Watchfire National Security Network

One year after USAID’s dismantling, funding fell by 43 percent, thousands of awards ended, and the US Department of State’s smaller humanitarian bureau cannot replace the lost development capacity. Mortality estimates have been both modeled and contested, but regardless, documented disruption to health, food, and education programs is serious. Development is a national security tool, and its decimation demands accountability, data, and restored capability.

Eight months after U.S.-Israeli strikes began, the conflict with Iran remains unresolved. The June memorandum did not produce a durable peace, and fighting resumed in July. By late September, the USS Theodore Roosevelt had departed San Diego and was expected to relieve another carrier in the Middle East. Renewed negotiations had still not resolved the conflict as of Reuters’ October 2 update. As of November 1, Qatari-mediated talks continued without a settlement, and the Secretary of State said no decision had been made on resuming strikes. A lull is not an end to the commitment—or the strain it places on the Force.

We cannot make the case for democracy as the backbone of global security while shrinking representation at home. In Louisiana v. Callais (April 29, 2026), the Supreme Court sharply narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, leading to Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama changing the congressional maps used in 2026. This erodes minority representation, damages America’s democratic credibility abroad, and urges Congress, candidates, and diplomats to respond.