New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Privilege Against Self-Incrimination Supplements Journalist Privilege, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 20, 2015 Supreme Court Appointment Process: President’s Selection of a Nominee, October 19, 2015 Supreme Court Appointment Process: Consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee, October 19, 2015 Supreme Court Appointment Process: Senate Debate […]
By Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris In our latest FAS Nuclear Notebook we estimate that Pakistan now has 110-130 warheads in its nuclear arsenal. This is an increase of about 20 warheads from the 90-110-warhead level we estimated in our previous Pakistani Notebook in 2011. The Notebook is published as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz […]
By Hans M. Kristensen [Updated January 26, 2016] In an op-ed in the Washington Post, William Perry and Andy Weber last week called for canceling the Air Force’s new nuclear air-launched cruise missile. The op-ed challenged what many see as an important component of the modernization of the U.S. nuclear triad of strategic weapons and […]
The United States has used its armed forces hundreds of times in conflicts abroad, even though it has only engaged in eleven declared wars throughout its history. A newly updated tabulation of U.S. military actions has been prepared by the Congressional Research Service, up to and including the October 14, 2015 deployment of 90 U.S. […]
Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed aspects of Israel’s nuclear weapons program to the press three decades ago and served a lengthy prison term as a result, is again entangled with Israeli legal authorities over the contents of a recent TV interview. See “Nuclear Whistle-blower Vanunu Arrested Over Channel 2 Interview,” Haaretz, September 10. Vanunu should be […]
Updated below The Government Accountability Office this week quietly published a list of titles of its restricted reports that have not been publicly released because they contain classified information or controlled unclassified information. A new link to “Restricted Products” appears at the bottom of the GAO homepage (under Reports & Testimonies). “This list is intended […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. The Internet of Things: Frequently Asked Questions, October 13, 2015 Colombian Peace Talks Breakthrough: A Possible End-Game?, CRS Insight, October 13, 2015 Officers May Be Liable for Assuming an Automatic Hot Pursuit No Knock Exception, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 15, 2015 Sentence Reform […]
Imagine thousands and potentially millions of scientists committed to making the world safer and more secure. This was the vision of the dedicated group of “atomic scientists” who founded the Federation of Atomic Scientists (the original FAS) in November 1945. As we will soon reach the 70th anniversary, let’s reflect on the meaning of FAS […]
The majority of all nuclear experts and diplomats, as well as aspiring nuclear and policy students, must have their eyes set on North Korea’s slowly but steadily expanding nuclear weapons program, as well as the recent updates on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. North Korea has disregarded all issued warnings to […]
In the previous issue of the Public Interest Report (Spring 2015), Dr. Charles Ferguson’s President’s Message focused on the importance of empathy in science and security engagements. This was a most welcome surprise, as concepts such as empathy do not typically make it to the pages of technical scientific publications. Yet the social and behavioral sciences […]
Roadside bombs were devastating to American troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The press has categorized the moment prior to such an explosion as “left of boom,” and that following the explosion as “right of boom.” Defense Department analyst, Benjamin E. Schwartz, has chosen to title his book about nuclear terrorism, Right of Boom. While capturing […]
General George C. Marshall and the Atomic Bomb (Praeger, 2016) provides the first full narrative describing General Marshall’s crucial role in the first decade of nuclear weapons that included the Manhattan Project, the use of the atomic bomb on Japan, and their management during the early years of the Cold War. Marshall is best known today […]