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Blogs > FAS Blog > FAS Roundup: October 6, 2015

FAS Roundup: October 6, 2015

By • October 6, 2015

Stay Tuned…

…For a special Summer/Fall edition of the Public Interest Report, FAS’s online, quarterly science and security journal featuring articles by members of the FAS network on issues related to foreign policy and national security. The PIR will be published and available for viewing this Thursday, October 8th.

New Report

Understanding the Dragon Shield: Likelihood and Implications of Chinese Strategic Ballistic Missile Defense: While China has received growing attention for modernizing and expanding its strategic offensive nuclear forces over the last ten years, little attention has been paid to Chinese activities in testing and developing ballistic missile defenses (BMD). Motivated to understand the strategic implications of this testing and to learn Chinese views, Adjunct Senior Fellow and Professor, Bruce MacDonald and FAS President, Dr. Charles Ferguson, over the past twelve months, have studied these issues and have had extensive discussions with more than 50 security experts in China and the United States. Ever since the end of the Cold War, U.S. security policy has largely assumed that only the United States would possess credible strategic ballistic missile defense capabilities with non-nuclear interceptors. This tacit assumption has been valid for the last quarter century but may not remain valid for long. Since 2010, China has been openly testing missile interceptors purportedly for BMD purposes, but also useful for anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons.

From the Blogs

Science Experiments Blocked Due to Safety Risks: The U.S. government blocked dozens of life science experiments over the past decade because they were deemed to pose undue risks to public health and safety. Between 2006 and 2013, researchers submitted 618 potentially restricted experiment proposals for review by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT), according to a new study published in the journal Health Security.

High School Debates on Surveillance Informed by CRS: The Congressional Research Service has produced a bibliography on domestic surveillance to support this year’s national high school debate program which is devoted to that subject.

Defense Support of Civil Authorities, Updated: Before the Department of Defense can use an unmanned aerial system within the United States for domestic operations such as search and rescue missions or disaster response, specific authorization from the Secretary of Defense is necessary. However, if DoD wants to use a UAS to help control domestic civil disturbances (such as a riot or insurrection), then further authorization from the President of the United State is required. The patchwork of legal authorities and requirements for domestic military missions is presented in a newly updated DoD manual on Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA).

Holding Contractors Accountable, and More from CRS: When government contractors fail to fulfill a contract or engage in some form of misconduct, there are various ways to hold them legally accountable, a new report from the Congressional Research Service explains.

CIA Classification Practices Challenged: The Central Intelligence Agency has improperly classified and withheld from release at least five categories of information related to its post-9/11 rendition, detention and interrogation program, according to a detailed complaint filed by Openthegovernment.org with the Information Security Oversight Office. Classification of this information has impeded government accountability for the controversial CIA programs and derailed a full public reckoning over abuses that occurred, the complaint said.

The Chinese Military, and More from CRS: New and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News.

FAS in the News

Categories: FAS Roundup