Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Enlargement Issues at NATO’s Bucharest Summit,” March 12, 2008. “The NATO Summit at Bucharest, 2008,” March 24, 2008. “Selected Federal Homeland Security Assistance Programs: A Summary,” updated January 31, 2008. “Selected Laws Governing the Disclosure of Customer Phone Records by Telecommunications Carriers,” […]
[NOTE: The Federation of American Scientists is delighted to have a Scoville Fellow this year, Ms. Katarzyna (Kasia) Bzdak. Kasia reads the Polish language press and, in particular, follows the ongoing political debate about the US missile defense deployment in Poland. This is her second blog entry on the subject; the first was written before […]
Updated below In a memorable TV interview with former Secretary of State James Baker, prankster “Ali G” (Sasha Baron Cohen) wondered about the possibility of confusing “Iran” and “Iraq.” “Do you think it would be a good idea if one of them changed their name to make it very different sounding from the other one?” […]
Close examination of several recent volumes of the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series has turned up errors and questionable editorial judgments. The record of conversations between Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai and Henry Kissinger that was published in FRUS last month failed to include what is arguably among the more […]
The Homeland Security Council (HSC), a White House agency that advises the President on homeland security policy, has become one of the darkest corners of the U.S. Government. The Council was established by President Bush shortly after September 11, 2001 and it was chartered as an agency within the Executive Office of the President in […]
Legislation pending in the Russian Duma [parliament] would impose new Russian government controls on online content, according to an analysis of Russian news reports from the DNI Open Source Center. Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the Duma, was quoted as saying: “We know that the Internet is all too often used as an instrument for destabilization […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Satellite Surveillance: Domestic Issues,” March 21, 2008. “The Next Generation Bomber: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress,” March 7, 2008. “U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India: Issues for Congress,” updated February 12, […]
The U.S. State Department last month published four new volumes of its official Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, documenting the foreign relations of the Nixon Administration: “European Security” “Germany, 1969-1972” “Eastern Europe” “China, 1973-1976” Inevitably, it seems, the occasional error creeps in. Document 13 of the China volume transcribes a February 18, […]
The authority of a military commander to arrest and detain U.S. civilians suspected of committing a crime outside of the United States and within that commander’s area of responsibility is detailed in a recent memorandum (pdf) from Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. “There is a particular need for clarity regarding the legal framework that […]
The functions and responsibilities of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) are detailed in a 27-page directive (pdf) that has been newly re-issued by the Department of Defense. “DIA shall satisfy the military and military-related intelligence requirements of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the DNI, […]
A whimsical collection of patches, emblems and insignia associated with classified Department of Defense programs has recently been published in a book by experimental geographer Trevor Paglen. “Readers of this book will find a collection of images that are fragmentary, torn out of context, inconclusive, enigmatic, unreliable, quixotic, and deceptive,” the author warns. “Readers will […]
The Columbian military recently raided FARC camps just across their borders. The Columbians confiscated lap top computers containing emails between the FARC and dealers offering to sell them explosives, which the emails suggested included uranium that the dealer was willing to sell for about one million dollars a pound. The press has several times bit […]