Publication Archive

President’s Message: The Nuclear Guns of August by Charles D. Ferguson Today, the United States and other nuclear-armed states are not addressing the harder alternative of whether nuclear weapons provide for real security. The harder alternative, I argue, is to work toward elimination of these weapons at the same time as the security concerns of […]

The Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II was among the most highly classified and tightly secured programs ever undertaken by the U.S. government. Nevertheless, it generated more than 1,500 leak investigations involving unauthorized disclosures of classified Project information. That remarkable fact is noted in the latest declassified volume of […]

The threat of domestic terrorism is receiving greater attention at the Department of Justice with the reestablishment in June of the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, the Congressional Research Service noted last week. “The reestablishment suggests that officials are raising the profile of domestic terrorism as an issue within DOJ after more than a decade of […]

It is currently U.S. policy to deploy missile defenses that are “proven, cost-effective, and adaptable.” As outlined in the 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense Review, proven means “extensive testing and assessment,” or “fly before you buy.” Adaptive means that defenses can respond to unexpected threats by being rapidly relocated or “surged to a region,” and by being easily integrated into existing […]

The plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the use of the “no fly list” to bar a US citizen from boarding an aircraft said last week that he would introduce a leaked copy of the government’s Watchlisting Guidance “to show just how objectionable and evidence-free Defendants’ watch listing process is.” The government said it did not […]

A critical assessment of the feasibility of reaching the Department of Defense’s goal of producing 80 plutonium pits (or triggers) for nuclear weapons was prepared by the Congressional Research Service. It provides new analysis of the space and material requirements needed to achieve the declared goal. See Manufacturing Nuclear Weapon “Pits”: A Decisionmaking Approach for […]

Nearly two years after President Obama issued a National Insider Threat Policy “to strengthen the protection and safeguarding of classified information” against espionage or unauthorized disclosure, the effort is still at an early stage of development. Only last week, the U.S. Air Force finally issued a directive to implement the 2012 Obama policy. (AF Instruction […]

New products from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Safe at Home? Letting Ebola-Stricken Americans Return, CRS Insights, August 5, 2014: 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: Evolution of Strategic Review, CRS Insights, August 6, 2014 Reducing the Budget Deficit: Overview of Policy Issues, August 7, 2014 […]

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) would direct the President to reduce the amount of classified information by 10%. It is one of several new congressional initiatives seeking to rectify perceived defects in the national security classification system. Most prominently, the Senate Intelligence Committee is engaged in an […]

New products from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Asylum Policies for Unaccompanied Children Compared with Expedited Removal Policies for Unauthorized Adults: In Brief, July 30, 2014 EPA’s Proposed CO2 Rule for Existing Power Plants: How Would It Affect Nuclear Energy?, CRS Insights, August 4, 2014 […]