Today, Russell Berman explains why the historic US-German alliance remains central to the Western security architecture; H.R. McMaster speaks with Haiti’s prime minister about the security challenges plaguing that nation, as well as economic and social opportunities on the horizon; and Steven Davis discusses the economic impacts of war with two economists specializing in this area.
Freedom Frequency
A “convergence of fronts” in Iran, Ukraine, and Gaza signals a threat to Europe, argues Senior Fellow Russell A. Berman in a new piece for Freedom Frequency. He says this situation makes it urgent that the US and Germany renew their security and diplomatic ties. Even as German political leaders distance themselves from US campaigns abroad and stress their neutrality, Berman writes, Germany’s generals insist on the need for a unified transatlantic stance. Russian military forces are arrayed along Europe’s borders in much greater numbers than before Ukraine was invaded, the generals warn. At the same time, Russia supports Iran in training, materiel, and technology—and Iran has demonstrated that it, too, can fire ballistic missiles capable of reaching enemy capitals. Shared strategic interests should once again unite Berlin and Washington, Berman concludes, because a transatlantic rupture would benefit only Russia. Read more here.
Security and Defense
In a new episode of Today’s Battlegrounds, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, prime minister of Haiti, speaks with Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster about Haiti’s escalating security crisis, efforts to dismantle gang control, and the role of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force in restoring order. Fils-Aimé outlines how his government is working to reclaim territory, strengthen police capacity, and restore security to enable long-delayed elections. Reflecting on Haiti’s governance challenges, Fils-Aimé examines how corruption, weak institutions, and lost public trust have fueled instability. He emphasizes efforts to combat impunity and target financial crime by disrupting the money flows behind gang activity, while expanding opportunities for youth through education and employment. Addressing broader regional and economic pressures, he outlines a vision for long-term stability rooted in opportunity, effective governance, and renewed confidence in the Haitian state. Watch or listen here.
Economics
How does war affect economic activity in belligerent countries and economies worldwide? On Economics, Applied, host Senior Fellow Steven J. Davis puts the question to two fellow economists active in studying the costs of conflicts. Jonathan Federle and Moritz Schularick investigate how war and its intensity relate to national output, productivity, consumer prices, and international trade. Their research exploits 150 years of data for 60 countries. Davis asks these researchers what they’ve learned about the economic impacts of armed conflict across time and geography. Watch or listen to the episode here.
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet sits at the center of some of the most persistent debates in monetary policy. In this week’s Grumpy Economist Weekly Rant, Senior Fellow John Cochrane explains what the Fed actually holds, what quantitative easing changed, and why public discussion of the balance sheet often overstates both its macroeconomic effects and its policy significance. Cochrane argues that the expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet did not, by itself, drive inflation or fundamentally alter economic outcomes. The more consequential issues, he finds, lie in the composition of the Fed’s assets, the maturity structure of government debt, and the institutional boundary between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. Watch or read here.
Law and Policy
For the latest episode of Free Speech Unmuted, Jane Bambauer and Senior Fellow Eugene Volokh analyze the US Supreme Court’s recent Chiles v. Salazar decision, which struck down (by an 8–1 vote) a law banning sexual orientation– and gender identity–based conversion therapy, including therapy that consists entirely of speech. The Court held that the First Amendment protects professional-client speech, including counselors’ use of conversion therapy with minor patients when that therapy consists solely of speech. In the process, the eight-justice majority rejected the state’s argument that such speech can be regulated as “speech integrally related to unlawful conduct”—and in the process cited Volokh’s discussion of the speech integral to unlawful conduct exception in a friend-of-the-court brief that he filed. Read more here.
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