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Capitol Assault Network Map
More than 300 defendants who have been criminally charged for participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have been identified as having connections to contemporary extremist groups and movements.
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Taking Fresh Shot, Again, at Debunking Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories
“The Conspiracy,” which premiered in New York in November, traces the origins of one of the world’s oldest and most persistent, dangerous, anti-Semitic theories, and the impact these myths had on three prominent families caught in these theories’ web during the past 200 years.
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Yeast Material Developed for Training First Responders on Biothreats
First responders who train for emergencies involving threats from biological agents such as bacterial or viral pathogens, need to do so in a safe and careful manner. To help meet their needs, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a reference material based on yeast cells.
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Achieving Foundational Security for Food Systems
U.S. cereal crops such as corn, rice, and wheat feed hundreds of millions of Americans and millions more around the world. Ensuring active defense of these and other staple food grasses is a critical national security priority. New DARPA project seeks advanced threat-detection and warning capabilities for crop defense.
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Administration Unveils New Border Measures to Curb Unlawful Migration to U.S.
President Joe Biden announced Thursday measures to crack down on migrants seeking to enter the United States without authorization. The measures will make it easier for border authorities to quickly expel migrants who enter the U.S. between legal crossing points and revive country agreements where would-be asylum-seekers, who passed through a third country, must show they failed to receive protections there before asking for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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January 6th Report Summarizes Extremist Threat – But Leaves Key Gaps
The House Jan. 6 committee’s 845-page report is unquestionably valuable, but significant questions remain largely unanswered around two interrelated components of the committee’s investigation: the scope of law enforcement and intelligence failures preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and what concrete steps should be taken to combat both those failures and the rising threat of domestic violent extremism in the aftermath of January 6th.
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All Talk, but Not a Lot of Walk: Few Western Extremists Made It to Ukraine in 2022
In the weeks following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, up to 20,000 foreigners expressing an interest in joining the Ukrainian war effort. Precise numbers of foreign fighters having traveled to Ukraine and involved in combat since the end of February 2022 are currently difficult to establish, but given the available information, it is reasonable to deduce that only a fraction of those who indicated an interest in traveling to Ukraine after February 2022 actually did so.
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Calls for More Progress on Space Governance Growing Louder
Space may seem infinite, but the narrow band that hugs the Earth, where satellites and space stations operate, is not. A recent RAND study described it as congested, contested, and littered with debris. Tens of thousands of additional satellites are scheduled to launch in the next few years, the vanguard of a new space era. Existing space treaties won’t be enough to keep them safe, to prevent crowding and collisions, and to preserve the promise of outer space.
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California Declares Storm State of Emergency
A huge storm has hit the West Coast of the US, prompting California’s governor to declare a state of emergency. Officials said it may be “one of the most challenging and impactful” storms to hit the state in five years.
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Arrests in January 6 U.S. Capitol Attack Top 950
Almost two years after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the number of people arrested the sprawling federal investigation into the riot has crossed 950. That number represents less than half of an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 supporters of former President Donald Trump believed to have breached the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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Two Charged with Attacks on Four Washington State Power Substations
Two men were arrested earlier this week following attacks on four power substations in Washington state. DHS and the FBI have repeatedly warned in recent months of a rise in threats to critical infrastructure by anti-government groups and domestic extremists.
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Plum Island One Step Closer to Permanent Preservation
Plum Island is one step closer to permanent preservation. Plum Island is currently owned by the United States government and has been home to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center for nearly 70 years. The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of excessing the island, opening it up for transfer to another entity.
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Scholars at Western Universities Rethink Russian Studies in Wake of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
In Ukraine, Moscow’s unprovoked war has killed tens of thousands of people and laid cities and towns to waste. At universities across the West, it has thrust Russia’s history of imperialism and colonialism to the forefront of Slavic and Eurasian academic discussion — from history and political science to art and literature.
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Far-Left Extremist Groups in the United States
Far-left extremism in the United States was most active during the period between the 1960s and 1980s. In the 1990s, a new type of left-extremism began to emerge – what the FBI calls “special-interest extremism,” as expressed by groups such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF). The far left encompasses multiple ideologies, but security experts believe that a large percentage of far-left radicals subscribe to at least one of three main classifications: anarchism, communism/socialism/Marxism, and autonomous radicals.
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Is Ranked Choice Voting Constitutional?
Aside from whether ranked choice voting (RCV) is a good idea as policy or not, the question is sometimes raised whether it’s consistent with the U.S. Constitution.
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More headlines
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
By Natasha Lindstaedt
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
By Haily Tran
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.