The US Postal Service’s role in elections

Every election cycle, tens of millions of Americans rely on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to receive and return their ballots. Elena Patel examines the Postal Service’s role in a voting system where nearly one-third of ballots are now cast by mail, explains what USPS does—and does not do—in supporting elections, and explores four emerging pressures that could affect how election mail is delivered in the years ahead.

Three perspectives on the U.S.-China military balance. As China modernizes its military, how does the balance of power with the United States shift? John Culver, Bruce Jones, and Michael O’Hanlon offer a diversity of perspectives, finding that while the U.S. retains key advantages—such as in undersea warfare and global reach—China has narrowed the gap in several domains. They emphasize that any potential conflict would hinge not only on military capabilities, but also on factors such as geography, alliances, and operational experience.

End of the road for USMCA? On July 1, the U.S. government declined to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—but that’s not the end for the region’s free trade agreement. On the latest episode of The Current, Kari Heerman spoke with Christopher Sands and Duncan Wood about what went wrong, what went right, and what comes next for North American economic relations.

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