• CHINA WATCHChina 'Spy Balloon:' Why Doesn't the Pentagon Shoot It Down?

    By Zulfikar Abbany

    Espionage is all about secrets — keeping and revealing them. But here’s what we can say about the alleged spy balloon.

  • IRANSuspected Israeli Drone Strike in Iran Part of New 'Containment Strategy'

    By Golnaz Esfandiari

    Four Israeli kamikaze quadcopters hit and destroyed an Iranian military facility in Isfahan on January 28. The production facility, located inside a military base, was used to produce drones and mid-range missiles. In the last months, Israel has expanded its attacks on Iran’s military, targeting not only nuclear weapons-related targets but also production facilities for advanced arms.

  • FLOOD TRACKINGFloodNet Tracking System Set for Expansion Across All Five NYC Boroughs

    FloodNet, the first-ever New York City flood-monitoring network, has received $7.2 million in city funding that will greatly increase the number of monitored flood-prone locations from 31 to 500 over the next five years. The network expansion is slated to begin in February.

  • TERRORISMIsrael to Enact New Counterterrorism Measures After Attacks

    In the wake of deadly weekend terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, the Israeli government has said it would seek to speed up the process for citizens to obtain firearms.

  • WAR IN UKRAINEGerman and U.S. Tanks Will Be Critical in Ukraine’s Next Phase Against Russia

    By Max Boot

    The main battle tanks that the United States and Germany have agreed to provide Ukraine will help its forces punch through Russian fortifications and retake lost territory.

  • NUCLEAR STOCKPILESandia, AMD Collaborate to Support Nuclear Stockpile Mission

    Sandia National Laboratories, in partnership with Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national labs, has awarded a contract to AMD that funds research and development of advanced memory technologies expected to accelerate high-performance simulation and computing applications in support of the nation’s stockpile stewardship mission.

  • RANSOMWAREU.S. Dismantles Ransomware Network Responsible for More Than $100 Million in Extortion

    An international ransomware network that extorted more than $100 million from hundreds of victims around the world has been brought down following a monthslong infiltration by the FBI. The group known as Hive targeted more than 1,500 victims, including hospitals, school districts and financial firms in more than 80 countries.

  • MASS SHOOTINGSU.S. Secret Service Report Examines Five Years of Mass Violence Data

    The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) the other day released a comprehensive report examining 173 incidents of targeted violence and highlighting the observable commonalities among the attackers.

  • GUNSWhat Is Microstamping, and Can It Help Solve Shootings?

    By Chip Brownlee

    Laws to expand the technology’s use have passed in three states and the District of Columbia. But some are questioning its effectiveness.

  • SPACE WARAces-High Frontier: Space War in 2053

    By Jeffrey Becker

    There are good reasons why the best science and speculative fiction ranks high on the reading lists of many military scholars and leaders. Done well, speculative military fiction projects thoughtfully beyond the here and now, and renders real operational and strategic concepts in terms of plausible future technologies.

  • DOOMSDAYDoomsday Clock Set at 90 Seconds to Midnight

    The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, due largely but not exclusively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The new Clock time was also influenced by continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks associated with advancing technologies and biological threats.

  • CHINA WATCH8 Lessons for Taiwan from Russia’s War in Ukraine

    By Tzu-yun Su

    While the fighting in Ukraine is on land, and thus very different from the maritime battlefield that would surround Taiwan, there are still many things Taiwan can learn from Ukraine’s defensive operations.

  • GUNSGun Control Measures Associated with Reduced Police Use of Force

    As police departments and activists look for strategies to reduce excessive use of force by police, new research shows limited data, lack of transparency and irregular implementation of reforms make it difficult to determine which approaches are effective.

  • CHINA WATCHProtecting U.S. Overseas Air Bases

    In January 2022, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall warned that the U.S. Air and Space Forces must move quickly to offset actions—mostly by China, but also by Russia—which have eroded the U.S. military advantage: “We cannot go forward with a presumption of superiority that our military dominance demonstrated in the first Gulf War… . A lot of things can change in 30 years and they have.”

  • BOOK REVIEW: CHINA IN DECLINEChina Is a Threat Not Because It is Ascendant, but Because It Is on a Downward Trajectory

    By Robert Wihtol

    The prevailing consensus for the past few years has been that an ascendant China is threatening to overtake a slumping America. Because research suggests that a geopolitical power transition is most likely to take place when a surging challenger overtakes an exhausted hegemon, many believe that a turbo-charged China has increased the likelihood of conflict with America. In their book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, Hal Brands and Michael Beckley challenge this notion and offer a more nuanced view.