critical developments across U.S. legislative processes, domestic security, electoral politics, and international diplomacy. Key findings indicate significant challenges and shifts in the political and security landscape.

In U.S. politics, the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is stalled by eleventh-hour intraparty disputes within the GOP and with the White House. Contentious provisions regarding housing legislation, restrictions on U.S. investment in China, and expanded IVF coverage for military families are delaying the bill's final text and threatening its traditionally bipartisan passage.

Regarding domestic security, the legacy of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) is manifesting in violent "blowback." A recent D.C. shooter, Lakanwal, was a former child soldier in a CIA-backed Afghan "Zero Unit," a param ...