Also: Ukraine Military Strategies and Food Insecurity

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Edited by Carter Hutchinson and Hannah Bowen

Happy Thursday! In today’s newsletter, we examine new data on China’s global investment and economic influence, what US leaders can learn from Ukraine’s military tactics against Russia, and the exclusion of the Food Security Supplement in the Current Population Survey.

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1. Chinese Investment Ignores the Iran Conflict ([link removed] )

Topline: China’s verifiable outbound investment was about 9 percent higher in 2025 than in 2024 and remained relatively stable in the first half of 2026 despite the US-Iran war, according to the China Global Investment Tracker ([link removed] ) . Although the US remains the top target for Beijing, the ratio of Chinese financial flows to the US to American GDP has dropped to the lowest among the top 10 recipients of Chinese investment. The main economic conflict between China and the US is not over investment, but Chinese theft of technology such as AI and leverage over supply chains, including pharmaceuticals, as AEI's Derek Scissors warns ([link removed] ) : “Winning is out of the question until America meets China’s bids for coercive leverage in supply chains and technology.”

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More on China’s Investment
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2. What the US Military Can Learn from Ukraine ([link removed] )

Topline: Ukraine is increasing the scale of strikes in Crimea, as Ukrainian drones continue to cripple critical Russian infrastructure, such as energy sites and transportation routes. With improving drone technology, global militaries will confront more adept drone targeting—and the US can avoid Russia’s costly learning curve. The US must work to more aggressively protect air, sea, and infrastructure assets before they get attacked, writes ([link removed] ) AEI’s Brady Africk: “But American operations in Iran have offered a disturbing preview of what can happen when air and naval facilities are insufficiently protected. Ukraine’s innovation in modern warfare has allowed the U.S. to see the future of the battlefield without suffering the same terrible cost.”

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More on Ukraine’s Military Tactics
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3. New Blind Spot in Food Insecurity Data ([link removed] )

Topline: Disability status is the most important determinant of food insecurity in the United States, with 31.1 percent of disabled households without children having very low food security. However, in 2025, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) stopped including the Food Security Supplement on the Current Population Survey (CPS), reducing policymakers’ access to data on food insecurity and making it more difficult to assess the effectiveness of policy solutions. AEI’s Angela Rachidi and Craig Gundersen recommend ([link removed] ) “reinstating the Food Security Supplement in future CPS surveys, but the annual food-security report and related USDA materials should focus on very low food security.”

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More on the Food Security Supplement
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Dive into More Data

07.23_Warshawsky ([link removed] )

A Long-Run Projection of US Finances ([link removed] )

More on the US Budget
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Student Loan Uncertainty ([link removed] )

More on Student Loans
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Special thanks to Jacinth Planer and Drew Kirkpatrick.

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