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      Annotated Contents

      Conflict, Security, and Terrorism

      U.S. – Iran Relations

      President Trump’s withdrawal from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal and his crippling economic sanctions against Tehran have added more volatile elements to an already tense Middle East. Trump wants to force Iran to permanently halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and stop supporting Shiite militants fighting Sunni governments across the region. The sanctions, while causing suffering for many Iranians, have united the country behind its defiant clerical leadership. Tehran has sought to raise the stakes of the confrontation and encourage global pressure on Trump to lift his sanctions by downing a U.S. drone and harassing foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. American officials also accuse Iran of attacking Saudi Arabia’s oil installations. So far, Trump has not responded militarily, but neither has he relaxed the sanctions. As long as they remain in place, experts say, Iran will likely continue its provocations. The standoff between Washington and Tehran will not end peacefully unless the two sides start talking about their differences, experts add.

      Measles Resurgence

      The number of measles cases in the United States has reached a 27-year high—a startling development for a disease that the World Health Organization declared eradicated in the country in 2000 as a result of widespread vaccine use. And the problem is global: 110,000 deaths from measles were reported worldwide in 2017, the most recent year for which global estimates are available, up from fewer than 90,000 in 2016. In the United States, experts attribute the measles resurgence to reduced vaccination rates for children whose parents believe—against all scientific evidence—that the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is unsafe or that the disease poses no significant health risk. Most of the U.S. cases occurred in insular, underimmunized communities and have been linked to travelers bringing measles back from countries with large measles outbreaks. In some states, policymakers are eliminating or narrowing exemptions for mandatory vaccinations of children attending public schools, and health officials are pushing back against skepticism about the safety and necessity of vaccines.

      The New Arms Race

      In recent years, the United States and Russia have withdrawn from several major agreements developed over 40 years to control the spread of nuclear weapons, citing violations by the other side. Those treaties created a climate of strategic stability, minimizing the chances of nuclear war. Without them, a new arms race, reminiscent of the Cold War years, has begun, as both sides develop ultramodern, super-fast weapon systems capable of delivering a nuclear device anywhere on the globe within 15 minutes. U.S. and Russian military leaders also have embraced doctrines that maintain that a limited nuclear war using small, tactical nuclear weapons can be won. The last remaining treaty limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals will expire next February unless both countries agree to extend it. President Trump says he prefers to negotiate a broader pact that includes China, but Beijing has said it is not interested, and critics say a year is not enough time to negotiate such an ambitious accord. Meanwhile, a stalemate in talks over North Korea’s denuclearization has added uncertainty to the future of arms control, as has the U.S. withdrawal from an international agreement halting Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

      Cyberwarfare

      Cyberwarfare has become a crucial battleground between nations. This largely hidden conflict, which has echoes of the Cold War struggle between Western democracies and communist nations, involves a range of activities: from online disinformation campaigns to the use of sophisticated computer worms to disrupt or commandeer government and commercial computer systems. Russia, the United States, China, Iran and other nations all have probed and hacked into other countries’ computer systems. Some U.S. officials worry about a “cyber Pearl Harbor,” in which an enemy launches a surprise cyberattack to disable key public utilities such as the power grid. But other analysts believe the greater danger lies in the way Russia manipulated social media to spread disinformation and worsen political divisions in the 2016 U.S. election as it worked to boost the campaign of President Trump. U.S. intelligence officials say that Russia is at it again, and experts warn that new technologies such as 5G high-speed wireless and artificial intelligence make defending against cyberattacks even harder.

      Zoonotic Diseases

      The

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