Dr. Donald Glaser, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who served as a member of FAS’s Board of Sponsors for many years, passed away last week at the age of 86. Glaser was the inventor of the bubble chamber, which allowed researchers to trace the paths of subatomic particles, which allowed for scientists to further discover that [...]
Senator Sam Nunn has often underscored that humanity is in “a race between cooperation and catastrophe.” As co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, he has urged greater and faster international action on reducing nuclear dangers. He has also joined with former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of Defense William Perry, and former Secretary [...]
The post President’s Message: Reducing Catastrophic Risks: Why FAS Matters appears in the Public Interest Report, the semiannual journal from FAS. The PIR brings together articles from writers both outside and inside FAS to engage the general public in the important issues FAS works on.
U.S. nuclear stockpile reductions, radiation and health, accessories for small arms and light weapons, and much more. From the Blogs Senators Ask Surveillance Court to Summarize Opinions: Several members of the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court this month to ask the Court to prepare summaries of classified opinions that represent [...]
Meteors and nukes, additional delays for B61-12, and much more. From the Blogs A New Judge for the FISA Court: Judge Claire V. Eagan of the Northern District of Oklahoma was appointed this month to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by the Chief Justice of the United States. The FIS Court authorizes electronic surveillance [...]
On December 12, 2012, North Korea finally succeeded in placing an object into low Earth orbit. Recovered debris of the launcher’s first stage verified some previous assumptions about the launch system, but it also included some surprises. Independent from the technical findings and their consequences, the public debate seems to miss some important points. Fundamental [...]
The post The Unha-3: Assessing the Successful North Korean Satellite Launch appears in the Public Interest Report, the semiannual journal from FAS. The PIR brings together articles from writers both outside and inside FAS to engage the general public in the important issues FAS works on.
De-alerting nuclear weapons, Army use of drones, North Korea’s test and much more. From the Blogs Army Use of Drones in U.S. is Constrained, Not Prohibited: There are significant barriers to the Army’s use of unmanned aerial systems within the United States, according to a new Army manual, but they are not prohibitive or categorical. [...]
Letter to Congress on B61 Bomb, DoD Special Access Programs and much more. From the Blogs Spotlight on DoD Special Access Programs: The procedures for establishing, managing and overseeing special access programs (SAPs) in the Department of Defense are spelled out in an updated DoD Instruction that was issued on February 6. A special access [...]
U.S. drone policy, new CRS reports and much more. From the Blogs Drone Programs Spark Budgetary, Privacy, Legal Concerns: The development of unmanned aerial systems (or drones) for military and civilian applications appears to be accelerating faster than the normal policy process can adapt to it. The use of drones in U.S. air space has [...]
Former CIA officer sentenced for leak, Pentagon relaxes censorship of Afghan war memoir and much more. From the Blogs ODNI Releases FY 2009 Budget Book (Redacted): The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a heavily redacted version of its Congressional Budget Justification Book for Fiscal Year 2009 in response to a request [...]
U.S. and North Korea relations, disposal of nuclear weapons components and much more. From the Blogs Strategy Lacking for Disposal of Nuclear Weapons Components: According to an internal Department of Energy contractor report, there is a “large inventory” of classified nuclear weapons components “scattered across” the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and awaiting disposal. But, there [...]