2018

Cannabis

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Strategies to Help Young Adults Limit Negative Consequences of Marijuana Use
Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have been shown to be the most prevalent and problematic users of marijuana. There are proven strategies that people can use to help protect themselves from experiencing harmful effects.
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Feb 19, 2018
The RAND Blog
Eric R. Pedersen @ericrpedersen
Security Cooperation

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Where Will ISIS Seek to Establish Its Next Safe Haven?
Many of ISIS's surviving fighters will seek out new battlefields to continue waging jihad. By coordinating with its allies around the globe, the U.S. could work to help alleviate the conditions that lead states to fail, making them less appealing as sanctuaries where terrorists can rest, rearm, and recuperate.
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Feb 19, 2018
The Jerusalem Post
Colin P. Clarke
Israel

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Israel Prepares to Take on Iran and Hezbollah in Syria
Clashes between Israeli, Iranian, and Syrian forces have injected new volatility into the Middle East. This increases the likelihood of miscalculation and escalatory military action across the region.
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Feb 19, 2018
Newsweek
Richard C. Baffa
Terrorism Threat Assessment

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Expanding the ISIS Brand
Since its founding, the Islamic State has consistently expanded and contracted in order to achieve its objectives. To discern how ISIS might continue to expand, it makes sense to trace Al Qaeda's trajectory, which followed a similar pattern in the 2000s.
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Feb 19, 2018
The National Interest
Colin P. Clarke
Ballistic Missiles

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Discrimination Details Matter: Clarifying an Argument About Low-Yield Nuclear Warheads
Nuclear forces and nuclear strategy are complex and the facts surrounding them are often shrouded in classification. But if the United States were to deploy a low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead in the future, an adversary would face the same problems as it does today in knowing what the missile contains.
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Feb 16, 2018
War on the Rocks
Austin Long
Terrorism Threat Assessment

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Erdogan's Fatal Blind Spot
Erdogan's tolerance of ISIS fighters in Turkey amounts to tacit approval. The danger posed by ISIS using Turkey as a staging ground could become more formidable than the threat currently posed by Kurdish terrorism. Tolerating ISIS to fight the Kurds is therefore a dangerous and myopic policy.
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Feb 16, 2018
Foreign Policy
Colin P. Clarke, Ahmet S. Yayla
Sleep

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Britain's Productivity Problem Begins in the Bedroom
Productivity growth in the UK has seen its weakest decade since the 1820s. Chancellor Hammond increased the size of a national productivity fund to £31bn. While building people's skills and investing in infrastructure can boost productivity, the problem could also be solved if people got more sleep.
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Feb 15, 2018
Financial Times
Marco Hafner
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Presidential Intelligence Briefings: The Process Is Working. But Is Trump Listening?
President Trump receives intelligence briefings on a fairly regular basis and he appears engaged in discussions with senior staff and the intelligence community about content. Ideally, this process is informing his national security decisionmaking.
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Feb 15, 2018
Lawfare
Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman
Cannabis

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How Will Cannabis Legalization Affect Alcohol Consumption?
How will legalization of recreational marijuana affect alcohol consumption? Will drinking go down because people substitute cannabis for alcohol? Or will drinking go up because cannabis and alcohol complement each other? These questions have important implications.
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Feb 13, 2018
GreenState (San Francisco Chronicle)
Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart
Information Operations

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Free Lunches for Adversaries
When leaders take actions that are unpopular with wide audiences, propagandists have it easy. While Western leaders should not make propaganda potential the primary factor when weighing policy decisions, neither should they wholly disregard the opportunities that unpopular policies will offer adversaries.
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Feb 13, 2018
U.S. News & World Report
William Courtney @courtneywmh, Christopher Paul
Military Strategy

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China Has Big Plans to Win the Next War It Fights
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) views modern conflict as a confrontation between opposing systems. This systems-thinking has wide ranging implications for how the PLA conceptualizes warfare in the twenty-first century.
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Feb 12, 2018
The National Interest
Jeffrey Engstrom
Peacekeeping and Stability Operations

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If We Don't Get the Peace Right, Iraq Will Slide Back into the Morass
Actions taken now by the United States, the Iraqi government, and private parties could determine the war-torn country's future. The message the Sunnis receive in these next six months will determine whether Iraq is on the path to stability.
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Feb 12, 2018
Newsweek
Linda Robinson, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson
Cybersecurity

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Why the 2018 Winter Olympics Are the Perfect Storm for Cyberattacks
The Olympic Games could invite the most severe cyber threats to a major sporting event in recent years. The location of the games and increased connectivity, both among the public and infrastructure, make them a prime target for cyberattacks.
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Feb 12, 2018
Wired UK
Erik Silfversten
Security Cooperation

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A 'Glass Half-Full': Next Steps for Enhancing Deterrence on NATO's Eastern Flank
The United States and key allies have taken steps toward redressing the imbalance in military power between NATO and Russia in Northeastern Europe. But NATO's defense planners must be clear-eyed about what remains to be done.
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Feb 12, 2018
The RAND Blog
Scott Boston, Abby Doll, et al.
Cybersecurity

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Ensuring Cybersecurity Is Vital for a Driverless Future
High-profile accidents involving autonomous vehicles (AVs) have led to recent discussions about the physical safety of people. However, it could be argued that consumers and manufacturers should be equally, if not more, concerned about the potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in AVs.
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Feb 12, 2018
Public Technology
Erik Silfversten, Nathan Ryan