The legal and constitutional framework for military operations, intelligence collection and other national security activities is explored in depth in the new edition of “National Security Law,” the preeminent casebook on <the subject for law students. It presents concise treatments of dozens of topics — from secrecy to rendition and interrogation — with case studies […]
Click on image to download document. . By Nickolas Roth, Hans M. Kristensen and Stephen Young Note: This is the first of four posts analyzing the FY 2012 Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan, each jointly produced by the Federation of American Scientists and Union of Concerned Scientists. See the other posts here: 2, 3, 4. A […]
A draft resolution (pdf) prepared for the inter-parliamentary Council of Europe bluntly criticized the “cult of secrecy” in the United States and other nations and it praised the role of whistleblowers in helping to challenge the abuse of secrecy authority. “In some countries, in particular the United States, the notion of state secrecy is used […]
Stewart Nozette, a space scientist who was deeply involved in many of the nation’s most highly classified technology programs, pleaded guilty to attempted espionage for providing classified information to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. According to a “factual proffer” (pdf) presented by the government in court yesterday, “The defendant [Nozette] […]
The House Intelligence Committee issued its report on the FY2012 intelligence authorization act on September 2, and the bill is expected to go to the House floor on September 9. The White House issued a veto threat against the bill yesterday based on its opposition to two provisions: a requirement to produce State Department cables […]
Prosecutors in the case of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who is suspected of leaking classified information to author and New York Times reporter James Risen, last week renewed their request (pdf) for a subpoena to compel Risen to testify at Sterling’s upcoming trial. A July 29 court order, issued by Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, […]
The latest annual report on secrecy (pdf) from the pro-transparency coalition Openthegovernment.org finds some positive signs of increasing openness amidst a continuing expansion of secret government. “We are not as yet at the level of ‘unprecedented transparency’ the Obama Administration promises, but we are beginning to see signs that at least some of the Administration’s […]
Most people can vaguely recall that there was once no U.S. Department of Homeland Security and that there was a time when you didn’t have to take your shoes off before boarding an airplane or submit to other dubious security practices. But hardly anyone truly comprehends the enormous expansion of the military, intelligence and homeland […]
Last month Sandia National Laboratories published an unlikely account of the thought of C.S. Peirce (1839-1914), the American pragmatist philosopher. See “Peirce, Pragmatism, and the Right Way of Thinking” (pdf) by Philip L. Campbell of the Sandia Networked Systems Survivability and Assurance Department, Sandia Report SAND2011-5583, August 2011. What is the connection between Peirce’s philosophy […]
By Igor Khripunov According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), nuclear security culture is “the assembly of characteristics, attitudes and behavior of individuals, organizations and institutions which serves as a means to support and enhance nuclear security.”[1] The concept of security culture emerged much later than nuclear safety culture, which was triggered by human […]
Prosecutors in the case of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who is accused of leaking classified information to author James Risen, have asked a federal court to reconsider (pdf) the July 29 ruling that narrowly limited Risen’s obligation to testify at the trial of Mr. Sterling. (“Reporter Risen Will Not Have to Identify Source in […]
The Department of Justice refused this month to declassify a 2001 legal Office of Legal Counsel opinion by John C. Yoo concerning the legality of the Bush Administration’s warrantless surveillance program. The redacted information in the OLC opinion “is classified, covered by non-disclosure provisions contained in other federal statutes, and is protected by the deliberative […]