In March 2023, images of police officers chasing and handcuffing former President Donald Trump were disseminated on social media. [1] Of course, Trump was not arrested in such a violent manner, and the questionable images were rife with blurry and featureless faces, arms and legs inexplicably emerging from bodies, and hands with more than five...
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is known to be one of the country’s most ambitious projects of geopolitical influence. In 2022, however, BRI investment in sub-Saharan Africa dropped 55 percent to a new low. [1] Despite this window of opportunity for Western powers, trade between the United States and Africa remains only one-fifth the...
Although the illicit drug trade has existed for centuries, its expansion over the past few years is a concerning threat to U.S. national security. In 2022, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported an all-time high of almost 110,000 drug-related deaths in the United States. Though this number decreased in 2023, the narcotics supply...
In foreign policy discussions around America’s grand strategy, considerable emphasis has been placed on the need to balance various instruments of national power – diplomatic, informational, military, and economic – to deter adversaries such as Russia and China effectively. Books and articles are oversaturated with discussions around grand strategy as scholars debate how the United...
On October 7, 2023, Hamas massacred approximately 1,200 people, abducted hundreds of civilians, and launched thousands of rockets in the deadliest terrorist attack ever committed on Israeli soil. Following the attack, Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging strikes in the north of Israel; the Houthis in Yemen launched cruise missiles toward Israel, U.S. naval assets, and...
Many say “you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” Yet nuclear fission mediates an unlikely union between climate action and economic development. With its ability to generate substantial energy with minimal fuel and low greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear energy is the foremost solution when it comes to fulfilling climate commitments across various geographical...
Amidst the rise of great power competition, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and increasing tensions between Taiwan and China, the United States faces a crisis of confidence. The grand strategy it has pursued since the end of the Second World War has become disputed among national security practitioners and academics. Whether the United States should stay engaged...
Between 1997 and 2006, the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee, responsible for the manufacturing and redevelopment of complex nuclear warhead components, suffered 21 fires and explosions, several roof leaks, and a ceiling collapse. [1] The circumstances across Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) sites have not improved much since then; in fiscal year...
The Ancient Greeks thought of chaos as a gaping chasm. For many observers of international affairs, such imagery accurately captures the anxiety of traversing the present abyss, unaware of what new dangers lie in wait. Yet somewhere in this darkness stands “a city upon a hill” on which the “eyes of all people” are transfixed:...
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is one of the most renowned achievements in the Chinese strategic tradition. At first glance, the tactics described in the book are not useful to a modern strategist; the book was a field manual in the Warring States period of Chinese antiquity, written for an era of combat when...
