Welcome to this latest FAS experiment in blogging. We hope it will provide you with some insight into our activities and offer us another channel for presenting our work and our observations on strategic security and everything that entails, which is… a lot. I’m Steven Aftergood, and I focus on secrecy and intelligence policy. The […]
Welcome to the inauguration of the Federation of American Scientists’ Web Log on national security issues. We are very excited about this new blog. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was founded by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs. The birth of the atomic bomb was, or course, […]
The Royal Canadian Military Institute (RCMI) has published an article by FAS’s director of the Nuclear Information Project about how U.S. nuclear planners are preparing for the failure of deterrence by putting new strike plans into operation onboard long-range bombers and strategic submarines. This includes options to strike preemptively with nuclear weapons, if adversaries make […]
Sixteen members of Congress have asked President George W. Bush to intervene in the Pentagon’s revision of Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations. In a joint letter published by Representative Ellen Tauscher’s office, the lawmakers object to language that appears to broaden the role of U.S. nuclear weapons. The letter follows my critique of the doctrine […]
On November 18, 2005, U.S. Strategic Command’s new Space a Global Strike command achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The new command, is tasked with implementing the new Global Strike mission assigned to STRATCOM in 2003. This includes CONPLAN 8022, a new strike plan that includes preemptive nuclear strike against weapons of mass destruction facilities anywhere in
During an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel on October 31, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested that it is European governments, not the United States, that are responsible for the lingering deployment of U.S. nuclear bombs in Europe. Rather than defending the mission of the weapons, Rumsfeld said: “Some European countries in Europe made the decision to allow them
This report examines the threat of nuclear terrorism and the possibility of terrorist groupsobtaining weapons-usable fissile materials to create a nuclear device.
This report examines all the missions proposed for U.S. nuclear weapons and finds conventional weapons are better in most cases. The report calls for reducing and restructuring the United States’ and Russia’s nuclear forces and giving up the push for a new generation of nuclear weapons including “bunker busters.”
America’s institutions for providing science advice are in “crisis.” This report discusses steps that Congress, the executive branch, outside scientific groups and individuals can take to help solve the problem.
This report analyzes eight threats to U.S. space assets and examines alternatives to weaponization and future policy recommendations.
This study looked at how the OAS Treaty has worked to date and how U.S. ratification and full participation will help stem the illicit traffic in small arms.