China watchCan the West Devise an Alternative to China’s Belt and Road? By Reid Standish Published 17 May 2021 Since it was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has channeled hundreds of billions of dollars into foreign infrastructure, boosting trade, and clearing the way for China to

Energy securityHydropower’s Evolving Value to the Grid and Energy Storage Published 17 May 2021 Across the United States, hydroelectric dams are capturing energy from river water to create electricity that powers everything from street lights to mega industrial plants. Hydropower represents 41 percent of all renewable energy generated across the nation and is a key

InformantsInformant Motivation Published 17 May 2021 The effective recruitment and deployment of informants is critical to law enforcement and intelligence agencies being able to identify and manage threats. Accurately identifying a source’s motivation for providing information enables an informant handler to better influence the informant’s behavior. A new framework has been devised to help informant

Truth decayHow Truth Decay Is Fueling Vaccine Hesitancy By Jennifer Kavanagh Published 17 May 2021 A recent poll found that more than a quarter of Americans will not try to get vaccinated. Why are so many people opting out? Why are so many people opting out? The reasons vary, but some simply don’t trust the

ARGUMENT: Cyberspace operations Cyberspace Is Neither Just an Intelligence Contest, nor a Domain of Military Conflict; SolarWinds Shows Us Why It’s Both Published 14 May 2021 Operations in cyberspace—at least those perpetrated by nation-state actors and their proxies—reflect the geopolitical calculations of the actors who carry them out. Erica D. Borghard writes that cyberspace is

InsurrectionAgreement Reached for Bipartisan Probe into U.S. Capitol Riot Published 14 May 2021 The House Homeland Security Committee announced a bipartisan agreement Friday to form a panel to conduct an investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. A bill will be introduced for House consideration as early as next week. The measure

Pandemic prevention“Paradigm Shift” to Fight Airborne Spread of COVID-19 Indoors Published 14 May 2021 Humans in the 21st century spend most of their time indoors, but the air we breathe inside buildings is not regulated to the same degree as the food we eat and the water we drink. Scientists from 14 countries say that

Space debrisCrashing Chinese Rocket Highlights Growing Dangers of Space Debris Published 14 May 2021 This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics have attributed to poor planning by China. The event has shown the potential

Supply chain securitySupply Chains and National Security—the Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic By Bradley Martin Published 14 May 2021 National power relies on globally efficient and intertwined supply chains. These highly interconnected supply chains are a fact of life, bringing benefit and vulnerability. Supply chain vulnerability stretches across whole sectors of the U.S. economy and

WildfiresA Dangerous Fire Season Looms as the Drought-Stricken Western U.S. Heads for a Water Crisis By Mojtaba Sadegh, Amir AghaKouchak, and John Abatzoglou Published 14 May 2021 Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half