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EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGThe President Should Not Have a License to Kill
The administration claims that the “war” on drugs justifies extrajudicial killing. But redefining civilian drug criminals as “combatants” gives away the reality: the government just militarized what was a low-level criminal law enforcement incident outside the United States. Once we consider the victims’ alleged illegal actions, we can see that the government committed the most egregious crime here.
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POLITICL VIOLENCETransnational Dynamics in Violent Outcomes for Protest Movements: A Rapid Evidence Assessment
This report offers a synthesis and critical analysis of research that has considered whether and how transnational dynamics inform the interaction between protest, radicalization, and terrorism. The analysis draws on research on transnational movements and processes that inform how and why people engage in protests which are or become violent, and which involve violent extremist actors. It explores the influence of transnational intergroup relations.
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DEMOCRACY WATCHBrazil’s Bolsonaro May Soon Join Ranks of Failed Coup Plotters Held to Account − Hampering the Chance of Any Political Comeback
Brazil’s Supreme Court is expected to deliver a verdict by Sept. 12 over charges that the former president and key aides plotted to overturn Bolsonaro’s 2022 election defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro and others discussed a scheme to assassinate Lula and incited a riot on Jan. 8, 2023, in hopes that Brazil’s military would intervene and return Bolsonaro to power.
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AICalifornia, New York Could Become First States to Enact Laws Aiming to Prevent Catastrophic AI Harm
California and New York could become the first states to establish rules aiming to prevent the most advanced, large-scale artificial intelligence models —known as frontier AI models —from causing catastrophic harm involving dozens of casualties or billion-dollar damages.
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CRITICAL MINERALSSecuring South Korea's Critical Minerals Supply Chains Through Trilateral Cooperation
South Korea, Japan, and the United States’ trilateral partnership has expanded to include collaboration on economic security, including on critical minerals supply chains (CMSCs). A new report offers analysis, tools, and recommendations to strengthen South Korea’s CMSCs and economic security.
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CHINA WATCHPentagon Warns Microsoft: Company’s Use of China-Based Engineers Was a “Breach of Trust”
The Defense Department is opening an investigation to determine if the tech giant’s use of overseas engineers to maintain sensitive U.S. government computer systems compromised national security.
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QUICK TAKES // By Ben FrankelThe Future of Malign Influence Campaigns Is Here: In Moldova, the U.S. Allows Russia a Free Play
The Trump administration has dismantled the U.S. capabilities built to track, thwart, and respond to Russian disinformation and influence campaigns both around the world and in the United States. Russia will not be the only one to exploit this unilateral U.S. disarmament: China, Iran, North Korea, and other adversaries of the United States will readily, and gratefully, exploit it, too.
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DISASTERSTwo Decades Later, the Experience of Katrina Continues to Shape How the Nation Prepares for and Responds to Disasters
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath exposed profound gaps in multiple systems, including flood protection, emergency response, health care, and housing. It marked a turning point in the way we understand the impacts of natural disasters.
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EXTREMISMHashtags and Humor Are Used to Spread Extreme Content on Social Media
Conspiracy theories and incitement to harassment and violence abound on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But the extreme content is often mixed with ironic play, memes and hashtags, which makes it difficult for authorities and media to know how to respond.
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THE AMERICASGuyana’s President Wins Another Term in Election Watched Keenly by Venezuela and U.S.
Irfaan Ali, the leader of the People’s Progressive party (PPP), has secured a second term as Guyana’s president. Guyanese voters have endorsed Ali’s approach, expressed in his campaign, which was dominated by promises to use oil-related revenue to alleviate chronic poverty and support further social and economic development.
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PUBLIC HEALTHKennedy Hearing Deepens Crisis Over Dismantling of CDC Leadership - Health Scholar Explains Why the Agency’s Ability to Protect Public Health Is Compromised
CDC, long considered the nation’s –if not the world’s –premier public health organization, is unraveling. The reason: HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s effort to emasculate the agency, undermine its scientific foundations, replace scientists in the agency with unqualified anti-vaxxers, do away with its evidence-to-recommendations framework, and promote skepticism, if not rejection, of science and scientific methods. Public health professionals are now warning the public that vaccine recommendations coming from the CDC may not be trustworthy.
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PUBLIC HEALTHFormer NIH Officials File Whistleblower Complaint
Two former top NIH officials have filed whistleblower complaints, claiming they were removed from leadership positions over their objections to agency leadership’s hostility toward vaccines, politicization of scientific research, and suspension of funding for clinical trials and foreign research.
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THE MILITARY & DOMESTIC LAW ENFORCEMENTJudge Warns of “National Police Force” in Ruling Trump Broke the Law Sending Guard to LA
President Donald Trump’s move to send National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to quell immigration protests in Los Angeles this summer violated a federal law against military members conducting domestic law enforcement, a federal judge in California ruled Tuesday.
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THE MILITARY & DOMESTIC LAW ENFORCEMENTGovernors Split Over Mobilizing National Guard as Trump Seeks More Troops
Republican governors want National Guard members to help ICE, in addition to deploying to Washington.
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TECHNOLOGY RACEU.S.-China Tech Rivalry: The Geopolitics of Semiconductors
The United States and China are locked in a high‑stakes contest for dominance in computing power. In response to US sanctions and export controls, China has ramped domestic chip design and manufacturing, aiming to create an all‑Chinese semiconductor supply chain that reduces dependence on foreign technologies.
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The long view
ARGUMENT: ACHIEVING DRONE DOMINANCEFactories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
COMMON-SENSE NOTES // By Idris B. OdunewuNo Nation Is an Island: The Dangers of Modern U.S. Isolationism
The resurgence of isolationist sentiment in American politics is understandable but misguided. While the desire to refocus on domestic renewal is justified, retreating from the world will not bring the security, prosperity, or sovereignty that its proponents promise. On the contrary, it invites instability, diminishes U.S. influence, and erodes the democratic order the U.S. helped forge.
COMMON-SENSE NOTES // By Idris B. OdunewuFragmented by Design: USAID’s Dismantling and the Future of American Foreign Aid
The Trump administration launched an aggressive restructuring of U.S. foreign aid, effectively dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The humanitarian and geopolitical fallout of the demise of USAID includes shuttered clinics, destroyed food aid, and China’s growing influence in the global south. This new era of American soft power will determine how, and whether, the U.S. continues to lead in global development.
WATER SECURITYWater Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
ARGUMENT: TRUMP’S ALASKA FAILUREHow Disastrous Was the Trump-Putin Meeting?
In Alaska, Trump got played by Putin. Therefore, Steven Pifer writes, the European leaders and Zelensky have to “diplomatically offer suggestions to walk Trump back from a position that he does not appear to understand would be bad for Ukraine, bad for Europe, and bad for American interests. And they have to do so without setting off an explosion that could disrupt U.S.-Ukrainian and U.S.-European relations—all to the delight of Putin and the Kremlin.”
EXTREMISMHow Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.