The Air Force’s super-secret B-21 Raider stealth bomber quietly made its first flight in California on Nov. 10, flying from the factory to Edwards AFB at not much more than tree-top level.  Yes, right before China’s President Xi Jinping visited San Francisco. All of a sudden China wants to start talks on AI and nuclear weapons. “The leaders affirmed the need to address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI safety through U.S.-China government talks,” the White House stated on [ Read More…]

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan shot to notoriety with a 2017 article in The Yale Law Journal, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” where she charged that vigorous antitrust action should be taken against the company. She asserted this while acknowledging Amazon had low profits, was continually reinvesting in its businesses, and providing low-priced, i.e., competitively priced, items to its customers. There are fundamental errors and omissions in both the article and a related lawsuit the FTC recently announced against Amazon. [ Read More…]

Using nuclear weapons for anything other than deterrence has become unthinkable in the West. Not so in Moscow. Every new iteration of Russian strategy stresses the centrality of nuclear systems in Moscow’s defense posture–including in regional conflicts along Russia’s periphery. Russia has both the doctrine and the capability to use short-range, low-yield weapons in Ukraine that might turn the tide of war in Moscow’s favor. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin has good reason to suspect that the West would not [ Read More…]

A growing contingent of House Republicans opposes further military aid to Ukraine. If it successfully blocks the Biden administration’s request for more money, many GOP-held congressional districts will suffer economic fallout. U.S. munitions plants, whether publicly or privately operated, increasingly tend to be sited in the South and Midwest where the GOP is strongest. An end to Ukraine aid would reduce demand for materiel made in those districts. I have written a commentary for Forbes here. 

On April 6, 2022 as President Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act (PRSA), there was abounding yet misplaced optimism that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) had turned the corner financially and would have a bright future. Congress provided USPS with $107 billion in assistance from PSRA, on top of $10 billion from the December 2020 COVID package. Also, in April 2022, USPS’s 10-year strategic plan said it would break even in fiscal year 2023 if PSRA were enacted and [ Read More…]

The mullahs in Iran are gloating over anti-Israel protests, and harassment attacks by the Axis of Resistance. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force commander Esmail Ghaani has been shuttling to Lebanon and other locations, holding meetings, hoping to whip up more mayhem. And Iran would love to elbow the U.S. military out of the Middle East and fulfill its dreams of regional hegemony. Don’t count on it. Iran’s military options are limited, the economy is a shambles, and behind the scenes, a lot of [ Read More…]

While Congress overwhelmingly enacted legislation in 2018 to curtail opioids, fentanyl, and other illegal contraband from entering the United States via the international postal system, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has dropped the ball on enforcement. This has public health and national security ramifications that Congress should investigate and fix. A scathing September 25 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General documented these shortcomings at CBP. Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler discusses this in an Op-Ed [ Read More…]

The Israel-Hamas conflict has created a new spawning ground for terrorists intent on attacking America. Washington will need to spend more time thinking about the security of its critical infrastructure. One cluster of activity deserving special attention is the servers, data centers and communications links supporting the internet. When the 9/11 attacks occurred, America’s internet-driven economy had barely begun to emerge. Today, virtually every facet of commerce and culture depends on internet access. Google’s layered and multifaceted security practices offer [ Read More…]

Unfortunately, over the past several decades, the United States’ planning for future conflicts has had to adjust to many “punches” from adversaries. The events of 9/11 once constituted such a blow, as did the rise of great power competitors, culminating in Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Hamas’ monstrous 10/7 attack on Israel and the prospect of a multi-front war between that state and its regional adversaries looks to be a third such punch. However, despite the U.S. military’s need [ Read More…]

The centerpiece of Pentagon modernization plans is an ubiquitous network called the Joint All-Domain Command and Control system–JADC2. It’s a way of providing all warfighters with robust, reliable information enabling optimum responses to threats. However, because JADC2 contains so much vital information, it is essential that malicious actors not be able to gain access. The mechanism for sorting out who should be admitted and who should not is a software system called Identity, Credential and Access Management, or ICAM. Without [ Read More…]