Assessing the Threat Matrix, from the Mideast to Ukraine to an Anti-U.S. Axis

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS – From the Middle East to Russia’s war on Ukraine, cybersecurity to disinformation to the emergence of an axis of powers – Russia and China in particular – aiming to counter the West, the range of national and global security threats today is as complex as it’s ever been. 

Recently the former head of counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department, John Miller, warned of what he called “a perfect storm” of elements that might bring security risks to U.S. shores: the Israel-Hamas war, and the extent to which it has revitalized terrorist groups “that had lost their raison d’etre”; Hezbollah, a powerful militant group in the region but also an internationally-positioned terrorist organization; and foreign powers including Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and others – all “stirring the pot” in their own attempts to weaken the influence of the U.S. and its western allies. Add in the myriad efforts to use the internet to inflame and divide Americans in an election year, Miller said, and “we are back to a lights-blinking-red place again.”