United States and Canada

Pretrial risk assessment tools must be directed toward an abolitionist vision

By Nikhil Raghuveera and Hannah Biggs

The United States criminal justice system is increasingly turning to risk assessment tools in pretrial hearings—before a defendant is convicted of a crime—as well as in sentencing procedures. Risk assessment tools give judges a numerical metric that indicates a pretrial defendant’s risk of failing to appear in court, or threat to the community prior to their pretrial hearing. Judges set bail based on this tool. Facing an incredibly high volume of pretrial detainees, risk assessment tools are designed to help quickly and effectively determine pretrial detention and ease courts’ burdens. To truly address the failures of the criminal justice system, however, public sector leaders must:

How the US and Europe should rethink their economic relationship in the Biden years

By Elmar Hellendoorn

If the Biden administration chooses a conventional approach to trade policy, it will not only deprive itself of a powerful instrument to shape international relations but also put US interests and the Western liberal order at a disadvantage.

Sanctions against Turkey over Russian arms: Has the United States found a sweet spot?

By Daniel Fried

With its sanctions against Turkey's main defense-procurement entity, the United States may have found a sweet spot: sanctions strong enough to capture Turkish attention but not so sweeping as to shut down bilateral security and arms relations with a NATO ally.

To grow jobs, Washington must fight for US companies abroad

By Grant T. Harris

To expect US companies to match China’s resources and withstand its tactics without the full support of the US government is a farce. Washington needs a new approach—one that gives US companies a fair shot without adopting China’s style of state control or offering handouts to domestic companies.

Countering China’s crackdown on Hong Kong

By Anna Downs and Ash Jain

The implementation of the national security law has stifled the democratic movement in Hong Kong. This action sparked a series of democratic protests that China quickly attempted to dismantle—alarming observers worldwide. Can democracies mitigate the impact of the new national security laws on Hong Kong? Should Chine face penalties from the international community? Or will aligned democracies fail to defend other vulnerable democratic nations against Chinese malign influence?

Borghard in WIRED: Russia’s hack wasn’t cyberwar. That complicates US strategy

By Atlantic Council

Erica and co-author Jacquelyn Schneider discuss the SolarWinds hack and its implication in terms of U.S. cyber strategy, analysing the concepts of deterrence and defend forward. More about our expert

How the Federal Reserve just set the terms for the 2021 recovery

This year was perhaps the most ambitious in the history of the US Federal Reserve. To weather the financial effects of the pandemic, the Fed kept interest rates low and injected an unprecedented amount of funds into the economy.