On March 6, FAS President Dr. Charles Ferguson gave a presentation on “The Physics (and Politics) of Nuclear Disarmament” at the physics colloquium of the University of Illinois. This event was, in part, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the course Physics 280: Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear War, and Arms Control taught for 30 years by [...]
In the wake of revolution the U.S. must immediately engage with Egypt and Tunisia through S&T initiatives. The U.S. should: expedite student visas, fund additional scholarships, support dialogues between U.S and regional universities, and recommit existing S&T and education aid packages. S&T activities should be a key component of building better, more resilient relationships with [...]
US aid for Yemen goes predominantly to military and hard security projects. To confront the key sources of instability the U.S. must look beyond military assistance. Tier two engagement will be a critical component of this strategy, especially in looking at challenges to natural resource and human security. As Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [...]
• Yemen faces severe water shortages within the next decade • access to water resources is already a critical security matter in Yemen • to prevent large-scale resource conflict innovative water provision and management solutions are necessary Last week in Sana’a a British diplomatic convoy was attacked by Al Qaeda militants armed with an RPG. [...]
How do you make a highly fuel efficient car that looks cool, and appeals to the average consumer? If you are the X-Prize Foundation, you would have a competition offering a $5,000,000 prize for anyone who makes a really cool car that can also get 100 mpg and meets other requirements intended to push it [...]
Over the past three weeks in Sana’a, rain has fallen nearly every day. So much so that the primary drainage canal for the Old City (the Salia)—normally a roadway—has run with feet of water on multiple occasions. See the Salia running with water in this FAS Youtube video. It is an arid city, but [...]
9 August 2010 More than just a resource, water is the essential force for life. And in an arid region such as the Middle East, its scarcity forces water and those places with abundant water to take on near-mythical properties. Called Felix Arabia or Happy Arabia by the Romans, Yemen was long the breadbasket of [...]
6 August 2010 Welcome to Sana’a. To set the scene for the city, imagine eight inches of rain a year, falling on a city at 7000 feet with a population of 2 million, growing at over 5% per year. Add in a limited and sporadic electrical grid, a water-hungry cash crop (qat) that has replaced [...]
29 July 2010 The Earth Systems Program at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was developed to seek solutions to environment and resource security challenges by developing and promoting sustainable, scientifically sound, and transparent policies, practices, and technological developments. To meet this goal the Earth Systems Program works in the following areas: Transparency. Improve dialogue [...]