Friday's Miscellany 08-21-2026

 38 North

• Beyond Pyongyang: Regional Development, Modernization, and Inequality in North Korea 
• A Door Ajar, a High Bar: Whither North Korea-US Relations? 

 Air University Press

• Leadership and the Changing Character of War 

 Amnesty International

• Italy: Extraterritorial Migration Detention and Human Rights Obligations - The Agreement with Albania 

 Anti Corruption Data Collective

• Classifying Insider Trading Risk: Analyzing the Longshot Betting Ecosystem on Polymarket 

 Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies

• Libya’s Political Deadlock: Why Multiple Initiatives Keep Stalling 
• The Mecca Defence Pact: A New Security Architecture for the Middle East? 

 Army T2COM G2

• OEWatch: China DD Aug 2026 
• OEWatch: Russia DD Aug 2026 

 Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI)

• As Tokyo and Manila Talk Boundaries, Beijing Breaks Them 

 Atlantic Council

• A Colombia-Venezuela Agenda for Recovery, Security, and Economic Growth 
• A Path Toward Sustainable Security in Colombia 

 Australian National University Press

• At the Brink? Asia in the Global Economic Order 

 Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)

• Digital Infrastructure in South Asia: China’s Role and the Potential for Australia–India Cooperation 

 Baker Institute for Public Policy

• AI and US-Mexico Relations: Global Governance Strategies 

 Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA)

• India’s Private Space Race: From Sarabhai’s Vision to the Commercialization of Space 

 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

• Deterrence by Resilience: Securing the United States and Promoting Innovation in the Age of Bioconvergence 

 Brookings

• Big City Growth Is Slowing, Reversing a Post-Pandemic Resurgence 
• Stablecoins after GENIUS: Private Money, Public Debt, and the Global Dollar 
• Tracking Trade Amid Uncertain and Changing Tariff Policies 

 California Partners Project

• Belonging in a Digital Age: Teens, Tech, & Third Places 

 Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)

• MINERVA Initiative and Drone Integration in Canadian Army Land Operations 
• A Primer on Maritime Energy Chokepoints and Implications for Canada 
• Seven Policy Priorities for Cooperative Global Leadership 

 Center for Naval Analyses (CNA)

• Civil Defense in the 21st Century 
• The Future of Russia’s Military Elite: Promotions, Careers, and Advancement in the Russian Senior Officer Corps 

 Center for Security Studies (CSS)

• CSS Policy Briefs
• No. 9: Preparing for War: Militarising Russia’s Youth 
• No. 8: Intelligence Trends: Tradecraft, Technology, and Public Trust 

 Center for Space Policy and Strategy

• FY 2027 Defense Space Budget: Dramatic and Targeted Growth 

 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

• Evaluating Pathways for U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation with Allies 
• Powering Innovation: Data Centers, Compute, and U.S. Competitiveness 

 Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)

• Africa and the Global Politics of Cybersecurity Governance 

 Chatham House

• The Water Footprints of the Global Minerals Trade 

 Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

• CBO’s Updated Budgetary Projections of Tariffs as of July 31, 2026 
• An Evaluation of CBO’s Projections of Revenues From 1982 to 2025 

 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

• Out of Ammo: A Two-Year Sprint to Rebuild the American Arsenal and Deter China 

 Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)

• Geopolitics in the Sahelian Diaspora: Transnational Opposition to West Africa’s Alliance of Sahel States’ Politics of Sovereignty 

 Department of Defense/War (DOD/DOW)

• Department of War Orders Research Security Audits at 30 Academic Institutions 
• Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military 

 Department of Defense/War, Inspector General (DODIG/DODIW)

• DOWIG-2026-114 Evaluation of National Guard Bureau Office of Complex Investigations 

 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General

• OIG-26-23 ICE Homeland Security Investigations Hindered in Countering Fentanyl Entering the United States 
• OIG-26-20 Evaluation of DHS' Information Security Program for Fiscal Year 2025 

 Department of Justice

• Legal Opinion: Whether the Posse Comitatus Act Prohibits Military Personnel from Making Arrests Outside, but Within the Immediate Vicinity” of, a National Defense Area for Crimes Committed Within that National Defense Area 

 Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)

• Uncovering the Digital Infrastructure Behind Russian Interference in Armenian Elections 
• Sovereignty Without Borders: Decoding the Transatlantic Digital Relationship at a Time of Change 

 East-West Center

• Navigating Nationalism and Regional Security in the Cambodia-Thailand Maritime Dispute 

 EU Non-Proliferation Consortium

• EU Policy Engagement on Advanced Conventional Weapons and Sanctions Compliance in the South Caucasus 

 European Council on Foreign Relations

• In the Bear’s Paw: How Europeans Can Loosen Russia’s Grip on Belarus 

 European Think-Tank Network on China (ETNC)

• Fragmented Europe: Dealing with China as a Technology and Innovation Power 

 German Institute for International and Security Affairs (GIISA)

• China in the Classroom of an African Cadre School 
• Cybersecurity in the Healthcare Sector: An Integrated Approach to National, European and Global Resilience 

 German Marshall Fund of the United States

• Russia, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean: A European Security Perspective 
• Russia’s Fading Leverage in the Middle East: Amid Geopolitical Realignment, the Region Hedges Beyond Moscow 

 Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

• Breaking the Human Smuggling Policy Trap: Small Boats, Smuggling Networks and the Case for a Holistic Response 

 Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET)

• Hezbollah’s Financing Networks:  A Threat Far Beyond Lebanon 

 Global Taiwan Institute

• Taiwan's Civil Society Ecosystem for Countering China’s Authoritarian Influence 

 Government Accountability Office (GAO)

• Army Modernization: Better Schedule and Cost Information Needed to Support Scaling Battlefield Network GAO-26-108019 
• Defense Health Care: DOD Should Assess Its Needs for Managing Potential Brain Health Effects from Weapons Blast Exposures GAO-26-107829 
• Export-Import Bank: Monitoring of Exports with Dual Military and Civilian Uses as of 2026 GAO-26-109201 
• Installation Maintenance: Better Information on Risks and Challenges Needed to Improve Oversight of DOD Facility Conditions GAO-26-107255 
• Nuclear Fuel: Actions Needed to Enhance Cost Reporting and Economic Analysis for Federal Uranium Supply Efforts GAO-26-107385 
• Security Cooperation Workforce: DOD Plans to Fully Implement Reforms by Fiscal Year 2028 GAO-26-107976 

 Heritage Foundation

• Armed by China: The Dependency Behind Pakistan’s Military 
• Nuclear Force of Necessity: Force Design for the Near-Term Deterrence Crisis 

 Hudson Institute

• A Test Case for US Resolve: Securing the Release of Uyghur Doctor Gulshan Abbas 

 Human Rights Watch

• ‘I Thought I’d Never See My Mom Again’: Recruitment and Use of Children by Colombian Armed Groups 

 Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP)  

• China’s Maritime and Military Strategy in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean 

 Institute for the Study of War

• Africa File
• August 20, 2026  RSF Counters Recent SAF Gains in Sudan  
• China & Taiwan Update
• August 18, 2026 
• Iran Update
• August 17, 2026 
• August 18, 2026 
• August 19, 2026 
• August 20, 2026 
• August 21, 2026 
• Korean Peninsula Update
• August 19, 2026 
• Russian Occupation Update
• August 21, 2026 
• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment
• August 17, 2026 
• August 18, 2026 
• August 19, 2026 
• August 20, 2026 
• August 21, 2026 
• August 22, 2026 
• August 23, 2026 

 International Crisis Group

• Hollow Promises: Resetting Gaza’s Ceasefire 

 Lowy Institute for International Relations

• Fault Lines Beneath the Blue Pacific: Deep-Sea Mining and the Future of Pacific Unity 

 Observer Research Foundation

• BRICS: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability 
• The Case for BRICS Cooperation: Energy Security and a Managed Energy Transition 

 Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering

• Defense Research Enterprise Review: Supporting the Warfighter: Innovation, Reliability, Success 

 Our World in Data

• Which Countries Have Already Passed Peak Population, and When Will the Rest Do So? 

 Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

• Community Resilience and Inclusion in Protracted Crises: Lessons from the Syrian Civil War 

 Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

• Venezuela’s Oil and Gas Industry: The Challenge of Sustainable Recovery 

 Pew Research Center

• How Much of the Internet Is Written With AI? 

 RAND Corporation

• Integrated Strategic Forecasting: A New Methodology to Enhance Decision Advantage 
• Leveraging the Federal Select Agent Program to Oversee Nucleic Acids
• Volume 1, Analysis of Opportunities to Control Genomes, Genes, and Gene Fragments Through the Federal Select Agent Program’s Authorities 
• Volume 2, Potential Benefits and Burdens, Recommendations, and Implementation Considerations 
• Mirror Biology Research: Implications for Operational Governance 

 Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

• The ‘Extinct Volcanoes’ Problem: Why Unit Strength Is Not Combat Power 
• Hybrid Navy: Building the Maritime Operating System 
• Modern Targeting in European Militaries 
• The Next China Shock Will Hit Defence 

 Sol Foundation

• The Civilizational Risks of a UAP Technology Arms Race – Nonhuman Technology and Global Security 

 Stanford University Human Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

• Regulating Data Brokers in the Age of AI: A California Case Study 

 Stimson Center

• Assumption Testing: The Iran War Is a Case of Alliance Entanglement 

 Taylor & Francis

• African Security
• Federalism and Policing in Nigeria: Colonial Continuities and Contemporary Complexities [open access article] 
• Meta-Colonial Lingers in African and International Security Politics: Societal (In)Security in Sudan [open access article] 
• Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression
• Economic Insecurity, Technology, and Violence: How Socioeconomic Status Moderates Support for Political Violence [open access article] 
• Conflict, Security & Development
• Towards an Integrated Framework for Community Resilience to Compounding Conflict and Climate Crises [open access article] 
• Defence Studies
• Beyond Kinetic Strikes: Opportunities for UAV-Borne Directed Energy in Disrupting Asymmetric Extremist Networks [open access article] 
• Butter Through Guns? Mobilizing Innovation for Defence in the Euro-Atlantic Area [open access article] 
• “Discreet Dominance”: Peacekeeping Deployments and International Security Force Assistance, and Their Impact on Civil–Military Relations in Nepal [open access article] 
• Neither Soldier, Nor Civilian: Forever in Between? Identification Processes of Dutch Veterans  [open access article] 
• New Wine, Old Bottles, Unstable Forms: Traveling with Biddle’s Concept of “The Modern System of Force Employment” [open access article] 
• Nordic Strategic Culture(s) of Civil Defence? [open access article] 
• Defense & Security Analysis
• Communication Readiness as a Core Capability for Societal Resilience to Cognitive Warfare [open access article] 
• Closer to Command, Further from Support – The Future Architecture of U.S. Special Operations [open access article] 
• Ethnic and Racial Studies
• The Making of Urban Care Industry: Institutionalization of Migrant-Serving Organizations in Copenhagen and Tel Aviv during COVID-19  [open access article] 
• Geopolitics
• Bypassing the Brokers of Modernity: Cartographic Extensions and Nomadic Power Among Venezuelans in the US [open access article] 
• Cooperation Without Change? Organisational Jiu-Jitsu in the International Seabed Authority’s Response to the BBNJ Agreement [open access article] 
• Global Change, Peace & Security
• Rethinking Service Delivery in the South African Police Service Community Service Centres [open access article] 
• Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism
• The Security Implications of AI-Generated CBRN Disinformation [open access article] 
• Journal of Political Ideologies
• Populist Governance and Populism’s Host Ideology in the Fight Against COVID-19: The Cases of Brazil and Mexico [open access article] 
• Policing and Society
• Tales from the Frontline: Professionalisation, Evidence-Based Practice and Response Policing [open access article] 
• Small Wars & Insurgencies
• The Crime-War Seam: Russia’s Shift from Liminal Competition to Open War [open access article] 
• The Geology of War: Impact of Regional Geology in T.E. Lawrence’s Arabian Campaigns, 1916–1918 [open access article] 
• Ibrahim Traore: Burkina Faso’s Saviour, Dictator or Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist [open access article] 
• If Only We Understood Them Better: Country Experts and the American War in Vietnam [open access article] 
• Intelligence Penetration, Counterintelligence, and the Iran–Israel Covert Struggle [open access article] 

 UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

• AI Adoption in Trade Facilitation: Findings from China 
• Fires Without Borders: Understanding Wildfire Risks and Transboundary Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region 

 UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)

• Thinking in Alternatives - A Community Note for Southeast Asia: Strengthening Responses to Terrorist and Violent Extremist Use of the Internet 

 US Central Command (CENTCOM)       

• Unipath, Spring 2026, v. 14, special ed. 
• The Advance of the Golden Warriors
• Training in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
• A Breakthrough in Strategic Cooperation
• Combating Complex Threats
• Navigating the Complexities of Regional Security
• International Cooperation to Resolve Conflicts
• Smarter, Stronger, Faster

 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC)

• China-Russia Fact Sheet: A Short Primer on the Relationship 
• The People’s Republic of Data: How China Is Turning Data into Capital 

 United States Studies Center—University of Sydney

• Advancing Trilateral Integrated Air and Missile Defense Between Australia, Japan and the United States 

 White House 

• Rebuilding the United States Navy and America’s Shipbuilding Industrial Base 
• National Security Science & Technology Strategy 
• The National Space Transportation Policy 
• Fact Sheet 

 World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS)   

• Cadmus Journal August 2026, v. 5, no. 6  
• Global Social Turbulence: Sources & Solutions
• The Age of Cognitive Empires
• Transdisciplinarity for Conflict Prevention
• Edgar Morin: Complexity, Education Sustainability & Human Development 
• The World at a Crossroads
• Impatient Capital
• Climate Disavowal: Inaction and Anticipation
• Examining our Environmental Exposures
• The Global Peace Offensive: A Common Framework for Roll-out 
• Global Governance for Peace
• Human Creativity
• Imagining the Future as an Act of Responsibility
• Basic Laws of Development — III
• Beyond Achievement: From Fragmentation to Integration
• The Role of Technology in The Social Evolution
• Artificial Intelligence: The Perfect Psychopath
• Neo-Khaldunian Philosophy
• Dunhuang – Protection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Beyond 2030: The Transition to Abundance Needs Managing

 World Bank

• Lebanon Economic Monitor, Summer 2026: A Conflict-Torn Economy 

 World Economic Forum

• The Catalysts: Unlocking Markets for a Sustainable Economy 
• Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2026