The implications of the conflict in Iraq for U.S. policy were examined in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See Iraq Crisis and U.S. Policy, June 20, 2014.
The CRS report notably includes open source reporting and translations from the DNI Open Source Center. This sort of material had been routinely available to the public for decades until the CIA cut off public access to it last December 31.
The CRS report on the Iraq crisis was reported in the Washington Times on June 24.
A related CRS report (which also includes citations to the Open Source Center), newly updated, is Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, June 24, 2014.
CIA’s own open source intelligence effort leaves something to be desired. The CIA World Factbook continues to report that Syria’s population is around 17.9 million, while every other authoritative source puts it at between 22-23 million. (Secrecy News, 06/06/14).
Other new and updated CRS reports that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following.
Wartime Detention Provisions in Recent Defense Authorization Legislation, June 23, 2014
Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Institutions: A Constitutional Analysis, June 23, 2014
High-Frequency Trading: Background, Concerns, and Regulatory Developments, June 19, 2014
The National Science Foundation: Background and Selected Policy Issues, June 5, 2014
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): Is It a Health Emergency?, June 4, 2014
Progress in Combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): U.S. and Global Efforts from FY2006 to FY2015, May 28, 2014
Legislation to Approve the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, June 19, 2014
Membership in the United Nations and Its Specialized Agencies, June 19, 2014
El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations, June 23, 2014
The Project BioShield Act: Issues for the 113th Congress, June 18, 2014
The U.S. Secret Service: History and Missions, June 18, 2014
In recent months, we’ve seen much of these decades’ worth of progress erased. Contracts for evaluations of government programs were canceled, FFRDCs have been forced to lay off staff, and federal advisory committees have been disbanded.
This report outlines a framework relying on “Cooperative Technical Means” for effective arms control verification based on remote sensing, avoiding on-site inspections but maintaining a level of transparency that allows for immediate detection of changes in nuclear posture or a significant build-up above agreed limits.
At a recent workshop, we explored the nature of trust in specific government functions, the risk and implications of breaking trust in those systems, and how we’d known we were getting close to specific trust breaking points.
tudents in the 21st century need strong critical thinking skills like reasoning, questioning, and problem-solving, before they can meaningfully engage with more advanced domains like digital, data, or AI literacy.