In a new working paper, Nicholas Eberstadt finds that Russia's demographic data reveal a country without the human capital or population growth to sustain its grand ambitions. "Demographic constraints," Eberstadt argues, "are gradually but unforgivingly restricting the realm of the possible for the Russian state on the international stage."

On Wednesday, August 24, President Joe Biden announced his plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in outstanding student loan debt. Beth Akers argues that the plan, which she calls "costly and regressive," may drive "students to borrow more and institutions to raise prices even faster than before." In a brief for AEI's Conservative Education Reform Network, Akers and Michael Brickman explain the plan's details and forecast its consequences.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, Oriana Skylar Mastro and Derek Scissors warn that Communist China's geopolitical power has not yet peaked. Although Communist China's economic and demographic growth may be slowing and soon peak, Mastro and Scissors maintain that its military strength and ability to project power in Asia will grow over the coming decades.

Shane Tews advocates refocusing federal broadband policy on strengthening local cybersecurity. According to Tews, decades of federal effort to build municipal broadband networks have failed to expand access while leaving cities vulnerable to damaging cyberattacks, such as the SolarWinds hack in 2020.

As American labor force participation rates continue to stagnate below their 2020 levels, Michael R. Strain asks, "What's hollowing out the US workforce?" Finding no simple explanation for why participation remains low even as wages rise quickly, Strain says that "the post-pandemic decline in workforce participation is starting to look more like part of a longer-term trend toward joblessness," which began decades ago.