The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that led to the signing of the SALT I Treaty in 1972 were documented in exhaustive detail in the latest volume of the official State Department publication Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). The new FRUS volume (pdf), which is more than […]
“More and more prosecutions” under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act may be expected, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer last month. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is intended to prevent and punish bribery of foreign officials by U.S. firms. “The executive branch appears to have increased oversight of suspected American businesses for alleged violations,” […]
The White House today issued an executive order to establish a uniform policy for handling “controlled unclassified information” (CUI), which is information that is restricted from disclosure because it involves personal privacy, proprietary data, law enforcement investigations, or for certain other reasons besides national security. The new CUI framework will replace the multiplicity of agency […]
The U.S. Army has published its 2011 Weapon Systems handbook, a catalog of current weapon programs that are in various phases of the acquisition process. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News. Many of the programs are mature and familiar; others are less so. In each case, the program’s purpose and status are described, contractors […]
In advance of President Obama’s visit to India this weekend, the Congressional Research Service has prepared an updated assessment of “India-U.S. Relations” (pdf), dated October 27, 2010.
Now that regular publication of the intelligence budget total has been accepted as the new norm, it is becoming possible to dismantle the related structures of budget secrecy that no longer serve any purpose. In particular, the prospect of establishing a stand-alone intelligence budget that is independent of the budget of the Department of Defense […]
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews government applications for domestic intelligence surveillance, issued new rules (pdf) on Monday to govern its proceedings. The new rules differ only slightly from the draft rules (pdf) that were issued for public comment in late August (“FISA Court Proposes New Court Rules,” Secrecy News, September 2, 2010). In […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Piracy: A Legal Definition,” October 19, 2010. “Proliferation Control Regimes: Background and Status,” October 18, 2010. “Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress,” October 15, 2010. “Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. 924(e)): An Overview,” October 13, 2010. […]
With last week’s disclosure of the total intelligence budget for 2010, including budget figures for the National Intelligence Program ($53.1 billion) and the Military Intelligence Program ($27 billion), the Obama Administration has provided a new degree of transparency on intelligence spending. The National Intelligence Program (NIP) budget total has previously been disclosed each year since […]
The disclosure of the total annual amount of intelligence spending may be seen as the culmination of decades of advocacy and activism. Budget disclosure will help to normalize the intelligence function of government, to promote a new degree of public accountability, and to combat the obfuscation and mystification of intelligence. The move also goes a […]
Last week, on the same day that the 2010 intelligence budget totals were revealed, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence also released another previously undisclosed intelligence budget figure — the 2006 budget appropriation for the National Intelligence Program. “The aggregate amount appropriated to the NIP for fiscal year 2006 was $40.9 Billion,” wrote […]
by Ivanka Barzashka and Ivan Oelrich A year ago, France, Russia and the U.S.—called the Vienna Group—proposed a deal in which Iran would ship out some of its worrying low-enriched uranium (LEU) in exchange for fuel for its medical isotope reactor, called the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). These narrow technical discussions about the TRR were […]