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Mitzi Perdue • RealClearDefense

The World Cup Is Over. The Drone Threat Isn’t.

This summer’s FIFA World Cup was wildly successful in many respects. For one, there was no major security incident, thanks in part to federal and...

9h agoRead it on RealClearDefense
172 stories
2d ago
Mitzi Perdue • RealClearDefense

The World Cup Is Over. The Drone Threat Isn’t.

This summer’s FIFA World Cup was wildly successful in many respects. For one, there was no major security incident, thanks in part to federal and...

2d agoRead it on RealClearDefense
2d ago
Defense

The World Cup Is Over. The Drone Threat Isn’t.

Mitzi Perdue • RealClearDefense • November 7, 2026

This summer’s FIFA World Cup was wildly successful in many respects. For one, there was no major security incident, thanks in part to federal and local law enforcement working together to seize more than 700 unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, flying without authorization near U.S. tournament venues.

Thankfully, the tournament finished without a serious drone incident, but the potential for harm was nevertheless real. Under the control of a malicious pilot, a drone could have dropped lethal explosives over a crowded stadium or fan festival, killing or maiming hundreds or even thousands. A weaponized drone could potentially have created 9/11-level carnage.

5d ago
Meda Parameswara Reddy • RealClearDefense

ICE Is Not a Four-Letter Word

ICE has only three letters, yet a good part of American political life now treats it as a four-letter word, the old English-language shorthand for a...

5d agoRead it on RealClearDefense
5d ago
Jeff Ballabon • RealClearDefense

America Needs a Joseph Directive

A national food and water reserve is the missing piece of America’s EMP defense...

5d agoRead it on RealClearDefense
5d ago
Defense

ICE Is Not a Four-Letter Word

Meda Parameswara Reddy • RealClearDefense • November 4, 2026

ICE has only three letters, yet a good part of American political life now treats it as a four-letter word, the old English-language shorthand for a curse word. Before deciding whether the contempt is earned, it is worth doing something few critics bother to do: read the name out loud.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Every one of those words describes a job that any sovereign country assigns to someone. Congress writes immigration law. Congress writes customs law. A law that nobody enforces is a suggestion, and the agency Congress created in 2003 to enforce both carries that name for a reason.

5d ago

America Needs a Joseph Directive

Jeff Ballabon • RealClearDefense • November 4, 2026

The war with Iran looms over the midterm elections. Nearly three in four Americans are very concerned about fuel prices, and two in three now disapprove of the war. Explanations on offer run from grand geopolitics to conspiracy theories that Israel dragged America into it. Americans deserve a plain answer to why we are fighting. There is a practical step President Trump can announce now that explains all and creates an opportunity for a major policy upgrade for the American homeland.

1w ago
Barry Angeline • Washington Examiner

The Leader FEMA Couldn’t Keep

A former senior FEMA official who worked alongside him agrees: “This is the exact work that we have done when we arrived at FEMA, which is the...

1w agoRead it on Washington Examiner
2w ago
Defense

The Underground Cloud

Ben Poulin • RealClearDefense • October 22, 2026

The cloud sounds weightless. Yet artificial intelligence models, government records, financial transactions and communications rely on physical machines housed in identifiable places. The cloud has an address, and that address can be attacked.

2w ago
Ben Poulin • RealClearDefense

The Underground Cloud

... if some data centers are becoming critical national infrastructure, should we be doing more to protect the centers themselves?...

2w agoRead it on RealClearDefense