New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Drought in the United States: Causes and Current Understanding, February 26, 2014 The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and Defense Strategy: Issues for Congress, February 24, 2014 FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel […]
The quantitative risk analysis approach to nuclear deterrence not only allows a more objective estimate of how much risk we face, but also highlights otherwise unforeseen ways to reduce that risk. The current crisis in Ukraine provides a good example. Last Fall, I met Daniel Altman, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, who is visiting Stanford’s Center for International […]
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency that builds and operates U.S. intelligence satellites, frequently makes mistakes when it classifies national security information, according to an assessment performed last year by the NRO Inspector General. “From the classified documents we reviewed at NRO headquarters, 114 of 134 documents contained classification errors,” the IG report said. […]
A major new report from the Congressional Research Service examines the infrastructure for producing the plutonium “pits” that are used in US nuclear weapons, and the feasibility of sharply increasing the rate of pit production. The CRS report does not deal with whether or why that is a sensible goal, but instead probes deeply into […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The U.S. government has published the first images of the Air Force’s new B61-12 nuclear bomb. The images for the first time show the new guided tail kit that will provide new military capabilities in violation of the Nuclear Posture Review. The tail kit will increase the accuracy of the bomb […]
The final, climactic step in the declassification of government records is not the formal removal of classification markings or even the transfer of the declassified documents to public archives. The culmination of the declassification process is when the records are finally examined by an interested reader and their contents are absorbed into the body of […]
Last week the Congressional Research Service published updated U.S. military casualty statistics for post-9/11 operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through January 2014. There have been 4,410 U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 2,299 U.S. military deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom to date. While overall fatality figures are already made available on Department of […]
For the first time the U.S. Army has produced official doctrine on military activities in cyberspace, including offensive, defensive and network operations. A new Army field manual “provides overarching doctrinal guidance and direction for conducting cyber electromagnetic activities (CEMA)…. It provides enough guidance for commanders and their staffs to develop innovative approaches to seize, retain, […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following. Independence of Federal Financial Regulators, February 12, 2014 Small Business: Access to Capital and Job Creation, February 18, 2014 U.S.-South Korea Relations, February 12, 2014 U.S.-Japan Economic Relations: Significance, Prospects, and Policy Options, […]
Official data on the number of contractors used by civilian intelligence agencies are unreliable, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Nor can the costs incurred by contractors be accurately assessed. The inadequacy of the data undermines workforce management as well as contractor oversight, GAO said. “GAO identified a number of limitations […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. The Debt Limit Since 2011, February 12, 2014 The Corporate Income Tax System: Overview and Options for Reform, February 14, 2014 The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy: In Brief, February 10, 2014 Lebanon: Background and U.S. […]
Former State Department contractor Stephen Kim pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information to a Fox News reporter. Following a sentencing hearing in April, he is expected to serve a 13 month term in prison. (WashPost, NYT, Politico). The plea was an abrupt departure from previous defense strategy. […]