• How U.S. Military Planning Has Shifted Away from Fighting Terrorism to Readying for Tensions and Conflict with China and Russia

    As changes emerge in the types of threats facing the U.S., the American military adjusts its strategic focus, budgets and planning. For instance, after 9/11, the U.S. military refocused away from its Cold War emphasis on preparing for combat against a powerful nation – the Soviet Union – and toward fighting small terrorist and insurgent groups instead. Over the past decade, the Pentagon’s efforts have shifted back to preparing for what officials call “great power competition” among the U.S., Russia and China.

  • Turkey Attacker Inspired by Accelerationism and Mass Killers, Manifesto Shows

    An 18-year-old suspect who livestreamed himself stabbing multiple people near a mosque in the Turkish city of Eskişehir on August 12, 2024, was fueled by the extremist belief in accelerationism and motivated by past mass killers including white supremacists.

  • Election Experts Cautious as Abbott Touts Voter Roll Purge

    Federal and state law already required voter roll maintenance. Experts warn the governor’s framing of this routine process could be used to undermine trust in elections.

  • Biosecurity for Food Security

    Biosecurity is a fundamental enabler for a country’s’ food security, a critical but often overlooked element of national security, and it is time for it to be treated accordingly.

  • We Need a New Discussion About Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Work

    U.S. intelligence is shielding the Biden-Harris administration from having to take serious action on Iran’s nuclear program. While hinting at nuclear weapon activities taking place, the U.S. intelligence community is focusing on public Iranian statements and old news on Iran’s capabilities to produce weapon-grade uranium — but it avoids any type of public discussion on what nuclear weaponization activities Iran may be undertaking, and how soon it can build a nuclear weapon. Likely, because some uncomfortable truths would come out: Iran can do it way too quickly, and initial activities to build the bomb could be difficult to detect.

  • U.S. Says Iran Nuclear Deal Remains 'Off the Table' as Tehran Calls for 'New Negotiations'

    Reviving the Iran nuclear deal remains off the agenda for the Biden administration, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, but the deal “is not on the table right now.”

  • China May Be Putting the Great Firewall into Orbit

    The first satellites for China’s ambitious G60 mega-constellation are in orbit in preparation for offering global satellite internet services—and we should worry about how this will help Beijing export its model of digital authoritarianism around the world.

  • How Smart Toys May e Spying on Kids: What Parents Need to Know

    Toniebox, Tiptoi, and Tamagotchi are smart toys, offering interactive play through software and internet access. However, many of these toys raise privacy concerns, and some even collect extensive behavioral data about children.

  • America’s Iran Policy Is a Failure − Piecemeal Deterrence and Sanctions Can Go Only So Far

    A decade of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has failed to contain Iran’s ambitions and has instead substantially contributed to the current escalation of hostilities in the region. Washington’s ability to project power and manage American interests in the Mideast has eroded dramatically since 2010, and, as a result of Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran’s military nuclear program has reached its most advanced stage. The failed policies have culminated in the collapse of American deterrence in the Middle East. Simply put, the U.S. no longer projects enough power there to stop Iranian hostilities.

  • To Win the AI Race, China Aims for a Controlled Intelligence Explosion

    China’s leader Xi Jinping has his eye on the transformative forces of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the country’s economy and society in the coming decades. But the disruptive, and potentially unforeseen, consequences of this technology may be more than the party-state can stomach.

  • The Hacking of the Trump Campaign Is 2016 All Over Again

    Hackers affiliated with the intelligence service of a foreign county hack the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. presidency, scoop damaging material, and disseminate it to reporters. This describes both the 2016 hacking of the Clinton campaign by Russian hackers, and the 2024 hacking of the Trump campaign by Iranian hackers. But there are differences: In 2016, “The press seized on the hacked emails,” Quinta Jurecic writes, “and the Trump campaign capitalized exuberantly on Russia’s involvement in the election.” Trump called on Russia to do even more. Now, the press has behaved more responsibly, and “Kamala Harris has not yet weighed in on the campaign trail with any winking suggestions that Iran might want to continue rummaging around in the Trump campaign’s systems.”

  • Oversight Committee Presses Federal Agencies on Plan to Shrink China's Influence

    The Chinese government has carried out a broad effort to influence U.S. higher education through funding top universities and sponsoring Confucius Institutes at schools, though those have mostly been shut down over concerns about national security. The National Association of Scholars, though, says those institutions have been reopening with different branding.

  • Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia

    The American Patriots Three Percent (AP3) militia has long been one of the largest in the United States and has mostly managed to avoid scrutiny. Like other militias, AP3 has a vague but militant right-wing ideology, a pronounced sense of grievance and a commitment to armed action. It has already sought to shape American life through vigilante operations: AP3 members have “rounded up” immigrants at the Texas border, assaulted Black Lives Matter protesters and attempted to crack down on people casting absentee ballots.

  • Trump Assassination Attempt Laid Bare Long-standing Vulnerabilities in the Secret Service

    A Spotlight PA, ProPublica, and Butler Eagle investigation found the process for securing campaign events was susceptible to attack for years: the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.

  • How the U.S. Can Counter Disinformation from Russia and China

    Attempts by Russia, China, and other U.S. adversaries to spread dangerous false narratives need to be countered before they take root.