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Under the Radar: Militias Use New Terminology to Hide in Plain Sight
Across the United States, militia groups are redefining how they identify themselves and each other, signaling a broader effort to soften their image and manipulate public perception.
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Measuring Change in Terrorist Engagement: Challenges and Future Directions
Changes in risk and protective factors can signal disengagement, enabling risk management resources to be allocated where they are needed most.
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Five Questions: RAND’s Jim Mitre on Artificial General Intelligence and National Security
A recent RAND paper lays out five hard national security problems that will become very real the moment an artificial general intelligence comes online. The researchers made only one prediction: If we ever get to that point, the consequences will be so profound that the U.S. government needs to take steps now to be ready for them.
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Protecting Our Borders: Leveraging Technological Assets and Local Knowledge in Remote Communities
Along its northern and southern borders—some areas of which are vast, often forbidding wilderness—the United States confronts threats from foreign adversaries, their proxies, and transnational criminal organizations. Fighting back requires more advanced technological tools combined with knowledge of the terrain from tribal populations or other communities around the borderlands.
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Chicago Economist Argues for Social Intervention on Gun Violence
In his new book, University of Chicago’s Jens Ludwig makes the case for a pragmatic approach. Instead of waiting for the U.S. to solve gun violence by addressing its social problems, incarcerating people, and reducing the number of guns in circulation, he argues for a short-term solution: social intervention in places most affected by interpersonal violence.
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Study Opens the Door for Stronger Evidence in Bomb Handling Cases
Scientists have for the first time provided insight into how bomb residue transfers to the hands of suspects, which could lead to stronger evidence in court.
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The DEA Once Touted Body Cameras for Their “Enhanced Transparency.” Now the Agency Is Abandoning Them.
An internal email obtained by ProPublica said the agency made the change to be “consistent” with a Trump executive order. But at least two other federal law enforcement agencies are still requiring body cameras.
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Iranian Breakout Timelines Under JCPOA-Type Limits
The 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) made it impossible for Iran, if it withdrew from the deal, to produce enough weapon-grade uranium (WGU) for a nuclear weapon in less than 12 months. The U.S unilateral withdrawal from JCPOA in 2018 has changed the situation so fundamentally in favor of Iran and its nuclear weapons program, that new limits are needed, the most important of which is that Iran destroy centrifuges and related equipment, rather than store them. A focus on only limiting enriched uranium stocks will not provide sufficient breakout timelines.
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States Push to Combat Human Trafficking Amid Federal Funding Cuts
States are moving to strengthen protections against human trafficking, but some advocates warn that some programs might not have the resources to help survivors.
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The Battle for Pentagon Acquisition Policy: Tradition Versus New-and-Cheaper
The weapons that get bought in larger or smaller quantities, or are launched or cancelled, will indicate whether US President Donald Trump’s administration will strengthen long-range deterrent forces, order a retreat under his Golden Dome missile-defense system, or spend four years trying to blend incompatible visions of industrial and technological strategy.
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How the U.S. Can Mine Its Own Critical Minerals − without Digging New Holes
Critical materials are the tiny building blocks powering modern life, yet the U.S. depends heavily on imports for most critical materials. Could the U.S. mine and process more critical minerals at home?
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Trump Pick to Run DEA Could Challenge America’s Already Tense Relations with Mexico
In 22 years at the agency, Terry Cole never rose to its top ranks, but he is a vocal supporter of the president’s goal of going after Mexican officials who are complicit with drug cartels.
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Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest
The next great earthquake isn’t the only threat to the Pacific Northwest. A powerful earthquake, combined with rising sea levels, could significantly increase flood risks in the Pacific Northwest, impacting thousands of residents and properties in northern California, Oregon, and Washington.
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From Help to Harm: How the Government Is Quietly Repurposing Everyone’s Data for Surveillance
The data that people provide to U.S. government agencies for public services such as tax filing, health care enrollment, unemployment assistance and education support is increasingly being redirected toward surveillance and law enforcement.
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What We’ve Learnt About Lone-Actor Terrorism Over the Years Could Help Us Prevent Future Attacks
Politically motivated attacks, carried out by lone individuals lacking direct affiliation with any terrorist group, have become more common in Europe during the last few decades. Lone-actor attacks are difficult to prevent precisely because they are not a systemic threat in the way that coordinated, group-based terrorism can be. Its danger lies in isolated bursts of violence rather than in sustained campaigns. But there are patterns worth following that could help prevent future incidents.
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The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
As President Donald Trump guts the main federal office dedicated to preventing terrorism, states say they’re left to take the lead in spotlighting threats. Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling, and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism. With the federal government largely retreating from focusing on extremist dangers, prevention advocates say the threat of violent extremism is likely to increase.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Ukraine Drone Strikes on Russian Airbase Reveal Any Country Is Vulnerable to the Same Kind of Attack
Air defense systems are built on the assumption that threats come from above and from beyond national borders. But Ukraine’s coordinated drone strike on 1 June on five airbases deep inside Russian territory exposed what happens when states are attacked from below and from within. In low-level airspace, visibility drops, responsibility fragments, and detection tools lose their edge. Drones arrive unannounced, response times lag, coordination breaks.
Shots to the Dome—Why We Can’t Model US Missile Defense on Israel’s “Iron Dome”
Starting an arms race where the costs are stacked against you at a time when debt-to-GDP is approaching an all-time high seems reckless. All in all, the idea behind Golden Dome is still quite undercooked.