• Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several rapidly emerging technologies that promise to disrupt not only multiple sectors of the U.S. economy but also the manner in which the U.S. government carries out its foundational responsibility to protect national security consistent with the rule of law and constitutional values. Steve Bunnell writes that “The United States’ national security apparatus is not known for nimbleness, nor is the law that governs it. When it comes to AI, the risk is not just that our generals will fight tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy but also that the United States will lack the legal and policy guardrails that are essential to a lawful, accountable, and ethical protection of the nation’s security.”

  • The Risk of Russian Cyber Retaliation for the United States Sending Rockets to Ukraine

    U.S. rocket shipments to Ukraine will not trigger Russian cyberattacks against the United States. Russian is too focused on attacking Ukrainian systems and defending their own networks to mount a response to the weapons shipments.

  • The Military Cannot Rely on AI for Strategy or Judgment

    Using artificial intelligence (AI) for warfare has been the promise of science fiction and politicians for years, but new research argues only so much can be automated and shows the value of human judgment.

  • Fearing Iranian Attacks, Israel Urges Israeli Travelers in Turkey to Return Home

    The stealthy war between Israel and Iran is escalating. In late May, Israeli intelligence uncovered a secret Iranian plot to kill and kidnap Israeli tourists in Turkey, a favorite tourist destination for Israelis. The Turkish authorities were alerted, and the Iranian agents were captured. A few days later, a colonel in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was killed in broad daylight in the middle of Teheran. The colonel’s unit was responsible for planning and carrying out attacks on Israelis abroad.

  • Germany's Military Upgrade Hobbled by Bureaucracy

    Germany’s military suddenly has €100 billion to spend on new equipment. Thousands of people in one of Germany’s largest government agencies are tasked with procurement. But that may turn out to be a major problem.

  • How the U.S. Has Struggled to Stop the Growth of a Shadowy Russian Private Army

    Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on the Wagner Group, a private and unaccountable army with a history of human rights violations, to pursue Russia’s foreign policy objectives across the globe. For nearly a decade, U.S. officials watched with alarm as this shadowy network of Russian mercenaries connected to the Kremlin wreaked havoc in Africa, the Middle East and most recently Ukraine.

  • Israel Sets to Deploy Laser Weapons to Counter Missiles, Rockets, and Drones

    Laser weapons have long been the stuff of science fiction films and video games, but the last few years saw more and more laser system developed and deployed. Israel says it has successfully tested an effective, and cost-effective, solid-state laser weapon that can shoot down missiles, rockets, mortars, and drone – and a cost of about $3.50 per kill.

  • Breaking the Black Sea Blockade

    There is an aspect to Ukraine war which has received insufficient attention, though it is now slowly coming into focus and where pressure could build for a NATO operation. This is the need to relieve the blockade Russia has successfully inflicted on Ukraine’s southern ports in the Black Sea. This is urgent not only because of the effect on Ukraine’s battered economy but also on supplies of essential agricultural products to the rest of the world.

  • The Meaning of Biden’s Big Shift on Taiwan

    The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) does not obligate the United States to directly intervene on Taiwan’s behalf. Instead, for four decades Washington has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” leaving unanswered the question of whether it would defend Taiwan. In moving away from strategic ambiguity, Biden made a long overdue adjustment to U.S. policy.

  • Is Russia Using Laser Weapon in Ukraine

    Last Wednesday, a top Kremlin official said that Russia has deployed an advanced laser weapons system in combat in Ukraine. Laser weapons, if they are usable, could help Moscow against one of its main menaces in Ukraine: Drones. Several countries, including Russia, have been working on developing laser weapons, but experts say it is not clear whether Russia’s R&D efforts have so far yielded an operational weapon.

  • European Academics Helping China's Military

    European researchers have cooperated with China’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). The NUDT’s purpose is to “Strengthen the Armed Forces and the Nation.” An investigation by 10 European news outlets has found nearly 3,000 scientific publications by researchers affiliated with European universities and their counterparts at military-linked institutions in China — most notably the NUDT.

  • What Went Wrong with Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – and Why?

    Why has the Russian campaign in Ukraine, at least so far, not gone Putin’s way? Experts who have examined Russia’s failures in Ukraine found that of the flaws in planning and execution identified by experts, several categories of failure stand out: a) Underestimating the Ukrainian leaders’, military’s and public’s will and ability to resist; b) underestimating the collective West’s will and capability to aid Ukraine; c) poor planning of the military campaign, calling for simultaneous achievement of multiple objectives along several axes, unachievable with resources committed to attaining these objectives; and d) failure to establish a single chain of command for the operation, to ensure that advancing units have adequate and timely protection and supplies and to achieve air superiority.

  • Russia's Claims of Ukrainian Biological Weapons: A Propaganda Ploy?

    Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has claimed Kyiv is developing biological weapons with support from the US and Germany. Experts familiar with laboratories in Ukraine say the accusations are groundless.

  • Russia’s Hybrid War in Ukraine

    Microsoft last week released a report which details a broad cyberattacks campaign by Russia in Ukraine, a campaign conducted in concert with kinetic military action. At least six Russian Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors and other unattributed threats, have conducted destructive attacks, espionage operations, or both, while Russian military forces attack the country by land, air, and sea.

  • World Military Expenditure Passes $2 Trillion for First Time

    Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach $2113 billion. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure.