“Several events this past year — the Fort Hood Shooting and the attempted bombings on Christmas Day and in Times Square — highlight challenges, successes, and gaps in our ability to effectively share and access information,” wrote Kshemendra N. Paul, the program manager of the ODNI Information Sharing Environment (ISE) in a new annual report to Congress (pdf) on the current state of intelligence and threat information sharing.
“Looking back to the events of September 11, 2001, we have come far in our sharing of and access to information across boundaries organizational boundaries and mission domains. Yet much remains to be done to support the frontline,” Mr. Paul wrote.
The information sharing initiative is focused on overcoming barriers to communication within the government, not on public disclosure. But sharing ought to include the public too, the report suggested at one point.
“Most of the work of building the ISE to date has been aimed at expanding information sharing across all areas of government in the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, with private sector organizations and foreign partners. As the ISE continues to evolve, however, we recognize that to support the Administration’s commitment to openness and transparency, we must extend those efforts to include the American public as well,” the new annual report to Congress said (p. 57).
With summer 2025 in the rearview mirror, we’re taking a look back to see how federal actions impacted heat preparedness and response on the ground, what’s still changing, and what the road ahead looks like for heat resilience.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.