At a Senate hearing on the foreign aid budget on Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice underscored the importance of “…deny[ing] terrorists access to the world’s most dangerous weapons, including conventional weapons like MANPADS,” and pointed to funding increases in the President’s FY07 budget for State Department programs that “help countries counter the proliferation of […]
Must the President of the United States obey the law? Ordinarily, the answer of course is yes, unless the law itself is unconstitutional. It is “uncontroversial,” wrote then-Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger in a 1994 memorandum for the Clinton White House, that “there are circumstances in which the President may appropriately decline to enforce a […]
The People’s Republic of China is making significant strides in science and technology areas related to national security and commercial enterprise, according to a new “bibliometric” study of Chinese scientific publications (pdf) performed by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research. “China’s output of research articles has expanded dramatically in the last decade. In terms […]
The activities of Pakistan’s notorious Abdul Qadeer Khan in proliferating nuclear weapons technology are examined in detail in a recent Master’s Thesis, along with an analysis of their enabling conditions and some of their larger implications. “The A. Q. Khan nuclear supplier network constitutes the most severe loss of control over nuclear technology ever,” wrote […]
Some notable new (or newly acquired) publications of the Congressional Research Service include the following. “North Korean Counterfeiting of U.S. Currency” (pdf), March 22, 2006. “Science and Technology Policy: Issues for the 109th Congress” (pdf), updated February 3, 2006. “The Jackson-Vanik Amendment: A Survey” (pdf), updated August 1, 2005.
Will the New Triad of nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities reduce or increase the role of U.S. nuclear weapons? To get an answer to that question I went to a hearing the Senate Armed Services Committee held earlier today on the Pentagon’s new Global Strike mission. But instead of giving a clear answer, the Pentagon muddled […]
The prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for allegedly receiving and communicating classified information without authorization poses novel legal issues, the presiding judge in the case said last week. “We are a bit in new, uncharted waters, and that’s why I’m going to consider this matter extremely carefully,” […]
Some recent reports of the Congressional Research Service on Middle East-related topics include the following. “Israel: Background and Relations with the United States,” updated March 16, 2006. “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: Overview of Internal and External Challenges,” updated March 9, 2006. “Iraq: Elections, Government, and Constitution,” updated March 13, 2006. “Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts […]
The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a hearing on Wednesday, March 29th, on the Pentagon’s new offensive Global Strike mission. The Committee has asked the following officials to testify: * Peter C. W. Flory, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy * General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command * […]
National security letters are investigative tools used in foreign intelligence investigations to compel the disclosure of certain transactional information such as financial records and communications data. NSLs have become controversial due to their increasing use by government agencies (primarily the FBI), and because of the non-disclosure requirements and the limited judicial oversight involved in their […]
Some more notable new reports from the Congressional Research Service are the following. “Material Support of Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Sunset Amendments in Brief,” updated March 17, 2006. “Tactical Aircraft Modernization: Issues for Congress,” updated March 16, 2006. “Syria: U.S. Relations and Bilateral Issues,” updated March 13, 2006. “AIDS in Africa,” updated March 9, […]
The U.S. Army has issued a new manual (large pdf) on unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which are increasingly used in a wide spectrum of reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting missions. UAS include what were formerly referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), plus their payloads and support systems. The new Army manual includes fresh information on […]