The Diplomatic Envoy

After successful efforts by Congress to defund public media, national news organizations and agencies are facing unprecedented funding challenges. These challenges threaten access to PBS and NPR, media outlets known and trusted worldwide, and the silencing of news outlets across the nation that have produced local coverage and access to beloved characters for decades.

There is a new kind of boom sweeping Washington, D.C. — not in real estate or politics, but in defense technology. From the Pentagon’s, to Arlington, to venture-capital-funded corridors, investors, engineers, and policymakers are pouring billions into what they see as the next huge national-security frontier: artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, quantum computing, and 5G-enabled battle networks.