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A Need for Informed Policy Against Critical Cyberattacks: The ROCCA Project
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The Impact of Iranian Military Doctrine on the Iran War
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Urban Warfare: Cities, Crime, and the Future of Conflict
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Promoting Evidence-based Policy and Good Governance

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Defense & Security, Middle East

Jul 23 , 2026

Policy Brief

The Impact of Iranian Military Doctrine on the Iran War

Since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, the United States spent about forty days in major combat operations against the Republic of Iran, followed by just over ninety days of a fragile ceasefire framework and attempted negotiations, punctuated by intermittent kinetic operations. As Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the

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Defense & Security

Jul 18 , 2026

Podcast

Urban Warfare: Cities, Crime, and the Future of Conflict

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In this Orion Talks episode, hosted by Suat Cubukcu, John Sullivan, Nathan Jones, and Daniel Weisz Argomedo explore how urban warfare is reshaping modern conflict. Drawing on their book Urban Operations: War, Crime, and Conflict, they examine the increasingly blurred lines between conventional warfare, organized crime, terrorism, and criminal insurgencies

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Cyber Security & Info Technologies

Jul 13 , 2026

Op-Ed

A Need for Informed Policy Against Critical Cyberattacks: The ROCCA Project

According to data from the Orion Policy Institute’s newly launched Records of Critical Cyber Attacks (ROCCA) Project, China and Russia account for 458 originated cyberattacks, or 48% of the 954 incidents recorded between 2005 and 2025. The United States is the most targeted country, and these attacks have increased sharply

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Cyber Security & Info Technologies

Jul 9 , 2026

Policy Brief

Washington’s AI Ban and Reversal Exposed the Bigger Problem: It Can’t Measure Cyber Risk in the Real World

Anthropic’s Mythos/Fable model ban showed Washington acting on a lab signal it could measure while flying blind on the one it can’t. On June 12, the Commerce Department ordered Anthropic to cut off foreign-national access to its two most capable models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The reason, according to

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Defense & Security, Americas, OPI-TCP

Jul 1 , 2026

Research Report

A Neighbor in Focus: Mexico’s Role in Emerging U.S. Defense & Homeland Security Strategies

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Introduction This project evaluates how the 2025 National Security Strategy positions Mexico within U.S. homeland defense and regional security, measuring the alignment between strategic objectives, NORTHCOM/SOUTHCOM posture statements, and operational resourcing. We evaluate these positions to understand Mexico’s place in the current Trump administration’s hemispheric strategies. Mexico’s role in U.S.

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Defense & Security, Middle East

Jun 29 , 2026

Policy Brief

How the War with Iran is Redrawing the Rules of Maritime Power

Following the intensification of the Israeli-US military campaign against Iran’s nuclear program in spring 2025, the region stretching from the Gulf to the Mediterranean has entered a new phase of strategic turbulence. Beyond missile strikes, air operations, and tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, the conflict is highlighting a deeper transformation

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Crime & Justice, Transnational Crime, Americas, OPI-TCP

Jun 15 , 2026

Op-Ed

Tren de Aragua’s Fall and Delcy Rodríguez’s Rise

On June 12, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as Niño Guerrero, the founder and top leader of Tren de Aragua, in a swift kinetic strike on Venezuelan soil. According to the White House, the operation was conducted in close coordination

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Defense & Security, Middle East

Jun 10 , 2026

Op-Ed

Decapitation Strikes and the Problem of Strategic Prediction

Months after the U.S. agreed to a cease fire with Iran, America has struggled to achieve its core objectives. Iranian military capabilities were severely degraded during the fighting, but neither the U.S. nor Israel has been able to impose its will. Iranian intransigence seems to have surprised American policy makers.

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Latest Research

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Crime & Justice, Transnational Crime, Americas, OPI-TCP

Feb 4 , 2026

Policy Brief

Venezuela’s Hybrid Criminal Networks and U.S. Regional Strategy

Editor’s Note: This policy brief is Part I of an Orion Policy Institute (OPI) Transnational Crime Project (OPI-TCP) series and culminating report examining Venezuela’s transnational criminal networks, their regional security implications, and the evolving U.S. policy response. For years, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has fluctuated between sanctions, diplomacy, and public

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Democracy & Human Rights, Africa

Jan 27 , 2026

Research

Women and the Path for Peace in Africa: DR Congo

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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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Cyber Security & Info Technologies

Jan 17 , 2026

Policy Brief

Post-Quantum Cryptography: An Urgent Need for AI Infrastructure

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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

Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland: Strategic Logic and Regional Implications

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

Why China May Be Emboldened by America’s 2025 National Security Strategy

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

The Trump Corollary: Venezuela as the First Test of a Neo-Monroe Doctrine

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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