• Militias’ Warning of Excessive Federal Power Comes True – but Where Are They?

    Militias and many other Second Amendment advocates have long argued that their primary desire to own firearms – often, many of them – is rooted in a need to protect themselves and their families from a tyrannical federal government, or to discourage the government from becoming tyrannical in the first place. It appears that the militias’ fears have materialized on the streets of Portland, where heavily armed and camouflaged federal officers, wearing no name tags or other insignia, have teargassed and arrested seemingly peaceful protesters with little or no provocation, throwing them into unmarked cars. President Donald Trump has said that he plans to send similar forces to cities run by Democratic mayors. In recent months a new divide has emerged in these militia groups over whether, and how, to respond to this assertion of federal power.

  • Is West Turning Away from Nixon's Approach to China?

    In 1972 US President Richard Nixon shocked the world, and many in his administration, by announcing his intention to normalize relations with Communist China. Forty-eight years on, America and China are embarking on another perilous voyage, filled possibly with even greater uncertainty than encountered in the 1970s. Western powers fear Beijing is out to re-shape the liberal world order, subscribing to a growing view that not only does the Chinese Communist Party want to ensure its continued rule at home but to make China the number one global power.  

  • Huawei and TikTok Are at the Forefront of a New Drift to Regionalism – Many Others Will Follow

    Huawei and TikTok were two of the most successful examples of globalization. Both of these Chinese companies are now at the mercy of a widening geopolitical divide. The U.S. has led an increasingly successful campaign to eliminate Huawei from the global market over alleged security fears, and is threatening to ban TikTok too. These developments are signs of attempts by the U.S. to decouple from China’s economy and concentrate on alliances within its own political and economic sphere. It chimes with the wider drift away from globalization towards a more regional approach to trade.

  • Advancing Biosecurity in the Age of COVID

    The response to COVID-19 has exposed a world that is largely unprepared to deal with emerging and novel biothreats, whether the outbreak is natural or intentional. The Global Health Security Network brought together two biosecurity experts to discuss how current projects to improve global health security can adapt during the pandemic and what changes the world needs to make to improve biosafety and biosecurity.

  • Most Gun Owners Favor Gun Violence Prevention Measures

    New survey shows that the majority of gun owners support many gun violence prevention policies, including background checks, permit requirements, and prohibitions for individuals with domestic violence restraining orders. But most of these gun owners report that they do not make their support public because they are alienated by the rhetoric of gun violence prevention advocates.

  • The Long Haul: China's Grand Strategy

    China has delineated specific objectives regarding economic growth, regional and global leadership in evolving economic and security architectures, and control over claimed territory. In several cases, these objectives bring China into competition, crisis, and even potential conflict with the United States and its allies. The authors of a new report on U.S.-China competition make the case that the kind of country China becomes, and the way that its military evolves, is neither foreordained nor completely beyond the influence of the United States or U.S. military.

  • How to Hide from a Drone – the Subtle Art of “Ghosting” in the Age of Surveillance

    Drones of all sizes are being used by environmental advocates to monitor deforestation, by conservationists to track poachers, and by journalists and activists to document large protests. But when the Department of Homeland Security redirects large, fixed-wing drones from the U.S.-Mexico border to monitor protests, and when towns experiment with using drones to test people for fevers, it’s time to think about how many eyes are in the sky and how to avoid unwanted aerial surveillance. One way that’s within reach of nearly everyone is learning how to simply disappear from view.

  • There Is Nothing Conservative About What Trump Is Doing in Portland

    Attorney General William Barr and President Donald Trump threaten to send more federal troops to cities with Democratic mayors, ignoring the adamant objections of mayors, governors, and local sheriffs. “How greatly have traditional conservative values of federalism and limited government been transformed,” Paul Rosenzweig and Arthur Rizerwent, two conservative commentators, write. Video evidence shows that these CBP “agents are not merely protecting federal property; they have detained citizens who aren’t violating any law and used the power of their presence to chill civil protests and disobedience.” The writers add: “This is a complete corruption of conservative ideals…. The consequences of this radical expansion of federal law-enforcement authority are enormous—and none of them are likely to be good.”

  • U.K. to Overhaul Treason Laws

    Britain is overhauling its treason laws, the most sweeping reform of these laws since 1695. The overhaul will see a new Treason Act and a new Espionage Act for tracking foreign agents and agents of influence, as well as a rewriting of the Official Secrets Act to make it suitable for the digital age. Government officials say the reforms are needed better to deal with the Russia’s sustained campaign to undermine Western democracies and corrupt the politics liberal societies, and the growing efforts of China to steal intellectual property and gain access to other countries’ critical infrastructures by encouraging them to buy subsidized Chinese technology.

  • Preparing for an Explosive Attack

    Explosives are a popular choice among terrorists for causing disruption, casualties and destruction. Although chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons may cause much more damage, explosives can still be the first choice because they are relatively easy to make, transport and use. DHS S&T says it wants to make sure that state and local leaders have choices, too, by arming them with technology to plan for worst-case scenarios and mitigate the fallout of terrorist attacks.

  • Homeland Security Was Destined to Become a Secret Police Force

    Since early July, men in military-style uniforms have waged battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon, using tear gas and nonlethal munitions; video and photographs have shown scenes of urban warfare, with what looks like a regular army moving on unarmed protesters night after night. Masha Gessen writes that the use of CBP agents against unarmed protesters is the inevitable culmination of the creation, nearly twenty years ago, of DHS: The use of the word “Homeland” in the department’s name tracks the rise of the national sense of vulnerability, as “homeland” means “the country insofar as it is endangered.” The U.S. used to protect itself against other nations and their hostile military forces, Gessen writes, “but now it had to fear individuals. This is the premise on which secret police forces are built. Their stated purpose is to find danger where normal human activity appears to be taking place….. The logic of the secret police, however, dictates that it perpetually has to look in new places for threats.”

  • Inside Trump’s Failure: The Rush to Abandon Leadership Role on the Virus

    The roots of the nation’s current inability to control the pandemic can be traced to mid-April, when the White House embraced overly rosy projections to proclaim victory and move on. What is more, Michael D. Shear, Noah Weiland, Eric Lipton, Maggie Haberman, and David E. Sanger write in the New York Times, members of the corona crisis group, meeting in the office of Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff every morning at 8:00am, saw their immediate role as practical problem solvers, but their ultimate goal was to shift responsibility for leading the fight against the pandemic – which was becoming a public health, economic, and political disaster — from the White House to the states.

  • Contact Tracing’s Long, Turbulent History Holds Lessons for COVID-19

    To get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and keep it from flaring up again, contact tracing is critical, but persuading everyone who tests positive to share where they’ve been and with whom relies on trust and cooperation. Amy Lauren Fairchild, Lawrence O. Gostin, and Ronald Bayer write in The Conversation that contact tracing’s long, contested history shows how easily both can be shattered. Looking back at the reasons for resistance to contact tracing as the U.S. struggled to contain epidemics in the past can help us understand the first signs of pushback against contact tracing in the COVID-19 response, as well as the public health consequences.

  • Has the Coronavirus Proved a Crisis Too Far for Europe’s Far-Right Outsiders?

    In recent years, far-right political parties in Europe have capitalized on crises to build their support bases. Many have made it to positions of power as a result of these efforts. The financial crisis of 2008 and the refugee crisis that began in 2014 have provided opportunities to harness growing uncertainty and resentment for political purposes. Georgios Samaras writes in The Conversation that early signs suggest, however, that these groups have not had the same success during the coronavirus crisis. “The predicament facing Europe’s far right and nationalist parties represents a very interesting break with the past, as the far right has been the significant loser of the pandemic.”

  • Evidence from France: The Impact of Terrorism on Representative Democracy

    How do citizens respond to terrorist events? Drawing on a recent study, researchers find that citizens do not necessarily respond in the way we might expect. Citizens do not increase hostility toward ‘out-groups’ as a direct response to terrorism, rather they increase solidarity within their ‘in-group’ and come together following an exogenous shock.