• National Security Consequences of Climate Change

    The consequences of climate change for national security and international stability are numerus and serious. Rising temperatures which reduce agricultural opportunities can lead to mass migrations away from struggling communities. Violent hurricanes and winter storms can disrupt electric grid operations, interrupting access to electricity and other utilities long after the initial climate threat has passed. Researchers are simulating how climate change affects the safety and security of the country.

  • How Climate Change Will Impact National Security

    The recent U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) lays out the likely security implications over the next two decades of the mounting climate crisis. Calder Walton, the research director at Harvard’s Belfer Center, says: “Let’s start with the basics: that climate change does pose a threat to U.S. national security. The National Intelligence Estimate is a joint assessment produced by the entire U.S. intelligence community, 18 agencies. That’s significant. There are no naysayers; there’s no doubt. So that’s a breakthrough. In this extraordinarily polarized and politicized environment, that is a big milestone itself.”

  • Modern Warfare: “Precision” Missiles Will Not Stop Civilian Deaths – Here’s Why

    No degree of missile precision will stop the tragedy of civilian deaths in war. And wars show no sign of ending. Perhaps it is time for a more honest dialogue about the limits of technology and the human costs involved.

  • Russian Anti-Satellite Weapon Test: What Happened and What Are the Risks?

    Anti-satellite weapons, commonly referred to as ASATs, are any weapon that can temporarily impair or permanently destroy an orbiting satellite. The one that Russia just tested is known as a direct ascent kinetic anti-satellite weapon. These are usually launched from the ground or from the wings of an airplane and destroy satellites by running into them at high speeds.

  • Taiwan: China Is Using “Gray Zone” Warfare to Degrade Island’s Defenses

    Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that China is practicing “gray zone” warfare against it with the aim of degrading and exhausting the island’s ability to defend itself. The Defense Ministry said China carried out 554 intrusions by flying warplanes into the island’s southwestern theater of air defense identification zone between September of last year and the end of August. In October alone there were 148 intrusions, Taiwan said.

  • Biological Weapons in the “Shadow War”

    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to renewed discussion of biological weapons, but Glenn Cross, a former deputy national intelligence officer for Weapons of Mass Destruction responsible for biological weapons analysis, argues that the development and possession of biological weapons is trending dramatically downward since the end of World War II. “Nations likely no longer see utility in developing or possessing biological weapons for use in large-scale, offensive military operations given the devastating capabilities of today’s advanced conventional weapons,” he writes.

  • German Engine Technology Used in Chinese Warships: Report

    Engines developed in Germany can evade export control bans due to their status as a so-called dual-use technology, a German media investigation has revealed.

  • China Hypersonic Test “Has All of Our Attention”: Gen. Milley

    A July test by China of a hypersonic weapons system is an indication that China’s efforts to surpass the United States as the world’s foremost military power are making significant progress, military experts say. The test took U.S. intelligence officials by surprise.

  • Can U.S. Missile-Defense Systems Handle China’s New Missiles?

    A hypersonic glide vehicle, possibly with a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS), would enable the Chinese to circumvent existing and likely planned U.S. missile-defense and early warning systems. They would go through the back door, rather than try to bash down the defended and watched front door.

  • Protecting Hardware from Software Attacks

    In order to break the endless cycle of software patch-and-pray, DARPA’s System Security Integration Through Hardware and firmware (SSITH) program aims to develop ASIC hardware with novel protections proven in mitigating against software attacks on hardware.

     

  • The Drivers of Invention of Military Technologies

    Researchers tested competing theories about what drove the evolution of war machines throughout world history.

  • Biden Administration Places Climate Change at the Center of U.S. Security Planning

    The administration on Thursday has released a series of reports addressing the increasingly severe impact of climate change on U.S. national security – an impact which is only going to grow in severity and scope. Taken together, the reports signal a new stage in U.S. policy, one which places climate change at the center of the U.S. security planning.

  • Rising Temperatures Reshaping, Exacerbating Global Security Landscape

    More than just altering the environment, climate change is threatening to permanently and dangerously reshape the global security landscape. These are the conclusions of a series of new assessments by U.S. military, intelligence, and security officials. “As climate change converges with other drivers — especially geostrategic competition, emerging technology and global-demographic trends — it is reshaping the risk landscape,” DHS said in its assessment. “The corrosive impact of these trends will make nations increasingly vulnerable to domestic instability, with sweeping implications for regional and border security and core national security interests.”.

  • Will China Surpass the US in Military Air Superiority?

    The Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar investment in advanced warplanes, weapons systems, satellites and aircraft carriers has made air power a central part of America’s global projection of military might. However, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is rapidly modernizing, and military leaders and analysts say that Washington may no longer be able to always rely on its air superiority.

  • Rush to Stop “Havana Syndrome”

    In 2016, dozens of diplomatic staff at the U.S. and Canadian embassies in Havana began experiencing a sudden onset of health troubles with no apparent cause. It was suspected they had been exposed to a high-intensity burst of energy or sound waves. Known as Havana syndrome, today there are at least 200 CIA, State Department, and Pentagon personnel stationed overseas who have been affected. But cause, suspects unclear as scores of U.S. spies, diplomats, security staff hit by mysterious neurological injuries overseas.