• The Promise—and Pitfalls—of Researching Extremism Online

    While online spaces are key enablers for extremist movements, social media research hasn’t provided many answers to fundamental questions. How big of a problem is extremism, in the United States or around the world? Is it getting worse? Are social media platforms responsible, or did the internet simply reveal existing trends? Why do some people become violent?

  • A New Way to Look at Data Privacy

    Researchers create a privacy technique that protects sensitive data while maintaining a machine-learning model’s performance. The researchers created a new privacy metric, which they call Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) Privacy, and built a framework based on this metric that can automatically determine the minimal amount of noise that needs to be added.

  • Americans in Former Confederate States More Likely to Say Violent Protest against Government Is Justified, 160 Years After Gettysburg

    Americans living in the Confederate states that violently rebelled against the United States during the Civil War express significantly greater support for the notion that it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government. Residents of what are known as the Border States, the slave states that did not secede from the Union, are also more likely than residents of Union states to say it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government.

  • Americans in Former Confederate States More Likely to Say Violent Protest against Government Is Justified, 160 Years After Gettysburg

    Americans living in the Confederate states that violently rebelled against the United States during the Civil War express significantly greater support for the notion that it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government. Residents of what are known as the Border States, the slave states that did not secede from the Union, are also more likely than residents of Union states to say it can be justifiable to violently protest against the government.

  • How an “AI-tocracy” Emerges

    Many scholars, analysts, and other observers have suggested that resistance to innovation is an Achilles’ heel of authoritarian regimes. But in China, the use of AI-driven facial recognition helps the regime repress dissent while enhancing the technology, researchers report.

  • Preparing for Great Power Conflict

    How has the military experience gained by both the U.S. military and the PLA since 2001 shaped the way both militaries train? What effect do these experiences and training trends have on readiness for major power conflict?

  • New Book Unveils Untold Story of U.S. Engagement in Afghanistan Prior to Soviet Invasion

    Whether in 1979, 2001, or 2021, Afghanistan has frequently been seen as a crisis area in U.S. foreign policy. Robert Rakove sheds new light on the little-known and often surprising history of U.S. engagement in Afghanistan from the 1920s to the Soviet invasion, tracing its evolution and exploring its lasting consequences.

  • Six Things to Watch Following Meta's Threads Launch

    Meta’s ‘Twitter killer,’ Threads, launched on July 6 to media fanfare. With another already politically charged U.S. election on the horizon, online hate and harassment at record highs, and a rise in antisemitism and extremist incidents both on- and offline, a new social media product of this scale will present serious challenges.

  • Close to 100,000 Voter Registrations Were Challenged in Georgia — Almost All by Just Six Right-Wing Activists

    Many states allow challenges to voter registration, but officials in Georgia and experts say that in the past challengers have typically had relevant personal knowledge, such as someone submitting a challenge to remove a dead relative from the rolls. Georgia, however, is unusual: changes to the law after the 2020 election explicitly allow citizens unlimited challenges against anyone in their county. Georgia officials say that they did not know of any instances of challenges resulting in a successfully prosecuted case of voter fraud.

  • Chinese Intelligence-Linked Hackers Targeted U.S. Government Agencies in Microsoft Hack

    Hackers linked to China’s intelligence agencies, are behind a monthlong campaign that breached some unclassified U.S. email systems, allowing them to access to a small number of accounts at the U.S. State Department and a handful of other organizations.

  • Outlaw Alliance: How China and Chinese Mafias Overseas Protect Each Other’s Interests

    The rise of Chinese organized crime in Europe highlights its ties to the Chinese state, national security officials say. Recent cases show the suspected role of mobsters in Beijing’s campaign to repress diaspora communities and amass influence.

  • Under-Investment in Public Health Leaves U.S. Less Prepared for Current and Future Health Risks

    Decades of underfunding have left the nation’s public health system ill-equipped to protect the health of Americans, according to a new report. COVID-19 emergency funding helped cControl the pandemic, but did not address structural weaknesses in the U.S. public health system.

  • 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.