renewables

    Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from green hydrogen if they relocated their energy-intensive production and would import from countries where renewable energy is cheaper.