An Open Source Center Look at Iranian Schoolbooks
The textbooks that are used in Iranian elementary, middle and high schools “reveal a clear emphasis on Islam, as it has been interpreted by the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to a recent contractor study (pdf) performed for U.S. intelligence.
That rather banal observation is among “the most important conclusions” of the open source intelligence study.
The study culls tendentious statements from 85 Persian-language textbooks, and surveys them without much analytical insight or empathy.
Among its dubious verdicts: The schoolbooks “provide a distorted view of Shia Islam as the only true path in Islam, and among religions.”
The study, hosted by the DNI Open Source Center, was performed under government contract by Science Applications International Corporation.
Like most other finished intelligence from the Open Source Center, the study has not been approved for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
See “Iranian Textbooks: Content and Context,” SAIC Research Report, 31 December 2007.
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.
FAS and FLI partnered to build a series of convenings and reports across the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI) with biosecurity, cybersecurity, nuclear command and control, military integration, and frontier AI governance. This project brought together leaders across these areas and created a space that was rigorous, transpartisan, and solutions-oriented to approach how we should think about how AI is rapidly changing global risks.