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Global Arms Race

In mid April 2020, a report issued by the United States State Department called “Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (Compliance Report)” raised concerns that China might be conducting nuclear tests with low yields at its Lop Nur site, in violation of its …

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The Beginning of the End for Oil? Energy in a Post-Pandemic World

Energy analysts have long assumed that, given time, growing international concern over climate change would result in a vast restructuring of the global energy enterprise. The result: a greener, less climate-degrading system. In this future, fossil fuels would be overtaken by renewables, while oil, gas, and coal would be relegated …

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Operation Silves: Inside the 2017 Islamic State Sydney Plane Plot

Abstract: Nearly three years ago, Australian counterterrorism investigators arrested two men in Sydney who had plotted, under instructions from Islamic State operatives in Syria, to bomb an international flight and create a chemical weapon. It remains one of the most innovative of the Islamic State’s external operations and the most …

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In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in …

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U.S. oil market crashes, hundreds of U.S. oil companies could go bankrupt

U.S. oil market has crashed. The price of U.S. oil turned negative for the first time in history. The U.S. oil industry is facing a doomsday scenario. Hundreds of U.S. oil companies could go bankrupt. Many U.S. oil companies took on too much debt during the good times. Some of …

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US-Iran tensions in Iraq and the effect on civil society

While Iraq’s domestic political crisis continues, the geopolitical face-off between the U.S. and Iran has broadened out, ensnaring civic actors in a mainly military (non)confrontation. Militias have launched rockets at the Green Zone in Baghdad, which houses government buildings and all international representation, seemingly in line with the wishes of …

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