• Modernizing U.S. Public Health: What Needs to Be Done

    While much of the past 20 months has focused on the response to and treatment of COVID-19, it has also brought to light the challenges faced by our nation’s public health systems. A coalition of concerned organizations issued a five-year roadmap for state and local elected officials and public health leaders to build a more equitable, robust, and sustainable public health system.

  • The Tipping Point for Legislative Polarization

    A predictive model of a polarized group, similar to the current U.S. Senate, demonstrates that when an outside threat – like war or a pandemic – fails to unite the group, the divide may be irreversible through democratic means.

  • NATO Has Warned Russia, but Will NATO Defend Ukraine?

    NATO warns Russia not to make any further moves against Ukraine. But NATO allies have been unable to formally agree on what the Russian military activity represents, much less how to respond to it.

  • Preparing Future Cybersecurity Leaders for Protecting Critical Infrastructure

    A network of Virginia universities, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Elections, joined to create an innovative educational program to train future cybersecurity professionals to protect election infrastructure.

  • Supply Chain Disruptions—the Risks and Consequences

    Supply chain disruptions cause general economic disruption and key commodity shortages, which then in turn can, in fact, drive aggressive national behavior and international instability. And ironically, this reactive aggressive national behavior can happen even if the health of a national economy itself depends upon continued international economic interdependence. Indeed, this very interdependence can create vulnerabilities.

  • USGS Seeks Public Comment on Draft List of 50 Critical Minerals

    The U.S. defines a “critical mineral” as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. At least every three years, the Department of the Interior is required to review and update the list of critical minerals On Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced it is seeking public comment by Dec. 9, on a draft revised list of critical minerals.

  • Critical Interoperable Messaging Capability for First Responders

    “With no dedicated public safety messaging and collaboration platform, many public safety and emergency response officials are leveraging non-secure, consumer-grade messaging tools,” says DHS’s Kathryn Coulter Mitchell. The address this problem, DHS ST has awarded more than $1.5 million to advance the development of the Bridge 4 Public Safety (Bridge4PS) messaging and collaborating platform for first responders.

  • WMD Threat Sensors Deployed on Police Vehicles

    DARPA’s SIGMA+ program completed a 3-month test in Indianapolis, in which CBRNE sensors were deployed on IMPD vehicles.

  • DHS Strategic Framework for Addressing Climate Change

    Two weeks ago, the Biden administration released four reports, by DHS, the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council, on how climate change-driven developments — among them:  worsening conflict within and between nations; increased dislocation and migration as people flee climate-fueled instability; heightened military tension and uncertainty; infrastructure destruction; worsening public health; food and water shortages; financial hazards, and more – are posing an increasingly more serious challenge to global stability and to U.S. national security.

  • Northern Skies Provide the Backdrop for Testing Border Security Tech

    The purpose of demonstrations and tests recently conducted in Montana North Dakota was to evaluate specialized air domain awareness technologies such as radar systems; electro-optical and infrared cameras; radio frequency detection systems; and acoustic devices to see how effectively each can monitor, safeguard, and secure the various terrains and airspace that surround the northern border between the U.S. and Canada.

  • Rising Temperatures Reshaping, Exacerbating Global Security Landscape

    More than just altering the environment, climate change is threatening to permanently and dangerously reshape the global security landscape. These are the conclusions of a series of new assessments by U.S. military, intelligence, and security officials. “As climate change converges with other drivers — especially geostrategic competition, emerging technology and global-demographic trends — it is reshaping the risk landscape,” DHS said in its assessment. “The corrosive impact of these trends will make nations increasingly vulnerable to domestic instability, with sweeping implications for regional and border security and core national security interests.”.

  • FEMA’s Initial Response to COVID-19

    During the first months of FEMA’s response to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, the United States faced a debilitating shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare personnel and ventilators for seriously ill patients in hospitals. DHS IG examined the effectiveness of FEMA’s response.

  • Calif. Sheriff Sued for Sharing Drivers’ License Plate Data With ICE, CBP, Other Out-of-State Agencies

    License plate scans occur through Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs): high-speed cameras mounted in a fixed location or atop police cars moving through the community that automatically capture all license plates that come into view, recording the exact location, date, and time that the vehicle passes by. The information can paint a detailed picture of our private lives, our daily schedules, and our social networks.

  • The Sound and the Fury: Inside the Mystery of the Havana Embassy

    More than a year after American diplomats began to suffer strange, concussion-like symptoms in Cuba, a U.S. investigation is no closer to determining how they were hurt or by whom, and the FBI and CIA are at odds over the case. A ProPublica investigation reveals the many layers to the mystery — and the political maneuvering that is reshaping U.S.-Cuba relations.

  • U.S. Unveils New Cybersecurity Requirements for Rail, Air

    DHS has unveiled new measures to make sure the U.S. air and surface transportation sectors will not be crippled by ransomware or cyberattacks. The new measures will apply to “higher risk” rail companies, “critical” airport operators, and air passenger and air cargo companies.