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Rep. Michael McCaul Calls Tulsi Gabbard a “baffling” Pick to Lead Intelligence Community
The Austin Republican leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee and predicted Gabbard’s nomination would fail in the Senate.
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Miracle, or Marginal Gain?
Industrial policy is said to have sparked huge growth in East Asia. Two MIT economists say the numbers tell a more complex story.
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Nixon’s Official Acts Against His Enemies List Led to a Bipartisan Impeachment Effort
Nixon’s “enemies list,” said his White House counsel, aimed to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.” Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, published his own enemies list in his 2023 book. The list does not include anyone who tried to keep Trump in office illegally after he lost in 2020. It does, however, include a number of high-level Trump appointees who chose not to help him in that effort to overturn democracy.
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Backgrounder: Drone Operations in the U.S.
More than 1.7 million drones are registered for commercial and recreational use in the United States, and it is safe to assume that there are many additional unregistered drones out there.
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Taleghan 2: Pre- and Post Strike Assessment
On October 25, 2024, Israel launched an attack on Iran that destroyed multiple buildings within the Parchin Military Complex. One target stood out–a building used for nuclear weapons development purposes under Iran’s Amad Plan in the early 2000s.
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Former FBI Informant Pleads Guilty to Fabricating Biden Bribery Story
Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant, pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to faking the story about a phony bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The fabricated story was the central element of a House impeachment inquiry.
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Vaccine Misinformation Distorts Science – a Biochemist Explains How RFK Jr. and His Lawyer’s Claims Threaten Public Health
Vaccinations provide significant protection for the public against infectious diseases and substantially reduce health care costs, but it’s easy to forget why many infectious diseases are rarely encountered today: The success of vaccines does not always tell its own story. RFK Jr.’s potential ascent to the role of secretary of Health and Human Services will offer up ample opportunities to retell this story and counter misinformation.
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Conspiracy Theory Debunked: FBI Was Not in on the Jan. 6 Attack
The FBI had 26 confidential sources at the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol, but the FBI was not in on the attack and no undercover FBI agents were on the National Mall that day, contradicting conspiracy theories about the attack.
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On Reducing Public Fears and Threats of Political Violence
The 2024 election is over, with no substantial violence, but that does not mean the risks of political violence and unrest are off the table. A likely key driver: fears of what the other political side will have America become.
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Trump Migrant Deportations Could Threaten States’ Agricultural Economies
Roughly 40% of farmworkers are not legally authorized to work in the United States.
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“The Best Time to Prepare”: Migrant Rights Group Warns Undocumented Texans to Plan for Deportations
Groups are urging the state’s estimated 1.6 million undocumented migrants to prepare financially and make plans for their loved ones if they’re detained.
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FTC Rightfully Acts Against So-Called “AI Weapon Detection” Company Evolv
The Federal Trade Commission has entered a settlement with self-styled “weapon detection” company Evolv, to resolve the FTC’s claim that the company “knowingly” and repeatedly” engaged in “unlawful” acts of misleading claims about their technology.
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Iran Increases Enrichment Activities to Dangerous Levels: IAEA
The most recent IAEA report sounded an alarm about a dangerous increase in Iran’s enrichment activities at the Fordow enrichment plant. No longer constrained by the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew in 2018, Iran can now decide to produce10-15 kg of weapon grade uranium (WGU) per month, an annual rate of 120 to 130 kg WGU per year, enough for about five nuclear weapons. Iran could supplement this at any point by using its existing stock of 60 percent highly enriched uranium (HEU).
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Syria After Assad: What to Know About HTS, Hezbollah, and Iran
The ascendance of Sunni Islamist rebels in Syria should be viewed with great caution by Western powers, but the Assad regime’s collapse disables a critical node in Iran’s regional proxy network.
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Islamist Terror Incidents Targeting U.S. Increase in 2024
Islamist terror incidents targeting the United States increased in 2024 after several years of reduced activity, with federal and state authorities arresting individuals in seven different incidents on charges related to five unsuccessful plots and two actual attacks.
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The long view
Factories 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.”
No 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.
Fragmented 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 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.
How 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.”
How 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.