In The News

The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor Users

Kevin Poulson December 29, 2014
Anonymity on the Tor network may be compromised: “FBI agents relied on Flash code from an abandoned Metasploit side project called the ‘Decloaking Engine’ to stage its first known effort to successfully identify a multitude of suspects hiding behind the Tor anonymity network,” reports Kevin Poulson for Wired. “Tor, a free, open-source project originally funded by the US Navy, is sophisticated...

Sony Fights Against Hackers, Who Threaten Violence at Theaters Playing “The Interview”

Cecilia Kang, Andrea Peterson and Ellen Nakashima December 22, 2014
Hackers, yet unknown, exposed embarrassing, confidential and protected documents from Sony Pictures Entertainment along with threats for theaters featuring “The Interview,” a film originally scheduled for nationwide release December 25. Globalization in entertainment, technology, security, civil and privacy rights converge as suggested by the team of writers for this Washington Post essay. The...

US Standing in the Middle East

Immanuel Wallerstein December 22, 2014
Ongoing use of force in the Middle East is weakening the United States. Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein argues the country’s problems are structural and briefly outlines the history of US conflicts throughout the latter part of the 20th century. The unnecessary US invasion of Iraq in 2003 accelerated the country’s decline: “This was seen by the interventionists as a mode of restoring waning U.S...

US-China Diplomacy and Grand Strategy

Robert D. Blackwill December 19, 2014
As major rivals in governance, trade and security, China and the United States have many irreconcilable differences. The current level of bilateral diplomacy may not prevent confrontation. “Although both sides will deny it publicly, the main thrust of U.S. policy is to maintain its strategic primacy in Asia, and the main thrust of China’s policy is to replace the United States as Asia’s leading...

After a Half Century, Thaw in US-Cuba Ties

Mimi Whitefield December 18, 2014
US and Cuban presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro issued simultaneous announcements – a start to normalizing ties after 53 years “that could bring more trade, support for Cuba’s nascent entrepreneurs and more open communications with the island,” reports Mimi Whitefield for the Miami Herald. The two countries also exchanged prisoners. “Obama not only said that the U.S. and Cuba would work...

Arms and Men: Technology’s Shadow Over Democracy

John Ferejohn and Frances Rosenbluth December 9, 2014
The nomination of Ashton Carter, a physics instructor and researcher, as the US Secretary of Defense offers a reminder how modern war increasingly relies on technology rather than collective human strength. The new form of warfare launched against Iraq was described by a previous president as “shock and awe.” In the United States, massive troop mobilization for a national causee and the...

Cuba’s Health Diplomacy in the Age of Ebola

Eduardo J. Gomez December 3, 2014
Cuba has provided the largest number of healthcare workers of any country in the global response to West Africa’s Ebola outbreak – more than 250. The country of 11 million has sent medical aid to foreign countries experiencing public health crises since the 1960s, including recent aid to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, and Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The...