• Military and Defense-Related Supply Chains

    The military services, geographic combatant commanders, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and other combat support agencies have different responsibilities and incentives, and their management of their supply chains reflect these differences. These incentives drive behavior that makes individual sense for the organizations, but might not result in overall effectiveness in supporting the needs of operating forces.

  • “Red Flag” Gun Laws and State Efforts to Block Local Legislation

    “Red flag” gun laws—which allow law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from a person at risk of harming themselves or others—are gaining attention at the state and federal levels, but are under scrutiny by legislators who deem them unconstitutional. Legal scholars outline how such laws can reduce gun violence and still protect constitutional rights.

  • Iran Says It Foiled “Sabotage Attack” on Nuclear Building

    State media said the attack occurred near Karaj, some 40 kilometers west of Tehran. Iran has experienced a series of suspected sabotage attacks targeting its nuclear program in recent months.

  • Reflections on Iran’s Production of 60% Enriched Uranium

    As of about June 14, Iran had reportedly produced 6.5 kg 60% enriched uranium (hexafluoride mass) or 4.4 kg uranium mass only. Iran has produced 60% enriched uranium at an average daily rate of 0.126 kg/day since May 22. Iran’s activity must be viewed as practicing breakout to make enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

  • Earlier Flood Forecasting Could Help Avoid Disaster in Japan

    In Japan, thousands of homes and businesses and hundreds of lives have been lost to typhoons. But now, researchers have revealed that a new flood forecasting system could provide earlier flood warnings, giving people more time to prepare or evacuate, and potentially saving lives.

  • Puerto Rico is Prone to More Flooding Than the Island is Prepared to Handle

    Puerto Rico is not ready for another hurricane season, let alone the effects of climate change, according to a new study that shows the island’s outstanding capacity to produce record-breaking floods and trigger a large number of landslides.

  • Inquiry Details 9 Missed Opportunities to Thwart 2017 British Concert Bombing

    Families of the 22 people who died in the 2017 terrorist bombing of a concert at Britain’s Manchester Arena are urging authorities to mount corporate manslaughter prosecutions against the firm responsible for security on the night of the attack and the company that runs the arena. Their demand came Thursday in the wake of the release of a damning official report into the terror attack that detailed nine missed opportunities to thwart the bombing of the Ariana Grande concert.

  • Foreign Disinformation Feeds U.S. Domestic Terrorism, Official Warns

    Newly unveiled efforts to combat a growing domestic terrorism threat in the United States will have to find a way to overcome a major obstacle: carefully crafted campaigns by foreign countries and terrorist groups to incite violence.

  • The Cold Comfort of Mutually Assured Destruction

    Decades after the end of the Cold War, scholars have begun to cast doubt on what has been taught about nuclear weapons in graduate schools – especially the notion of “nuclear revolution,” that is, that the condition of mutually assured destruction (MAD) would promote stability among the great powers. If nuclear weapons-based deterrence is not robust, but rather delicate, then “This is a book that the field of security studies will need to grapple with, since it overturns much of what scholars believe about nuclear deterrence,” Jasen Castillo writes.

  • Rare Earth Metals at the Heart of China’s Rivalry with U.S., Europe

    What if China were to cut off the United States and Europe from access to Rare Earth Elements (REEs), 17 minerals with unique characteristics which are essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines, drones, batteries, sophisticated military gear, and much more? This is a time of growing geopolitical friction among these three, and the United States and Europe want to change the current dependence on China, where, today, these minerals are largely extracted and refined.

  • The Geopolitics of Rare Earth Elements

    The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed fragility in the global supply chains for not only pharmaceuticals and crucial medical supplies but also some critical minerals. Chief among them are rare Earth elements (REEs), which are necessary for clean energy equipment, advanced military gear, and consumer goods. About 80 percent of the world’s REEs are produced and refined in China.

  • Drop the Charges Against Minor Capitol Hill Defendants

    Rioter who assaulted police or vandalized the Capitol should be prosecuted. But the majority of those who came to the Capitol on 6 January were “gawkers” who just wanted to see the spectacle, or to non-violently express their political opinion, and merely walked through a public office building, The charges against them should be dropped.

  • COVID Gives Rise to Extremism and Violence

    Both right- and left-wing extremism flourished during the pandemic year, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said in its latest report. Most alarmingly, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that 40 percent of the 33,300 far-right extremists in the country were categorized as “violence-oriented,” the highest proportion ever. And Germany’s security forces have themselves come under new scrutiny.

  • Rising Trends in Suicide by Firearms in Young Americans

    Deaths from suicide are rising in the United States. These rising trends are especially alarming because global trends in suicide are on a downward trajectory. Moreover, in the U.S., the major mode of suicide among young Americans is by firearms.

  • Global Nuclear Arsenals Grow as States Continue to Modernize

    A new report finds that despite an overall decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2020, more have been deployed with operational forces. The nine nuclear-armed states together possessed an estimated 13 080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021, a decrease from the 13 400 at the beginning of 2020, but the estimated number of nuclear weapons currently deployed with operational forces increased to 3825, an increase from 3720 last year.