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An illustrated history of the world’s deadliest epidemics, from ancient Rome to Covid-19

By Erik English | Jan 16, 2023

An illustrated history of the world’s deadliest epidemics, from ancient Rome to Covid-19 January 16, 2023 How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to viral outbreaks of the past? As the world lurches into a fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the official death count based on public disclosures is currently 6.7 million, but estimates of … Continued

Establishing the next president’s national security agenda: Part I

By Gordon Adams | Jun 4, 2008

With the presidential primaries ending this week, it's time to focus on the general election and the key national security challenges that the next president will face. Over the next three columns, I will outline what national security issues I think the candidates should be debating.
A microscope with cards displaying logos of different social media platforms

How to better study—and then improve—today’s corrupted information environment

By Sean Norton, Jacob N. Shapiro | Mar 1, 2024

For the information environment to thrive, investments in data access, standardized measurements, and research tooling are needed.

Desalination: expensive, environmentally problematic, but increasingly necessary

By Jim Robbins | Jun 23, 2019

It’s been a long time coming for desalination—de-sal for short. For decades, we have been told it would one day turn oceans of salt water into fresh and quench the world’s thirst. But progress has been slow. That is now changing, as desalination is coming into play in many places around the world.
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Susan Solomon: at the frontline of research on the ozone layer and its role in Earth’s climate

By Dawn Stover | May 22, 2018

An interview with Susan Solomon, who solved the mystery of the Antarctic ozone hole and has won one of the world’s biggest science prizes.

PRESS RELEASE: Doomsday Clock set at 90 seconds to midnight

By | Jan 24, 2023

The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, due largely but not exclusively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The new Clock time was also influenced by continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks associated with advancing technologies and biological threats such as COVID-19.

Global food security and “virtual water”

By Joel Carr | Sep 5, 2012

Food production requires adequate soils, climate, and water. Roughly 70 percent of the freshwater appropriated by humans worldwide is used for food production. In the absence of trade, people rely on local freshwater resources to grow food. However, when water limitations constrain food production to the point that there is not enough food for everyone, the trade of food commodities provides a mechanism by which regions can compensate for inadequate local water resources.

The underwater Amazon: Kelp forests are crucial to the fight against climate change. Here’s how they could be saved.

By Paul Tullis | Mar 21, 2024

Throughout the world's oceans, forests of kelp—crucial to biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and coastal protection—are under threat from climate change, pollution, and human development. Will they disappear before we fully understand their massive environmental benefits?

Sudan’s conflict escalates, endangering millions

By Erik English | Aug 14, 2023

By | With war crimes rampant throughout the country and little hope for a resolution in sight, the two warlords that have been fighting for national control of Sudan since April show no signs of stopping. Sudan is already one of the most vulnerable and least prepared nations in the world to respond to the … Continued

The human causes of viral outbreaks like Zika

By Laura H. Kahn | Jan 28, 2016

As another mosquito-borne virus spreads rapidly, we should consider how to prevent the next one.

What next: A Sunni bomb?

By Pervez Hoodbhoy | Aug 8, 2011

The Islamic Republic of Iran stands at the threshold to the bomb. In 2010 it had more than enough low-enriched uranium (some 2,152 kilograms) to make its first bomb's worth of weapons-grade uranium. The LEU would have become highly enriched uranium in roughly 10 weeks had it been fed into the 4,186 centrifuges then operating. Thousands of other centrifuges are also known to be operating at the Natanz secret nuclear facility.

Flash from the past: Why an apparent Israeli nuclear test in 1979 matters today

By Leonard Weiss | Sep 8, 2015

Some 36 years ago, Israel likely did a nuclear test with South Africa’s help, and the US looked the other way. That ancient history—including the violation on testing—is especially pertinent today.
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Double Flash: Forty years ago, the Carter administration covered up a presumed Israeli nuclear test

By John Krzyzaniak | Sep 25, 2019

On the night of September 22, 1979, President Jimmy Carter wrote in his diary: “There was indication of a nuclear explosion in the region of South Africa—either South Africa, Israel using a ship at sea, or nothing.” His administration would eventually decide, contrary to the evidence, that it was the last of these three possibilities.

2012: An elemental force: Uranium production in Africa, and what it means to be nuclear

By Gabrielle Hecht | Dec 7, 2020

What exactly is a nuclear state? Does a uranium enrichment program suffice to make one of Iran, or are atomic bomb tests the deciding factor? Such ambiguities cannot be dismissed as doublespeak. The nuclear status of uranium is an important aspect of these ambiguities. When does uranium count as a nuclear substance? And what does Africa have to do with it? Such issues lie at the heart of today’s global nuclear order. Or disorder, as the case may be.

A brief history of climate change and conflict

By James R. Lee | Aug 14, 2009

In recent years, many foreign affairs experts have attempted to demonstrate the linkages between climate change and the social tensions that can lead to conflict. While critics may believe this is simply a fad in international affairs, history suggests otherwise. Over the last few millennia, climate change has been a factor in conflict and social collapse around the world. The changing climate has influenced how and where people migrate, affected group power relations, and provided new resources to societies while taking away others.

Nuclear Notebook: Indian nuclear forces, 2020

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda | Jul 1, 2020

We estimate that India currently operates eight nuclear-capable systems: two aircraft, four land-based ballistic missiles, and two sea-based ballistic missiles. At least three more systems are in development, of which several are nearing completion and will soon be combat-ready. Beijing is now in range of Indian ballistic missiles.
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Nuclear Notebook: How many nuclear weapons does India have in 2022?

By Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda | Jul 11, 2022

This Nuclear Notebooks examines the status of India’s nuclear arsenal, which includes approximately 160 warheads. India continues to modernize its nuclear arsenal, with at least four new weapons systems now under development to complement or replace existing nuclear-capable aircraft, land-based delivery systems, and sea-based systems. Several of these systems are nearing completion and will soon be combat-ready. India is estimated to have produced enough military plutonium for 140 to 210 nuclear warheads but has likely produced only 160. Nonetheless, additional plutonium will be required to produce warheads for missiles now under development, and India is reportedly building several new plutonium production facilities. India’s nuclear strategy, traditionally focused on Pakistan, now appears to place increased emphasis on China, and Beijing is now in range of Indian missiles.

What Africa really needs to fight Ebola and other emerging diseases: anti-corruption efforts

By Laura H. Kahn | Jan 15, 2015

What Africa really needs to address its pandemic disease problems is reduced corruption, so money sent to lay the foundations of public health actually is used as intended

Twenty-first century perspectives on the far-from-toothless Biological Weapons Convention

By Glenn Cross, Lynn C. Klotz | Jul 1, 2020

In 1960 Matthew Meselson, a newly-minted assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University, spent the summer at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in Washington, DC, a US government funded independent organization that worked on non-proliferation issues (Klotz and Sylvester 2009). Paul Doty, a long-time advisor to the government on nuclear-weapons disarmament … Continued
A COVID-19 test.

We’ve analyzed thousands of COVID-19 misinformation narratives. Here are six regional takeaways

By Isra Thange, Samikshya Siwakoti, Jacob N. Shapiro | Jun 17, 2021

A group of researchers at Princeton University collaborated with colleagues around the world to catalogue many of the unique COVID-19-related disinformation narratives that spread in various countries during the height of the pandemic.