B-61 12 bomb contract signed, new CRS reports, and much more. From the Blogs Classification Decisions are Reviewable by Courts, Gov’t Admits: Executive branch decisions to classify national security information are subject to judicial review in Freedom of Information Act cases, government attorneys acknowledged in a brief filed on November 27. That potentially explosive question [...]
New report on Iran, debate on defense spending, modernization of the B61, and much more. New Report: “Sanctions, Military Strikes and Other Potential Actions Against Iran: Anticipating Impacts on the Global Economy” The escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program has triggered much debate about what actions should be [...]
Policy recommendations to the Obama administration, conflict with Iran and much more. FAS Symposium on Catastrophic Threats and Awards Ceremony Only three days after the national election, FAS hosted a day-long symposium that featured distinguished speakers and recommendations to the Obama administration on how best to respond to catastrophic threats to national security at the [...]
Syria’s chemical weapons, plea in Kiriakou case, Cuban Missile Crisis order of battle and much more. Up for Debate: Syria’s Chemical Weapons A 2011 unclassified report to Congress said Syria’s chemical weapons “can be delivered by aerial bombs, ballistic missiles, and artillery rockets.” The U.S. has monitored closely these stockpiles as the Syrian civil [...]
50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, radioactive waste cleanup and much more. 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis October marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when the United States and the Soviet Union almost went to nuclear war. In 2012, with threats from North Korea, Iran, and terrorist [...]
NATO and nuclear transparency, Obama directive on intelligence whistleblowers and much more. From the Blogs Obama Issues Directive on Intelligence Community Whistleblowers: On October 10, President Obama issued Presidential Policy Directive 19 on “Protecting Whistleblowers with Access to Classified Information.” The directive generally prohibits official reprisals against an intelligence community employee who makes a “protected [...]
New START data, Supreme Court ruling on FISA, India’s SSBN and much more. From the Blogs Fusion Centers Flayed in Senate Report: Steven Aftergood writes that the state and local fusion centers supported by the Department of Homeland Security have produced little intelligence of value and have generated new concerns involving waste and abuse, according [...]
U.S.-NZ relations, new DNI directives, declassification at Department of Energy and much more. From the Blogs In 1962, Kennedy was Urged to Take “Drastic Action” Against Leakers: Fifty years ago, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) urged President John F. Kennedy to take “drastic action” against whoever had leaked classified intelligence information to a [...]
Nonstrategic nuclear weapons, surveillance of journalists, building a new foundation with Yemen and much more. From the Blogs Declassification Declassified- PRC and the W88 Warhead: In 2006, the Department of Energy formally declassified the already widely publicized fact “That the People’s Republic of China obtained some Restricted Data information on the W88 [nuclear] warhead, and [...]
Summer issue of the PIR, nuclear energy debate, legality of targeted killing of terrorists and much more. Up for Debate: Nuclear Energy in the United States The U.S. nuclear power industry currently generates about 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. While nuclear plants generate more than half the electricity in six states, the nuclear power [...]