The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, established in 1958, is responsible for advancing the state of the art in defense science and technology. The agency’s structure, priorities and budget are discussed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency: Overview and Issues for Congress, February 2, 2018.
(For a lively and revealing history of DARPA, see Sharon Weinberger’s recent book The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World, Knopf, 2017.)
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Resolutions to Censure the President: Procedure and History, February 1, 2018
Evolving Assessments of Human and Natural Contributions to Climate Change, February 1, 2018
Real Wage Trends, 1979 to 2016, January 30, 2018
Gun Control: Concealed Carry Legislation in the 115th Congress, CRS Insight, January 30, 2018
Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador: Key Takeaways and Analysis, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 2, 2018
U.S. Foreign Assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean: FY2018 Appropriations, February 5, 2018
The Balkans and Russia, CRS Insight, January 31, 2018
Iraq: In Brief, February 6, 2018
Al Qaeda and U.S. Policy: Middle East and Africa, February 5, 2018
U.S. Security Assistance and Security Cooperation Programs: Overview of Funding Trends, February 1, 2018
The 2018 National Defense Strategy, CRS Insight, February 5, 2018
The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions, updated February 5, 2018
New Nuclear Warheads: Legislative Provisions, CRS Insight, February 5, 2018
Criminal Prohibitions on Disclosing the Identities of Covert Intelligence Assets, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 6, 2018
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.
Investment should instead be directed at sectors where American technology and innovation exist but the infrastructure to commercialize them domestically does not—and where the national security case is clear.
AI is already consequential, but its future trajectory remains contested. Policymakers should make their assumptions explicit, focus on what can be shaped rather than what can be perfectly predicted, and build institutions that can learn and respond as evidence changes.