Analysis & Opinions

After the U.S. Democrats, the Republicans are now holding their party conference. The message from Donald Trump, as well as that of the speakers, is clear beforehand: Trump wants to present himself as a particularly strong president to protect the United States from chaos.

Cathryn Clüver-Ashbrook previews the Republican National Convention on German National Public Radio.

As part of the ensuing national racial reckoning, institutions within the US nuclear community—academic departments, think tanks, advocacy groups, national laboratories, and others—have issued statements condemning systemic racism. (Several institutions within the nuclear community, at the time of writing this article, had still not produced a statement.) But the nuclear community must go beyond acknowledgement alone if it genuinely aims to dismantle long-standing structural inequalities. For these institutions, the true work of becoming antiracist still lies ahead: accepting and rectifying their own complicity in the problem.

In this episode of International History Declassified, Kian and Pieter speak with Dr. Mariana Budjeryn of Harvard University's Belfer Center. Dr. Budjeryn explains the significance of the Budapest Memorandum, which was signed 25 years ago on the heels of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and which made Ukraine one of the few countries to give up its nuclear arsenal. Dr. Budjeryn also provides fascinating insight into her experiences researching in Ukrainian archives and interviewing Soviet generals.

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook discusses the Democratic National Convention and whether the virtual format worked for the party and was able to sufficiently motivate the party's base and undecided voters on Tagesthemen, one of Germany's main daily television news magazines.

Arctic Innovator Rumaitha Al Busaidi argues for an Arctic Plastic Partnership that could highlight the business advantage to solving the region's marine plastic crisis.

In this week’s update on COVID-19 and Economic Diplomacy: Experts are concerned that the U.S. economy could struggle to recover as states face a $555 billion budget shortfall. EU employment fell a record 2.6% in the second quarter.

Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook discusses the impact the debate around the US Postal Service could have on mail-in ballots come November and reflects on the messaging of the Democratic Party in the opening days of their virtual convention in conversation for Profil magazine's "Super Tuesday," podcast. (In German)

China, as part of its plans to restart its economy, has already approved the construction of new coal-fired power plants accounting for some 17 gigawatts of energy this year, sending a collective shiver down the spines of environmentalists.

Trusting bureaucracy and legal procedure in this time of division and dysfunction may sound naive. But it’s worth noting how many roadblocks exist to any potential effort — foreign or domestic — to subvert the vote.

While we have broad domestic issues to handle, we must not take our eye off the ball in 5G. To succeed here and cement our economy and national security will take a significant bipartisan and innovative offense.