Updated below Updated again below Updated a third time The Department of Justice said last week that it received dozens of “crimes reports” concerning unauthorized disclosures of classified information each year for most of the past several years, although only 18 such referrals were made in 2015. In a July 20 response to a Freedom […]
A longstanding conundrum surrounding efforts to negotiate reductions in nuclear arsenals is how to verify the physical destruction of nuclear warheads to the satisfaction of an opposing party without disclosing classified weapons design information. Now some potential new solutions to this challenge are emerging. Based on tests that were conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission […]
The Director of National Intelligence issued — and last week published — a pair of Intelligence Community Directives (here and here) that aim to improve the coordination of human intelligence collection for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes. The directives are intended “to ensure the deconfliction, coordination, and integration of intelligence activities,” including liaison with foreign […]
The headquarters complex of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation has expanded dramatically over the past decade, a review of open source imagery reveals. Since 2007, several large new buildings have been added to SVR headquarters, increasing its floor space by a factor of two or more. Nearby parking capacity appears to […]
The great Library of Alexandria was renowned in antiquity as a repository of all accessible knowledge that aimed “to collect, if possible, all the books in the world” (according to the 2nd century BCE Letter of Aristeas). Until its destruction, perhaps at the hands of Julius Caesar, the Library reflected and helped to generate a […]
The July 8-9 NATO summit meeting in Warsaw, Poland, is previewed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “Among other things, NATO leaders are expected to announce the rotational deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland and the three Baltic states, an expanded training mission for Iraqi soldiers, and additional NATO support for Afghanistan […]
By Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris China’s nuclear forces are limited compared with those of Russia and the United States. Nonetheless, its arsenal is slowly increasing both in numbers of warheads and delivery vehicles. In our latest FAS Nuclear Notebook on Chinese nuclear forces published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, we […]
President Obama signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Improvement Act of 2016 yesterday. The Act places a 25 year limit on the use of the deliberative process exemption, codifies a presumption of openness, and makes various procedural improvements in the FOIA. The Department of Justice summarized its understanding of the new law […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following. Slow Growth in the Current U.S. Economic Expansion, June 24, 2016 Economic Growth Slower Than Previous 10 Expansions, CRS Insight, June 30, 2016 The Economic Effects of Trade: Overview and Policy Challenges, June 29, 2016 Job Creation in the Manufacturing Revival, updated […]
The number of people with security clearances for access to classified information dropped in 2015 for the second year in a row, according to a new report to Congress from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The total number of security-cleared government employees and contractors decreased by 5.9 percent in FY 2015 down […]
The Miranda warning advising detained persons that they have the right to remain silent has counterparts in the legal systems of 108 countries or jurisdictions around the world. These were collected and described in a new staff study performed for the Law Library of Congress. “The warnings specified in the surveyed jurisdictions vary, but typically […]
Between 1973 and 2016, Members of Congress introduced resolutions of censure directed against federal officials on 59 occasions, according to the Congressional Research Service. Of those, 14 were filed against the Obama Administration. Such resolutions have little or no practical significance, though they may serve a limited political purpose. “The adoption of a simple or […]