For reasons that are hard to comprehend, Congress for many years has directed the Congressional Research Service not to make its products directly available to the public. CRS reports naturally vary in quality, originality and breadth of focus. But as a class of documents, they are both interesting and useful. Along with impartial treatments of […]
Editor’s Note: This is the second of two postings of a Q&A conducted primarily by the Federation of American Scientists regarding the current situation on the Korean Peninsula. Developed and edited by Charles P. Blair, Mark Jansson, and Devin H. Ellis, the authors’ responses have not been edited; all views expressed by these subject-matter experts are their own. Please note […]
Negotiating a treaty to reduce nuclear weapons is so cumbersome and fraught with political minefields that it can actually retard the process of disarmament. “It usually takes far longer to reduce nuclear forces through a bilateral arms control treaty than it takes to adopt unilateral adjustments to nuclear forces,” according to a new report from […]
The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 has been used for more than half a century to restrict disclosure of patent applications that could be “detrimental to national security.” At the end of the last fiscal year, no fewer than 5,321 secrecy orders were in effect. These secrecy orders have been difficult to penetrate and the […]
The latest issue of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy has just been published. Titles of likely interest include Free Speech Aboard the Leaky Ship of State: Calibrating First Amendment Protections for Leakers of Classified Information by Heidi Kitrosser, and Unknotting the Tangled Threads of Watergate Lore, a review of Max Holland’s book […]
In last Friday’s Federal Register the Department of Defense published a final rule on Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies. The rule specifies and defines the support that DoD may provide to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, “including responses to civil disturbances.” “The President is authorized by the Constitution and laws of […]
Researchers from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) asked seven individuals who are experts in East Asia about the the recent escalation in tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Is North Korea serious about their threats and are we on the brink of war? What influence does China exert over DPRK, and what influence is China wiling to exert over the DPRK? How does the increase in tension affect South Korean President Park Guen-he’s political agenda?
This is the first part of the Q&A featuring Dr. Ted Galen Carpenter, Dr. Balbina Hwang, Ms. Duyeon Kim and Dr. Leon Sigal.
The number of people who are cleared for access to classified information continued to rise in 2012 to more than 4.9 million, according to a new annual report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This is only the third official tally of government-wide security clearance activity ever prepared, and it is the […]
Some lightly updated reports produced lately by the Congressional Research Service include the following. Direct Overt U.S. Aid Appropriations for and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2014, April 11, 2013 Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: Oversight Options for Congress, April 10, 2013 Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions, April 10, 2013 Navy Ship Names: Background […]
The U.S. Air Force plans to spend more than $1 billion on developing a guided tailkit to increase the accuracy of the B61 nuclear bomb. The cost is detailed (to some extent) in the Air Force’s budget request for FY2014, which shows development and engineering through FY2014 and full-scaled production starting in FY2015. The annual […]
Some $4 billion is being cut from the National Intelligence Program this year as a result of sequestration, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee at a hearing today. He said that the consequences will be severe. Acquisition programs will be “wounded,” ongoing programs will have to be curtailed, and the […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Foreign Ownership of U.S. Financial Assets: Implications of a Withdrawal, April 8, 2013 Foreign Investment and National Security: Economic Considerations, April 4, 2013 Financial Market Supervision: Canada’s Perspective, April 4, 2013 The European Union: Foreign and Security Policy, April 8, 2013 The Berne […]