Democracy as a political system has not advanced around the world in the past decade and by some measures it has actually declined, a new report from the Congressional Research Service observes.
The obstacles are not all located abroad. Unlike its predecessors, the Trump Administration does not include democracy promotion as part of its national security strategy, CRS noted. And for the first time last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit categorized the United States as a “flawed democracy.”
See Global Trends in Democracy: Background, U.S. Policy, and Issues for Congress, October 17, 2018.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues, October 16, 2018
The Peace Corps: Current Issues, updated October 12, 2018
NIH Funding: FY1994-FY2019, updated October 15, 2018
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding for FY2019, CRS In Focus, updated October 15, 2018
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.
FAS and FLI partnered to build a series of convenings and reports across the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI) with biosecurity, cybersecurity, nuclear command and control, military integration, and frontier AI governance. This project brought together leaders across these areas and created a space that was rigorous, transpartisan, and solutions-oriented to approach how we should think about how AI is rapidly changing global risks.