The potential international effects of a domestic decryption mandate have been a significant factor in the debate over U.S. encryption policy. Some fear that a U.S. decryption mandate would empower authoritarian regimes and would clash with the United States’ international Internet-freedom agenda.
Although the American public at large has not polarized, it is better sorted than a generation ago. Whereas the parties were once “big tents,” they are now ideologically more homogeneous: liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats have largely disappeared.
Attribution of malicious cyber activities is a deep issue, about which confusion and disquiet can be found in abundance. Attribution has many aspects, and a variety of well-researched and well-executed papers cover one or more of these aspects; these papers are referenced in the body of the paper and are called out again in the Acknowledgments section.
Attribution of malicious cyber activities is a deep issue about which confusion and disquiet can be found in abundance. Attribution has many aspects—technical, political, legal, policy, and so on. This paper distinguishes between attribution of malicious cyber activity to a machine, to a specific human being pressing the keys that initiate that activity, and to a party that is deemed ultimately responsible for that activity.
The United States is currently experiencing an almost unprecedented period of electoral instability. This essay describes this important feature of contemporary politics and sets the stage for later essays that describe and attempt to explain current developments and trace their consequences for American government.
Mexico has struggled to consolidate a solid rule of law. The northern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Nuevo León are notable, however, for having successfully reduced the levels of violence that spiked there in 2010–11.
For at least two decades, American firms and institutions have been victimized by attacks on their computer systems. Hackers disrupt their websites, interfere with their communications, and—most costly of all—steal their data. General Keith Alexander, then director of the National Security Agency (NSA), characterized the scale of intellectual property theft by cyber attacks as “the largest transfer of wealth in world history.”
Congress should use the debate over section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to think big. Section 702 brings some NSA programs directed at foreign targets under judicial review, showing such review is feasible even for complex programs of transnational surveillance.
Malicious hackers, often under the protection of hostile foreign states, have engaged in massive data theft from U.S. business firms and private institutions. Intelligence agencies predict the problem will get worse.
The growing costs of health care benefits for retired public employees—known as OPEB (other post-employment benefits)—pose a serious challenge to many city governments. In this paper, we analyze the retiree health care systems of six American cities: Boston, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Antonia, and Tampa, Florida.
