“The President is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations,” according to a statement made in 1800 by John Marshall. This so-called “sole organ” doctrine has frequently been invoked by the executive branch “to define presidential power broadly in foreign relations and national security, including […]
China has test launched a DF-31 long-range ballistic missile, according to a report by the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. The missile was said to have been launched from the Wuzhai launch site on Monday night. The DF-31 has been under development since the 1980s and Monday’s flight test appears to be the sixth flight test […]
A landmark 1953 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which affirmed the government’s use of the “state secrets” privilege to withhold information is the focus of a new book called “In the Name of National Security” by constitutional scholar Louis Fisher. The 1953 case, United States v. Reynolds, revolved around a request by three widows for access […]
By most available measures, official secrecy continued to expand last year, according to a new “Secrecy Report Card” issued by the coalition OpenTheGovernment.org. “Every administration wants to control information about its policies and practices,” observed coalition director Patrice McDermott, “but the current administration has restricted access to information about our government and its policies at […]
Detailed information on U.S. Navy policy regarding declassification of 25 year old documents is presented in a new Navy Instruction. Along with policy and procedures, the document provides an extensive listing of Navy programs and systems that may be subject to declassification. The Instruction is marked For Official Use Only. A copy was obtained by […]
“Engaging the People’s Republic of China in a dialogue is perhaps the most dramatic and far reaching decision undertaken by the Nixon administration,” as noted in a new volume of the U.S. State Department’s official Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series devoted to that topic. A 1972 NSC memorandum for Henry Kissinger published […]
“The emergence of China as a major economic superpower has raised concern among many U.S. policymakers,” according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “Some express concern that China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest trade economy in a few years and as the world’s largest economy within the next […]
The National Security Agency has instructed all of its employees to “actively” watch for unauthorized disclosures of classified information in the press and online, and to report such disclosures to the authorities. “All NSA Components shall actively monitor media for the purpose of identifying unauthorized disclosures of classified NSA information,” a March 20 NSA directive […]
The policy infrastructure of U.S. intelligence community is defined by directives issued by the Director of National Intelligence on everything from security policy to roles and missions to relations with Congress. The new system of policy statements, known as Intelligence Community Directives (ICDs), is the successor to the former Director of Central Intelligence Directives (DCIDs). […]
Some notable recent reports of the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Extraterritorial Application of American Criminal Law,” updated August 11, 2006. “U.S. Nuclear Weapons: Changes in Policy and Force Structure,” updated August 10, 2006. “NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance,” August 22, 2006. “Radioactive Tank Waste from the Past […]
We recently received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security asking us to change the graphics on our website ReallyReady.org because they believe we have infringed on their “intellectual property” because we used logos and graphics that were similar to those used on their site, which was, of course, part of the point. Today […]
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) can be used to monitor U.S. persons who engage in unlawful collection of classified or controlled information even if they are not acting on behalf of a foreign power. That is the upshot of an August 14 ruling (pdf) disclosed last week in the case of two former officials […]