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Despite Widespread Interest, Only 3 States Passed License Plate Reader Laws This Year
Lawmakers in at least 16 states this year introduced bills to regulate the use of automated license plate readers responsible for collecting large amounts of data on drivers across the country. But just three states —Arkansas, Idaho and Virginia —enacted laws. Critics say automated license plate readers raise data and privacy concerns.
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Despite Hiccups, Chinese Military Modernization Still a Threat to Region
Modernization is at the core of the CCP’s mission to change China, and the world beyond. But while Xi has provided the armed forces with cutting-edge weaponry, key signs point to his lack of confidence so far in the process of modernizing its top personnel.
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Texas AG Ken Paxton Announces Undercover Investigations of “Leftist Terror Cells”
Paxton cited the recent attack on a Dallas immigration field office, though the shooter’s political affiliation was unclear and there was no evidence he was linked to organized “cells.”
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Armed Conflict? Trump’s Venezuela Boat Strikes Test U.S. Law
President Trump has declared that the United States is now engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has suggested further escalation. He has since signaled that his administration is preparing military options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuelan territory. These moves could mark a major shift in U.S. counternarcotics policy and raise legal and diplomatic questions by blurring the lines between law enforcement, interdiction, and war.
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Where George Washington Would Disagree with Pete Hegseth About Fitness for Command and What Makes a Warrior
The phrase “warrior ethos” – a mix of combativeness, toughness and dominance – has become central to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s political identity. Washington’s overall vision of a military leader could not be further from Hegseth’s vision of the tough warrior.
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ADL Split Marks FBI Shift Away from Targeting Right-Wing Violence, Scholars Say
FBI director Kash Patel last week announced that the FBI would end its working relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Scholars told Axios that the FBI’s split with the ADL is but the latest piece of evidence that under Trump administration the FBI is less interested or invested in investigating hate groups and right-wing domestic terrorism, focusing instead on investigating what it deems left-wing violence.
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At Least 170 U.S. Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.
At many of these facilities, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations.
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Trump’s Deployment of the National Guard to Fight Crime Blurs the Legal Distinction Between the Police and the Military
The deployment of National Guard troops for routine crime fighting in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, and Chicago, and the proposed deployment of those troops to Baltimore, highlights the erosion of both practical and philosophical constraints on the president and the vast federal power the president wields.
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Ukraine’s Lesson for Taiwan: Build Big, Cheap and Numerous Cruise Missiles
The best thing about Ukraine’s new Flamingo, a 6-ton carbon fiber monstrosity with a secondhand turbofan engine and basic guidance, is that it’s cheap. One of the cruise missiles may cost just US$500,000. Taiwan should pay attention.
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Confronting Cartels: Military Considerations South of the Border
Possible U.S. military action against Mexico’s drug cartels poses unique challenges. The situation is complicated, and the United States must be prepared for possible counteractions. Past government campaigns against the cartels led to soaring rates of criminal violence. Chaos in Mexico could have serious implications for U.S. homeland security. The United States needs a ‘Red Team’ to examine a range of scenarios.
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History is repeating itself at the FBI as Agents Resist a Director’s Political Agenda
President Trump has installed loyalists to head the DOJ and FBI – loyalists who are determined to use the organizations they lead to advance the president’s political interests. In the past 50 years, the FBI has had only one other director as overtly – if not as unabashedly — political as Kash Patel: L. Patrick Gray, who served for a year under President Richard Nixon. Gray was held accountable after he tried to help Nixon end the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Whether Kash Patel has more staying power is unclear.
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First Responders Put Drones to the Test in Complex Urban Environments
New York City was the backdrop for a third Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) assessment of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) on the “Blue List.” S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) recently evaluated a handful of systems to see if they are up to the task for critical public safety operations.
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“Warrior Ethos” Mistakes Military Might for True Security – and Ignores the Wisdom of Eisenhower
Renaming the Department of Defense the “Department of War” represents far more than rebranding –it signals an escalation in the administration’s embrace of a militaristic mindset that, as long ago as 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his farewell address, and that the nation’s founders deliberately aimed to constrain.
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How Can Europe Fight Back Against Incursions by Drone Aircraft?
Russian drones have violated the airspace of several NATO members, flying near critical infrastructure facilities, military bases, and airports. Questions are now being raised about what can be done to either suppress or destroy drones and prevent future attacks.
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Making a Scarecrow of the Law: A Former Agent’s Reaction to Recent Events at the FBI
FBI Director Kash Patel’s ongoing campaign of political purges at the FBI leads former FBI agent Michael Feinberg to lament the assault on the Bureau’s integrity, professionalism, and political impartiality. He writes that “Right now there is some new agent trainee at Quantico, going through her paces at the FBI Academy, who will never know the honor of serving a Bureau unblemished by the taint of political weaponization. Her loss is something worth noting, and it is certainly something worth mourning.”
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The long view
Studying War in the New Nuclear Age
Nuclear security can be a daunting topic: The consequences seem unimaginable, but the threat is real. MIT political scientist Caitlin Talmadge scrutinizes military postures and international dynamics to understand the risks of escalation.
Online Mobilization and Violence in the United States
Even before the Charlie Kirk assassination, the United States was facing a resurgence of politically motivated violence that is deeply intertwined with the digital sphere. Extremists across the ideological spectrum exploit acts of violence to recruit followers, justify their ideologies, and sustain propaganda networks.
White Nationalism Fuels Tolerance for Political Violence Nationwide
Political violence is certainly not new in American society, but current patterns differ in key ways. We found that, today, white nationalism is a key driver of support for political violence –a sign that white nationalism poses substantial danger to U.S. political stability.