Today, Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer discuss a recent Supreme Court decision intended to protect children from sexually themed online speech and its implications for free speech case law; Thomas Henriksen analyzes Russia’s hybrid warfare strategy in the far north and shows the need for NATO vigilance and preparation in the region; and H.R. McMaster praises current American diplomatic efforts to bring an end to violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while offering historical background for the region’s security challenges.
Revitalizing American Institutions
For the latest episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer discuss the Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, which upheld a state law that required pornography sites to “use reasonable age verification methods . . . to verify” that their users are adults. Volokh and Bambauer offer context for the majority’s opinion in the recent history of American free speech case law. Volokh says a primary interest he has in Supreme Court cases, as both a scholar and a practicing lawyer, is to understand their logic and implications for future cases, including those that he might argue. In this case, Volokh notes, the majority’s holding that strict scrutiny (which they declined to apply to the Texas law in question) is “the most demanding test known to constitutional law” and “is almost never satisfied” will provide a solid basis for future arguments challenging content-based government restrictions on speech. Listen here.
Determining America’s Role in the World
In a new essay for Defining Ideas, Senior Fellow Thomas H. Henriksen argues that no matter how the war in Ukraine is resolved, “another political and military hotspot is likely to erupt in the Baltic Sea and nearby Arctic Ocean.” He reviews how Russia has already engaged in sabotage of undersea cables in the region and continues to provoke nations such as Finland with military buildups and psychological operations along western borders. Henriksen sees all this as a systematic and deliberate preparation by Russia for future cross-border aggression. As he concludes, “the Russian Federation has adopted a short-of-war strategy requiring the United States and NATO to respond to an evolving campaign against hybrid tactics while preparing to wage future large-scale military operations in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic arena.” Read more here.
Writing at his Substack History We Don’t Know, Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster provides historical context for the violence currently plaguing the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). McMaster notes that last week, “Trump hosted the foreign ministers of DRC and Rwanda following the signing of a US-brokered peace agreement known as the Washington Accord.” The former national security advisor argues that, to understand why the implementation of the peace agreement will likely prove challenging, “it is important to consider the factors that drive that conflict in context of the history of the Great Lakes region, encompassing North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in DRC and Western Province in Rwanda.” After reviewing this history, McMaster says it is “laudable” that the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State have all personally been involved in American regional diplomacy, indicating “a strong commitment to follow through.”
Additionally, in an appearance on CBS News, McMaster broke down the impact of Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, and what could come next in the Middle East. Read more here.
For decades, Iran encircled Israel with a coordinated axis of militant proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, and militias across the region—designed to weaken the Jewish state through asymmetric warfare and sustained attrition. The strategy, argues Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz in this lesson from Hoover’s 2024 Summer Policy Boot Camp, has transformed Israel’s security map into a theater of constant strategic pressure. By examining the structure and purpose of Iran’s proxy network, Berkowitz offers essential insights into the origins of a key conflict in the modern Middle East, illuminating the complex security challenge Israel faces. Although this video was recorded last August, it provides a foundational survey of the Iranian proxy system that long threatened Israeli security—the dismantling of which has been central to recent Israeli and even American military actions, from Lebanon to Yemen. Watch here.
Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
Writing at his Substack Environmental and Urban Economics, Visiting Fellow Matthew Kahn argues that it is “great news that California’s Governor Gavin Newsom has signed new legislation scaling back [the California Environmental Quality Act (or CEQA)].” Kahn applauds how this “action removes a key obstacle that has been slowing down real estate development across the state of California.” Despite the victory for housing affordability that this development represents, Kahn stresses that CEQA reform is “a necessary but not a sufficient condition for achieving true abundance in California.” To rekindle the California dream, Kahn thinks that state policymakers will need to address deficiencies in the state’s public education sector that limit student achievement and ultimate economic outcomes. As Kahn concludes, “While addressing housing, which Governor Gavin Newsom rightly prioritizes, is important, the formation of skills is even more critical.”
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