• Chinese Legislation Targets U.S. Trade Sanctions

    A day before U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing, China passed a sweeping new Foreign Relations Law that appears to be aimed at countering U.S. trade sanctions. The law comes as the government of President Xi Jinping is pushing back against American efforts to cut off its access to technology to make advanced computer chips and efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese suppliers.

  • Far-Right Populism is Resurgent in Germany

    The far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party recently won two local elections in breakthrough victories. Rising energy costs, widespread inflation, and migration levels that have doubled over last year are providing fodder for far-right messaging throughout Europe.

  • Maryland Think Tank Co-Director Charged for Acting as an Agent for China, Iran

    Gal Luft, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, allegedly evaded FARA registration while working to advance the interests of China in the United States and seeking to broker the illicit sales of Chinese-manufactured weapons to several countries, and the sale of Iranian oil to China.

  • Winning the 21st-Century Intelligence Contest

    The conduct of intelligence activities is inherently a strategic dynamic between rival actors simultaneously playing offence and defense. Analogies with war, sporting contests and competition abound. The prize for a nation’s leadership? Holding an advantage in decision-making and action.

  • China’s Gallium and Germanium Controls: What They Mean and What Could Happen Next

    From August, China is to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two critical elements for making semiconductor chips. China dominates the supply of both elements. The restrictions look likely to lead to higher prices for gallium and germanium, as well as longer delivery times.

  • Which People Are Most Likely to Hold Antisemitic Views?

    People who believe in conspiracy theories are more likely to have antisemitic opinions than non-believers, new research shows. Researchers also found antisemitic views to be more prevalent among people who consider it justifiable to take extreme authoritarian action against political opponents, and people who want to overthrow social order.

  • Truth Decay Is Putting U.S. National Security at Risk

    America’s troubled relationship with facts is putting national security at risk. “Truth Decay”—the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life—could weaken our military, costs us credibility with our allies, and calls into question our ability to respond to the next big crisis.

  • China’s Ties to Cuba and Growing Presence in Latin America Raise Security Concerns in Washington, Even as Leaders Try to Ease Tensions

    There have been news reports that China made deals with Cuba to set up an electronic eavesdropping station on the island nation, just 90 miles from Florida and build a military training facility there. The China-Cuba connection is just one example of how the Chinese government and Chinese companies have been expanding their influence on America’s doorstep for decades. Not just through trade and investment, but also through espionage, military, law enforcement and drug activities. Such activities will greatly affect U.S. national security for years to come.

  • Our Biggest Errors in Afghanistan and What We Should Learn from Them

    However dramatic it appeared, the collapse of the Afghan government and military was not surprising. The seeds of defeat were planted long before President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal. The American project was not based in a clear understanding of the realities of Afghanistan. Well-meaning Americans believed that they could persuade, cajole, or force a project that much of the population did not actively embrace or participate in. A chain of discrete policy errors flowed from this basic failure to adequately understand the country.

  • Preliminary Injunction Limiting Government Communications with Platforms Tackles Illegal “Jawboning,” but Fails to Provide Guidance on What’s Unconstitutional

    A July 4 preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in Louisiana limiting government contacts with social media platforms deals with government “jawboning” is a serious issue deserving serious attention and judicial scrutiny. The court order is notable as the first to hold the government accountable for unconstitutional jawboning of social media platforms, but it is not the serious examination of jawboning issues that is sorely needed. The court did not distinguish between unconstitutional and constitutional interactions or provide guideposts for distinguishing between them in the future.

  • Muting Trump’s “Megaphone” Easier Said Than Done

    How do you cover Donald Trump? He’s going to do a lot of speeches, and parts of his message will be provably false, reflect intolerance, and promote anti-democratic ideas. Political experts suggest ways media can blunt the former president’s skillful manipulation of coverage to disseminate falsehoods and spread messages which are often sharply divisive and periodically dangerous.

  • How U.S. Colleges, Universities Can Mitigate Risks Related to Foreign-Funded Language and Culture Institutes

    A new report from the National Academies recommends steps that U.S. colleges and universities can take to identify and mitigate risks associated with foreign-funded language and culture institutes on campuses. The report follows one released in January that examined Confucius Institutes — Chinese government-funded language and culture centers.

  • Recent Chinese Cyber Intrusions Signal a Strategic Shift

    On 25 May, Australia and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network—Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US—made a coordinated disclosure on a state-sponsored cyber hacking group dubbed ‘Volt Typhoon’. The group has been detected intruding on critical infrastructure since 2021, but the nature of recent intelligence on its behavior hints at worrying developments in the Chinese cyber establishment.

  • Far-Right Populism: Why Is It So Popular in Germany?

    German politicians and media are once again fretting about the rise of far-right populism in the country, after two local runoff votes in eastern Germany were won by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s most successful far-right party since World War II.

  • U.S. Agencies Buy Vast Quantities of Personal Information on the Open Market – a Legal Scholar Explains Why and What It Means for Privacy in the Age of AI

    The issues pf the protection of personal information in the digital age is increasingly urgent. Today’s commercially available information, coupled with the now-ubiquitous decision-making artificial intelligence and generative AI like ChatGPT, significantly increases the threat to privacy and civil liberties by giving the government access to sensitive personal information beyond even what it could collect through court-authorized surveillance.