Science & Technology

Intelligence services have a long history of manipulating information on health issues, and an epidemic is especially tempting for interference. The authors ask why isn't the United States better prepared?

The editors of International Security have selected the following articles as excellent starting points to help achieve a greater understanding of the crisis at hand.

Four former U.S. defense secretaries issue a warning about China and a wake-up call to Americans on artificial intelligence.

Joel Clement describes the long, tough road for scientists during the Trump administration—particularly those at the Department of the Interior. 

The continual spread of Open Banking means that regulators and merchants in various markets are becoming more aware of the critical importance of security as data speeds increase. One of the more intriguing markets moving forward with financial innovation is China, where regulators have upgraded both banking and cybersecurity rules in recent years.

The rules — as with Europe’s regulations surrounding financial data collection and use — are intended to keep information safe, while fostering growth for banks and merchants. Since China is one of the more dominant markets in the world, its changing rules are a matter of interest for both lawmakers in neighboring markets and merchants looking to expand into the country.

This study group will explore the role of the private sector in evolving energy systems, and how corporations might change in a climate constrained world. 

America’s global campaign to prevent its closest allies from using Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, in the next generation of wireless networks has largely failed, with foreign leaders publicly rebuffing the United States argument that the firm poses an unmanageable security threat.

Despite the growing profile of cyber hacks, leaks, and resulting diplomatic crises in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, conversations about policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) rarely address cybersecurity concerns. During the 2018-2019 academic year, a research collaboration between MEI and the Cyber Project at the Belfer Center looked to shift the dialogue.

Unipolarity is over, and with it the illusion that other nations would simply take their assigned place in a U.S.-led international order. For the United States, that will require accepting the reality that there are spheres of influence in the world today—and that not all of them are American spheres.

Nuclear security is never finished. Nuclear security measures for protecting all nuclear weapons, weapons-usable nuclear materials, and facilities whose sabotage could cause disastrous consequences should protect against the full range of plausible threats. It is an ongoing endeavor that requires constant assessment of physical protection operations and reevaluation of potential threats. One of the most challenging areas of nuclear security is how to account for the impact–positive and negative—of non-nuclear emerging technologies. The amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (amended CPPNM) states it should be reviewed in light of the prevailing situation, and a key part of the prevailing situation is technological evolution. Therefore, the upcoming review conference in 2021, as well as any future review conferences, should examine the security threats and benefits posed by emerging technologies.