One of the more encouraging changes in classification policy over the past decade has been the sharp reduction in the number of decisions to classify information reported each year by executive branch agencies. In 2005 there were a total of 258,633 original classification actions, or new secrets, reported; in 2015, there were said to be […]
The executive branch is reconfiguring its approach to vetting individuals for access to sensitive information and granting them security clearances in an attempt to modernize and improve its procedures, according to a new quarterly report. “The Insider Threat and Security Clearance Reform (ITSCR) Cross Agency Priority (CAP) Goals have been re-baselined so that they are […]
A new report from the Congressional Research Service considers: “What would happen in 2016 if a candidate for President or Vice President were to die or leave the ticket any time between the national party conventions and the November 8 election day? What would happen if this occurred during presidential transition, either between election day […]
In a dispute that pitted member agencies of the U.S. intelligence community against each other, the Central Intelligence Agency claimed that “a questionable intelligence activity” had been carried out in 2014 by agents of the Department of Defense. But an investigation of the matter by the DoD Inspector General that was partially declassified last week […]
The period of transition between presidential administrations can be turbulent, with potentially accelerated decision-making, diminished oversight, executive appointments, acts of clemency, “midnight rulemaking,” records management decisions, and heightened national security vulnerabilities, among other factors. Many of these areas are considered in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The latest set of so-called New START treaty aggregate data published by the U.S. State Department shows that Russia is continuing to increase the number of nuclear warheads it deploys on its declining inventory of strategic launchers. Russia now has 259 warheads more deployed than when the treaty entered into force in […]
Military doctrine has been defined as “fundamental principles that guide the employment of U.S. military forces in coordinated action toward a common objective.” Some of those fundamental principles are elaborated in two U.S. military documents that were made public this month. A newly revised Pentagon publication addresses Joint Interdiction (Joint Publication 3-03, Joint Chiefs of […]
The conflict in South Sudan is one of four in the world — along with those in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen — that are classified by the United Nations as humanitarian emergencies of the highest order (Level 3), a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service points out. “U.N. officials estimate that at least […]
Organizations give out awards not only in order to recognize individual excellence, but also to advance and reinforce values prized by their sponsors. So it is both telling and somewhat unexpected that the U.S. intelligence community is creating a new award for certain kinds of dissidents and whistleblowers. “The intelligence community has […] committed to […]
The fact that a now-retired nuclear weapon was once located at a now-closed location in the United States shall no longer be considered classified information, the Department of Defense announced last week. This may seem so trivial and insignificant as to be hardly worth deciding or announcing, but it could have positive practical consequences for […]
After a 5 year review process, the Drug Enforcement Agency decided to reject a petition to reduce or eliminate legal controls on marijuana. However, it agreed to authorize increased legal cultivation of marijuana for research purposes. The current state of affairs was summarized by the Congressional Research Service in DEA Will Not Reschedule Marijuana, But […]
CBS’s 60 Minutes program Risk of Nuclear Attack Rises described that Russia may be lowering the threshold for when it would use nuclear weapons, and showed how U.S. nuclear bombers have started flying missions they haven’t flown since the Cold War.