Today, H.R. McMaster speaks to Japan’s former national security advisor about trade, cooperation, and confronting aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Russell Berman writes about Benjamin Rush: doctor, Declaration signer, and one-time rival to George Washington. And Andy Hall describes how he has used AI to evaluate clauses in contracts and predict which ones may lead to disputes down the road.
Determining America’s Role in the World
Join Shigeru Kitamura, former national security advisor of Japan, and Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster on the latest episode of Today’s Battlegrounds, as they discuss Japan’s transformation into a leader in economic statecraft, how democratic nations can secure strategic autonomy in critical technologies and supply chains, and the future of US-Japan cooperation in confronting coercion, cyber threats, and growing competition in the Indo-Pacific. The conversation explores Japan’s evolving security strategy in response to growing challenges in the Indo-Pacific, including China’s military modernization and economic coercion, and tensions with that nation revolving around Taiwan and the East China Sea. Kitamura and McMaster also discuss Japan’s changing defense posture, the role of critical technologies and resilient supply chains, and the importance of the Quad and other partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. They examine efforts to deter North Korea, strengthen regional security, and deepen US-Japan cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Watch here.
USA @ 250
Senior Fellow Russell A. Berman writes about Declaration signer Benjamin Rush, a young physician who grasped the idea that a nation built on liberty must be taught the foundations of freedom, especially virtue. Rush evangelized for a distinctly American education—today we would call it civics—as the essential tool to unify and inspire the people of the newborn country. His vision, Berman writes, touches on many of the basic assumptions of modern higher education, and it highlights the continuing challenge of forming Americans for citizenship. Read more here.
Iran and Energy
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed the reality that the world is undergoing an unexpected energy transition—not from fossil fuels to renewables but from a free and open energy commons to one dominated by geography, military threats, and the hard reality that national security has become inseparable from energy security. In a new video, Distinguished Visiting Fellow Adm. James O. Ellis Jr. says today’s maritime economy has outgrown available naval power, and commercial shippers are far more risk averse than in past crises. Protecting vital energy chokepoints now requires stronger fleets, smarter alliances, and a clear recognition that energy security is national security. Watch here.
Artificial Intelligence
At his Substack, Free Systems, Senior Fellow Andrew B. Hall and Stanford Graduate School of Business research fellow Elliot Paschal describe a new AI-powered system to evaluate problematic language in contracts that might lead to disputes or litigation. Harvesting “resolution rules” surrounding bets made on Kalshi and Polymarket and running them through Claude, they were able to spot language that had a higher probability of generating a contract dispute. “Working with Claude, we developed a 10-point rubric for spotting flaws in contract rules that might lead to disputes—including things like failing to specify a source of truth [and] not naming an entity specifically enough,” Hall writes. “Just from our grades based on the text of the resolution rules, our tool is able to predict which contracts are more likely to result in a dispute at a rate far better than chance.” Read more here.
Socialism
Using an anecdote offered by a former teaching colleague, Research Fellow David R. Henderson argues in Defining Ideas that socialist societies with central planning fail not just because people lie and cheat but also because the central planners themselves can never obtain enough information about the marketplace to make sound economic decisions. Citing what Hayek called “the particular circumstances of time and place,” Henderson says scientific knowledge cannot replicate what individual actors in an economy know at the micro, ground level. “Even good people cannot, as central planners, make good choices for a society,” Henderson writes. “They don’t have the information necessary to do so. And the incentives in a socialist society drive people not to be good.” Read more here.
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