CGM Insights

Modern societies are increasingly characterized by deep pluralism and complex diversity. Rapid technological advances, demographic shifts, and cultural globalization have intensified heterogeneity in values, beliefs, and lifestyles. This growing complexity challenges centralized governance systems, often resulting in inefficiencies, social conflict, and political polarization. Addressing these challenges requires governance models that can adapt to such diversity while fostering coexistence and cooperation.

This policy brief examines the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence governance in the United States and focuses on the tension between federal soft law approaches and emerging state-level regulations. Soft law refers to nonbinding guidelines, voluntary standards, and informal frameworks that aim to guide innovation without imposing rigid legal constraints. Whereas federal policy has favored voluntary standards and industry-led initiatives, several states have proposed or enacted binding regulations that mirror the more prescriptive models of the European Union and China. Through case studies of Virginia, Texas, and Colorado, the brief assesses the risks of regulatory fragmentation and argues that a more coordinated federal framework—grounded in soft law—can preserve innovation while guiding state-level governance. The brief concludes by offering recommendations for a model governance approach that balances flexibility, national coherence, and state autonomy.

China is currently the only major power actively engaging with the Taliban regime since the fall of Afghani- stan’s Republic in 2021. This policy brief examines China’s evolving security engagement with Taliban-led Afghanistan. Its emphasis is on the ways in which China uses its diplomatic and economic weight to protect its interests in Afghanistan. China’s approach—framed through diplomatic dialogues and strategic investments— is primarily driven by its national security concerns, particularly the threat posed by Uyghur militants. While China publicly supports an “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” framework, it often engages in regional dialogues that exclude Afghan voices. The policy brief highlights China’s efforts to balance its economic interests and regional influence while avoiding military entanglements, and it critiques the limitations of a narrowly counterterrorism-focused policy.

Quiet sites needed for radio astronomy are chosen for their remote locations and minimal radio interference and thus have been situated on lands traditionally inhabited by Indigenous communities. The needs of Native Nations are often overlooked, and consideration is necessary to assess whether radio astronomy sites in the United States are subject to trust or treaty agreements established between governments and Indigenous nations. Government or government-adjacent administrative entities such as the National Radio Astronomy Observatory may need to fulfill obligations to protect tribal sovereignty and uphold Indigenous rights.

The radio astronomy community can and should do more to acknowledge the rights of Native Nations because many of the telescopes are on Indigenous homelands, and Native Nations are important rightsholders that have generally been excluded from decision-making regarding radio astronomy. Furthermore, government entities in the radio astronomy field may have trust and treaty obligations to Native Nations that have long been ignored. These issues must be addressed as plans are made to expand radio astronomy’s frontier in the United States.

Afghanistan remains stuck in political deadlock under Taliban control—no inclusive governance, no discernible pathway for reform, and limited if any progress toward peace. This brief outlines how Afghanistan’s post- 2001 experience produced valuable democratic lessons, even amid dysfunction, and offers a way forward: a transition led by a new generation of educated, exiled Afghan technocrats. These individuals, untainted by past political failures, are best positioned to help build an inclusive government through a decentralized model that reflects Afghanistan’s diversity and reduces ethnic tensions. The international community, especially the United States and its partners, must play a key role in facilitating this transition.