• To Check Iran’s Missiles, JCPOA Re-Entry is a Must

    Iran’s missile program is a cause for international concern. John Krzyzaniak and Akshai Vikram write that Iran’s increasing willingness and ability to launch missiles at neighboring countries merits a coordinated, international response. If Iran were to ever acquire a nuclear weapon, its unchecked missile program could allow it to hold entire cities at risk in the Middle East and potentially beyond. “If the United States is ever going to restrict Iran’s missile program through diplomacy, re-entering the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is the best – and likely only – way to make it happen,” they write.

  • World Military Expenditure Passes $2 Trillion for First Time

    Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach $2113 billion. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure.

  • Reviving the National Defense Stockpile Funding

    Established during World War II, the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) ensures that the Department of Defense can access key materials necessary to maintain readiness in the event of a major supply chain disruption. Current critical minerals stockpile is inadequate to meet the requirements of great power competition.

  • Amid Carnage in Ukraine, a Shadow War on the Russian Side of the Border

    Away from the active battlefronts within Ukraine, though, there’s a less bloody, less prominent front in the two-month-old war, a shadow campaign that has included attacks on military and industrial targets in Russia itself. It’s not clear how many incidents have occurred, or whether they resulted from air strikes, or missiles, or sabotage.

  • Risk Models Overlook an Important Element

    Earthquakes themselves affect the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates, which in turn could impact on future earthquakes, according to new research. This new knowledge should be incorporated in computer models used to gauge earthquake risk, according to the researchers behind the study.

  • Risk Models Overlook an Important Element

    Earthquakes themselves affect the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates, which in turn could impact on future earthquakes, according to new research. This new knowledge should be incorporated in computer models used to gauge earthquake risk, according to the researchers behind the study.

  • Can the Russian Military Overcome Its Manpower Problems in Ukraine?

    A new phase of the Ukraine war is shaping up in the eastern part of the country, but succeeding with its new war goals will be no simple task for a Russian military that has lost some 15,000 personnel since its February 24 invasion.

  • National Action Plan: The U.S. Domestic Counter-Unmanned Aircraft

    Over the last decade, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”) have become a regular feature of American life. We use them for recreation, for research, and for commerce. But the proliferation of this new technology has also introduced new risks to public safety, privacy, and homeland security. On Monday, the administration released whole-of-government plan to address UAS threats in the homeland.

  • Co-Offenders Likely to Violently Turn on One Another: Gang Study

    Researchers use over a decade of data from Thames Valley Police to reveal ‘mechanisms’ that generate and sustain violence within networks of organized crime.

  • Risks of an Unfamiliar New Nuclear Age

    High-tech advances in weapons technologies and a return of ‘great power nuclear politics’, risk the world ‘sleepwalking’ into a nuclear age vastly different from the established order of the Cold War, experts warn. Stockpiles are much reduced from the peak of up to 70,000 nuclear weapons seen in the 1980s, but progress in a number of new or ‘disruptive’ technologies threatens to fundamentally change the central pillars on which nuclear order, stability and risk reduction are based.

  • Predictive Models of Wildfire Behavior

    New partnership will work to Advance fire research capabilities to help support the work of fire-, land-, and emergency managers.

  • Why Is Germany Not Supplying Ukraine with Heavy Weapons?

    The criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been unrelenting. He has been accused of stalling and breaking his promises over sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. Here are some of the main points of contention.

  • Lessons from the Battle for Kyiv

    The Russia operation to take Kyiv rapidly degenerated into an urban battle of attrition favorable to Ukraine, and eventually the Russian government withdrew its troops, conceding defeat in the battle for Kyiv. The fog of war prevents in-depth analysis, but two initial lessons stand out from the first phase of the conflict: First, do not rely on the invaded nation’s popular support; second, know when to quit.

  • How Hypersonic Missiles Work and the Unique Threats They Pose

    On 18 March, Russia used a hypersonic missile against a Ukrainian arms depot. The technology the Russians used is not particularly advanced. However, next-generation hypersonic missiles that Russia, China and the U.S. are developing do pose a significant threat to national and global security.

  • More and More Russian Soldiers Reportedly Refusing to Fight in Ukraine

    A growing number of Russian soldiers are refusing to fight in Ukraine. “The phenomenon of refusal is becoming systemic,” says one expert. “Such soldiers are found in practically every unit that has returned from Ukraine. According to our estimates, from 20 to 40 percent of the contract servicemen that returned from Ukraine and that are being readied to be sent back are refusing to return to combat.”