Secret intelligence agency budget information was abundantly detailed in the Washington Post yesterday based on Top Secret budget documents released by Edward Snowden. See “U.S. spy network’s successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary” by Barton Gellman and Greg Miller, Washington Post, August 29. The newly disclosed information includes individual agency budgets along […]
A comprehensive overview of the still-not-fully explained decline of honeybee and other bee populations is presented in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “To date, the precise reasons for bee colony losses are not yet known. Reasons cited for bee declines include a wide range of possible factors thought to be affecting pollinator […]
By Hans M. Kristensen Only a few years before U.S. nuclear bombs deployed at Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands are scheduled to be airlifted back to the United States and replaced with an improved bomb with greater accuracy, the U.S. and Dutch governments are in a dispute over how to deal with the environmental […]
The subject of offensive cyber action by the U.S. government was classified for many years and was hardly discussed in public at all. Then several years ago the possibility of U.S. cyber offense was formally acknowledged, though it was mostly discussed in the conditional mood, as a capability that might be developed and employed under […]
The Department of Homeland Security “is streamlining classification guidance and more clearly identifying categories of what can be released and what needs to remain classified,” according to a new report from the DHS Inspector General. The Reducing Over-classification Act of 2010 required the Inspector General at each executive branch agency that classifies information to evaluate […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from broad public distribution include the following. Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports, August 22, 2013 Defense Surplus Equipment Disposal: Background Information, August 22, 2013 Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights, August 22, 2013 The United Arab Emirates […]
Mental health problems in the military are on the rise and pose a growing challenge to active duty forces, the Congressional Research Service said in a major new report on the subject. “Between 2001 and 2011, the rate of mental health diagnoses among active duty servicemembers increased approximately 65%. A total of 936,283 servicemembers, or […]
“Modern combat is chaotic, intense, and shockingly destructive. In your first battle, you will experience the confusing and often terrifying sights, sounds, smells, and dangers of the battlefield–but you must learn to survive and win despite them…. You must keep faith with your fellow Soldiers, remember your training, and do your duty to the best […]
Speech by Hans M. KristensenDirector, Nuclear Information ProjectFederation of American ScientistsTo the Deterrence and Assurance Working GroupUSAF Global Strike CommandBarksdale Air Force Base, LouisianaMay 7, 2013 Editor’s Note: The following remarks were presented to the Deterrence and Assurance Working Group at USAF Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on May 7, 2013. […]
As the United States remains on a path towards continued reductions of nuclear weapons in concert with Russia, there is a likelihood that future arms control initiatives may include individual warheads – strategic and tactical, deployed and non-deployed. Verification of such an agreement could prove to be challenging and costly under an inspection-oriented regime such as […]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto once said, “If India builds the bomb, Pakistan will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get our own.”1 Today, Pakistan has had the bomb for more than 13 years2, yet according to expert estimates the Pakistanis are building nuclear weapons faster than anyone else in the world.3 Meanwhile, […]
Editor’s Note: The following text was prepared by Dr. Norris for a presentation at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s 2013 Summer Institute on the International History of Nuclear Weapons (SHARF) in Washington, DC. The primary goal of my presentation today is to reconstruct the nuclear order of battle of the Cold War, to see how nuclear […]