ARGUMENT: CybersecurityA Key Step in Preventing a Future SolarWinds Published 8 February 2021 In the weeks since news of the SolarWinds incident became public, commentators have offered no shortage of prescriptions for responding to the incident. Natalie Thompson writes that as information continues to emerge about the scope and scale of the incident and policymakers

ExtremismHow Telegram Disruption Impacts Jihadist Platform Migration Published 8 February 2021 In October 2018 and November 2019, Europol conducted two Action Days geared toward meaningfully disrupting jihadist networks on Telegram – a social media platform favored by groups like Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. A new report aims to understand the impact of the 2018

DronesSwarming Drones Concept Flies Closer to Reality Published 8 February 2021 A swarm of twenty drones has recently completed the largest collaborative, military-focused evaluation of swarming uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the U.K. The exercise was the culmination of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory’s (DSTL) “Many Drones Make Light Work” competition A swarm of twenty

China syndromeChina’s Abuse of the Uighurs: Does the Genocide Label Fit? By John B. Bellinger III Published 8 February 2021 On his last full day in office, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that the Chinese government is committing genocide against the Uighurs and other minority groups in the Xinjiang region. The Biden administration

Our picksOnly Immigrants Can Save Entitlements | U.K.-China: Academic Decoupling | No Need Another Patriot Act, and more Published 8 February 2021 ·  Only Immigrants Can Save Entitlements ·  The Ghost in the (Voting) Machine ·  Liz Cheney: Trump’s Pence Tweet During Riot Could Be ‘Premeditated Effort to Provoke Violence’ ·  In the Battle for the Capitol, Veterans

Chemical detectionRobot Seeks Out Chemical Agents Published 8 February 2021 Scientists have successfully tested a fully autonomous robot that will help defense and security personnel dealing with hazardous scenes. The development of the robot means that humans and machines can now share the burden of detecting and report dangerous chemicals over large areas. DSTL, the science

The Week that Was Bracing for Trouble Published 7 February 2021 Security and police forces are bracing for violence by the more violent among Trump supporters and an assortment of other extremists, on two dates: The first is 9 February, which is the first day of Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial. The second is 4

ExtremismU.S. Police, Security Forces Brace for Trump Impeachment Trial By Jeff Seldin Published 5 February 2021 Security and police forces in and around Washington will be operating at what they describe as “a high-level of readiness” as the impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump gets underway next week, worried the event could serve as

PandemicClimate Change May Have Driven the Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Published 5 February 2021 Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favored by bats. A new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment provides the first evidence of a mechanism by

ExtremismExtremist-Related Shootouts with Police Soar in 2020 Published 5 February 2021 During the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, violent Trump supporters—reinforced by a broad coalition of right-wing extremists—attacked police, who appeared to be caught unprepared for a violent encounter with a crowd which has been loudly and consistently supportive of law enforcement.