When AI Finds a Software Flaw, Who Decides When the Affected Vendor Is Told?
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Evolving Nature of Terrorism since the September 11 Attacks: al-Qaeda and ISIS Affiliates
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Folly, Persuasion, and Deceit: Artificial Intelligence and the Coming Crisis of Overconfidence in Strategic Nuclear Affairs
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The Contested LEO Battlespace: The Fight for Connectivity, Control, and Decision Advantage
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APT Profile: APT44
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Promoting Evidence-based Policy and Good Governance

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OPI-ROCCA, NextGen

Sep 16 , 2026

Projects

Introduction In December 2024, a cyberattack against the U.S. Department of the Treasury did not begin inside the Treasury. A Chinese state-sponsored actor gained access through a compromised third-party cybersecurity provider. The incident exposed a fundamental problem of modern cyber governance: governments are increasingly responsible for protecting digital infrastructure they

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Cybersecurity, Technology

Sep 14 , 2026

Op-Ed

In July 2026, the Trump Administration announced GOLD EAGLE, a new federal clearinghouse with the goal of improving cybersecurity vulnerability coordination, using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify software flaws and speed up the time it takes to fix them. While a commendable and necessary effort, the current public details on

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Defense & Security, Terrorism & Extremism, Africa, Middle East

Sep 8 , 2026

Policy Brief

The terrorism threat landscape has changed substantially since September 11, 2001. Over the last quarter of a century, counterterrorism efforts disrupted terrorist networks and decapitate several senior leaders, including the founder of al Qaeda, Usama bin Laden, and his successors, as well as ISIS leadership. Despite al Qaeda being pushed

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Defense & Security, Technology

Sep 5 , 2026

Policy Brief

Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) is seeping steadily into strategic nuclear affairs. In 2018, a RAND Corporation study reasoned that by 2040, an AI could advise humans on matters of escalation without connecting directly to nuclear launchers, based on the progress AI is making in “increasingly complex and poorly specified tasks.”[1]

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Data Privacy & Governance Hub

Sep 3 , 2026

Projects

Key Takeaways Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) reported that some educational technology (EdTech) applications used in Utah K-12 schools collected and shared student data in ways that violated privacy agreements. Utah House Bill 55, which took effect on July 1, 2026, increased privacy requirements for EdTech vendors by allowing

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Defense & Security, Technology, Europe & Central Asia

Sep 1 , 2026

Policy Brief

The war in Ukraine is exposing a fundamental change in modern conflict. Low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations are no longer simply a supporting layer that provides communications, imagery, navigation, and data to forces fighting below. It is becoming part of the battlespace itself, not necessarily because satellites are being destroyed

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OPI-ROCCA

Aug 25 , 2026

Projects

Country of Origin Russia Threat Actor Type State-sponsored Other Names Sandworm, GRU Unit 74455, Seashell Blizzard, FROZENBARENTS, Iron Viking, Telebots, Voodoo Bear Year Identified 2014 Major Target Countries & Entities Ukraine, Poland, United States, South Korea, multinational corporations Profile Summary APT44 is a Russian state-sponsored cyber threat actor that operates

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Defense & Security, Middle East

Aug 20 , 2026

Op-Ed

As both the U.S. and Iran have climbed the escalation ladder, the Strait of Hormuz — and with it, international maritime trade and energy markets — has been subjected to a consequential chokehold. As the U.S. conducts strikes on major infrastructural sites, weapons depots, and Iranian political leadership, one of

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Democracy & Human Rights, Africa

Jan 27 , 2026

Research

This research article draws on in-depth interviews with Dr. Susanne Alldén, who is a senior lecturer in Peace and Development Studies at Linnaeus University in Sweden and has extensive field experience in conflict-affected regions, particularly in central and western Africa. She has also led and managed stabilization, peacebuilding, and gender

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Technology

Jan 17 , 2026

Policy Brief

Post-quantum cryptography is typically framed as a problem in quantum computing. It is something to address once fault-tolerant machines arrive. So, this framing is still incomplete. Every scaled AI system today depends on encrypted data pipelines, protected model weights, and secure inference infrastructure. The cryptographic standards protecting that infrastructure are

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Defense & Security, Africa

Jan 13 , 2026

Policy Brief

Rather than an isolated diplomatic gesture, Israel’s decision to formally recognise the Republic of Somaliland constitutes a deliberate strategic intervention in the Horn of Africa. By extending recognition to a de facto sovereign entity that is not officially recognised, Israel has challenged long-standing international norms governing statehood, territorial integrity, and

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Defense & Security, Indo – Pacific, South Asia

Jan 7 , 2026

Policy Brief

China is rapidly increasing its economic and military strength and asserting itself more aggressively on the world stage. Until President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2012, China was careful to downplay its ambition and growing international power. Now, the country is a near-peer competitor of the United States military in

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Defense & Security, Americas

Dec 12 , 2025

Policy Brief

Foreign policy analysts had long suspected that President Trump was reviving a Monroe Doctrine–style policy for Latin America. With the release of the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), that idea now has a formal name: the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine. This newly declared doctrine revives a two-century-old concept

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Defense & Security, Transnational Crime, Americas, Indo – Pacific

Dec 8 , 2025

Policy Brief

More than two months have passed since our last assessment on Airstrikes in the Caribbean, yet U.S. action against suspected Venezuelan narcotraffickers has accelerated, expanding in both scope and frequency. The situation has evolved into a sustained operation with far-reaching implications for U.S. policy and regional security. What began as

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