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CHINA WATCHChina 'Spy Balloon:' Why Doesn't the Pentagon Shoot It Down?
Espionage is all about secrets — keeping and revealing them. But here’s what we can say about the alleged spy balloon.
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IRANSuspected Israeli Drone Strike in Iran Part of New 'Containment Strategy'
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.
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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.
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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.
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WAR IN UKRAINEGerman and U.S. Tanks Will Be Critical in Ukraine’s Next Phase Against Russia
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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GUNSWhat Is Microstamping, and Can It Help Solve Shootings?
Laws to expand the technology’s use have passed in three states and the District of Columbia. But some are questioning its effectiveness.
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SPACE WARAces-High Frontier: Space War in 2053
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.
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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.
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CHINA WATCH8 Lessons for Taiwan from Russia’s War in Ukraine
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.
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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.
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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.”
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BOOK REVIEW: CHINA IN DECLINEChina Is a Threat Not Because It is Ascendant, but Because It Is on a Downward Trajectory
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.
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More headlines
The long view
ARGUMENT: EXTREMIST THREATJanuary 6th Report Summarizes Extremist Threat – But Leaves Key Gaps
The House Jan. 6 committee’s 845-page report is unquestionably valuable, but significant questions remain largely unanswered around two interrelated components of the committee’s investigation: the scope of law enforcement and intelligence failures preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and what concrete steps should be taken to combat both those failures and the rising threat of domestic violent extremism in the aftermath of January 6th.
DOMESTIC TERRORISMConcerns About Extremists Targeting U.S. Power Stations
Attacks on four power stations in Washington State over the weekend added to concerns of a possible nationwide campaign by far-right extremists to stir fears and spark civil conflict. Violent extremists “have developed credible, specific plans to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020, identifying the electric grid as a particularly attractive target given its interdependency with other infrastructure sectors,” the DHS said in a January.
THE RUSSIA CONNECTIONWas George Santos Groomed to be a Russian Agent?
By Ben Frankel
Among the multitude of lies and falsehoods newly elected Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has concocted, the most intriguing item – and likely the source of Santos’s most serious potential legal trouble – are his campaign finances. What is especially noticeable, and disturbing, are the generous contributions Santos has received from Viktor Vekselberg, one of Vladimir Putin’s wealthiest and most influential courtiers. “For all we know,” writes one commentator, “some foreign power may have bought itself a congressman. This isn’t outlandish speculation.”
ARGUMENT: INDUSTRIAL NETWORKLeveraging U.S. Capital Markets to Support the Future Industrial Network
$56 trillion is nearly three times the size of the U.S. economy. This vast pool of capital in U.S. capital markets — $46 trillion in public capitalization and another $10 trillion in private money – dwarfs that of China. Tapping U.S. equity and debt markets would enable the Department of Defense to remedy current capability shortfalls, fund technological advances from leading private-sector innovators, invest in generational transformation efforts across the military services, and upgrade antiquated global infrastructure to sustain U.S. forces.
WATER SECURITYThe Cold War Legacy Lurking in U.S. Groundwater
By Mark Olalde, Mollie Simon and Alex Mierjeski
In America’s rush to build the nuclear arsenal that won the Cold War, safety was sacrificed for speed. ProPublica has cataloged cleanup efforts at the 50-plus sites where uranium was processed to fuel the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Even after regulators say cleanup is complete, polluted water and sickness are often left behind.
WILDFFIRESAmericans Are Flocking to Wildfire
People are trading hurricane zones for wildfire areas, says national study of migration, natural disasters, and climate change.