The Tension Between Safeguarding National Security and the Drive to Develop Quantum Technology

By: Sarah Reutti

In 2018, President Trump signed into effect the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) as part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.^[1] This Act put into place the statutory foundation for the U.S. government to regulate emerging technologies.^[2] Among these identified technologies was quantum computing.^[3]

ECRA authority allows the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to enact strict licensing rules worldwide to keep sensitive quantum hardware out of the hands of our political adversaries.^[4] However, many of these exporting limitations have negative implications on the scientific collaboration, mergers, acquisitions, and investments needed by the United States to develop the technology.^[5] As it currently stands, the United States relies heavily on foreign expertise in quantum development due to the international nature of research in the field alongside a global shortage of quantum computing experts.^[6] Even this limited foreign expertise is hard to come by as visa challenges complicate talent acquisition.^[7]

Satellite States: China and America’s National Security in Space

By

On May 18, 2024

In Blog Posts

Satellite States: China and America’s National Security in Space

By Samuel Naramore

Introduction

Over sixty years ago, in April of 1961, the Soviet Union successfully left the terrestrial safety of Earth and entered outer space (“space”) for the first time.[1] The Soviets entering space initiated the Cold War’s Space Race, prompting the U.S. to devote extraordinary amounts of resources towards developing its space capabilities––to beat the Soviets to the Moon.[2] After reaching the Moon in 1969 as part of NASA’s Apollo program, the United States (“U.S.”) claimed the position as the World’s premier space power.[3]

Since the “Space Race” of the Cold War, the U.S. has led the world in public and private expenditure in space.[4] Even though direct spending on space initiatives by the U.S. government has waned under recent presidential administrations, compared to other space-faring nations, the U.S. still invests more in its space program than any other country.[5] This expenditure since 1961 helped the U.S. establish itself as the dominant presence in space and leading the world in technological advancements––many of which American citizens increasingly rely on.[6]

Russian nuke in space? What does that mean for the Outer Space Treaty?

By

On February 26, 2024

In Blog Posts

Russia reportedly wants to put a nuke in space. What does that mean for the Outer Space Treaty?

President Lyndon B. Johnson looks on as the U.S., the U.K., and the U.S.S.R. sign the Outer Space Treaty, Jan. 27, 1967 (CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

By: Joe Noser

On February 14, 2024, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) made waves when his committee posted a cryptic statement calling on the Biden Administration to declassify all information regarding a “serious national security threat.”[1] The threat, it turns out, is significant: a reported Russian program to put a nuclear weapon into low Earth orbit to give it a menacing antisatellite capability.[2]

The first exclusively online law review.

Tag: national security