Slouching tiger: For the second year running, Heritage’s Index of U.S. Military Strength has given the U.S. military an overall rating of “weak.” America’s response to the Chinese spy balloon is just one example of a military leadership that lacks the capability to ensure a strong national defense. 

• Retired Green Beret Joe Kent spoke at the launch of the Index and emphasized how the military has suffered under the Biden administration’s incompetence, which includes the blanket vaccine mandate that contributed to its recruitment crisis. 

Read the military strength index here.

  

Hidden dragon: Heritage also released the 2024 China Transparency Report, which details the lack of transparency in Communist-controlled China and describes how this corruption poses a direct threat to the U.S. 

• Speaking at the launch of the report, Heritage President Dr. Kevin Roberts said “the Chinese Communist Party has become the number one adversary, not just for Americans, but for free people around the world.” 

Read the transparency report here. 

Saving America: Heritage had a record fundraising year in 2023. 

• “We are profoundly grateful to every Heritage member for funding our critical work at a time when the future of our country is at stake,” said President Dr. Kevin Roberts. He called the record donations “a vote of confidence that we have the right people and the right strategy as we lead the fight from America’s outpost in Washington, D.C.” 

Read the press release here. 

Follow the science: For decades, researchers have been using faulty models to predict global warming.  

• Scientists “exploit exaggerated model forecasts of climate change to concoct exaggerated claims of a climate crisis,” writes Visiting Fellow Roy Spencer.  
• Unscientific assumptions shouldn’t be the basis for climate change policy—especially since a global energy “transition” is impossibly expensive.  

Read the report on climate models here, and the energy “transition” report here.  

Backwards: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is now defaming conservatives who fight back against gender ideology.  

• The ADL offers “educational opportunities” for law enforcement agencies to address “hate crimes” against the LGBTQ+ community.  
• “Democrats (and the ADL is just an activist arm of the Democrat Party of course) clearly want to use force to shut down speech that threatens their narrative,” Matt Walsh told The Daily Signal in an exclusive report. 

Get the full story here.

The application deadline for The Heritage Foundation's Freedom and Opportunity Academic Prizes is February 1!  

• Academic Prizes recognize, and provide financial awards to, faculty at higher education institutions as they write and disseminate original research and develop projects and programs that explore topics related to Heritage’s priority issue areas and broader principles of freedom and opportunity. 

Learn more and apply here.  

• The Conservative Roots of American Conservationism—Rachel Alexander Cambre, Ph.D. 
• What Davos Can Expect From a Republican Admin—Kevin D. Roberts, Ph.D. 
• Then They Came for William Penn…—Victoria Coates and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn. 
• Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Declares War on Educational Choice—Jason Bedrick 
• Protestant Denominations Need Stronger Leadership on Assisted Reproductive Technology—Emma Waters 
• We’ve Made Progress on Our Nuclear Deterrent, but Much More Is Needed—Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., and Robert Peters 
• Corruption in China’s Military Is No Excuse for American Complacency—Alex Velez-Green 
• America’s Ossified Nuclear Infrastructure Needs an Overhaul—Now—Robert Peters and Maiya Clark 
• Rikers Rape Case Shows Female Prisoners Are the Voiceless Victims Of Gender Ideology—Jay Richards 
• Florida’s School Choice Has Come A Long Way, But It Can Go Further—Erika Donalds 

Heritage celebrated National School Choice Week with a documentary focused on Arizona, which has earned a top spot for education choice in the Education Freedom Report Card two years in a row. Fox News covered the documentary's release. Watch it here.