Also: Data Center Bans and Immigration in Spain
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Edited by Carter Hutchinson and Hannah Bowen
Happy Thursday! In today’s newsletter, we examine the rise of prenuptial agreements in the US and their impact on marriage, public opposition to and bans on data center developments, and Spain’s immigration policies.
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1. Prenuptial Popularity ([link removed] )
In 2026, over 50 percent of engaged or married couples under age 45 have negotiated the terms of their divorce before getting married. Despite the growing popularity of prenuptial agreements, 84 percent of couples without prenups report being “highly committed,” compared with the 70 percent of couples with prenups. AEI’s Brad Wilcox and Maria Baer warn ([link removed] ) , “Paradoxically, prenuptial agreements undermine the very thing meant to keep marriages together: commitment. The strongest couples don’t just commit to trying to stay together, they commit to the commitment itself.”
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More on Marriage
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2. Data Center Opposition ([link removed] )
Though there are now 500 active data centers across the US, large AI hyperscalers, including Amazon and Meta, still expect to spend $1.5 trillion building data centers over the next two years. The long-term question is whether businesses and consumers can generate enough value from AI to justify the high levels of investment. AEI’s James Pethokoukis explains ([link removed] ) , “If that transformation is successful, there will be lots of demand for the AI services powered by data centers. If it doesn’t, NIMBY protests will be the least of the industry’s problems.”
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More on Data Centers
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3. European Immigration Trends ([link removed] )
Roughly one in five people in Spain was foreign-born in 2025—a notably higher fraction than in the US that same year. The recent illegal influx of tens of thousands of Moroccan migrants into the Spanish territory of Ceuta has highlighted Spain’s commitment to countering depopulation by bringing newcomers in from abroad legally. AEI’s Nicholas Eberstadt notes ([link removed] ) , “Spain’s experiment in mass immigration begs the question of how its enormous new wave of newcomers is assimilating into the life of the country.”
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More on European Immigration
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Dive into More Data
08.20_CTP ([link removed] )
Latest Houthi Attacks in Saudi Arabia ([link removed] )
More on the Middle East
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08.20_Teixeira.Bowman ([link removed] )
Value of Teaching Patriotism and Loyalty in Schools ([link removed] )
More on Civic Values
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Special thanks to Jacinth Planer and Drew Kirkpatrick.
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