yemen

France’s nuclear forces, water security in Yemen, innovation in secrecy policy and much more.

From the Blogs

• Secret Satellite Promptly Detected in Orbit: On April 3, the National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched a classified intelligence satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base.  Notwithstanding the usual operations security measures, amateur satellite trackers were able to locate the satellite in orbit within a few hours and videotape its passage overhead.

• Technological Assessment at the Congressional Research Service: The elimination of the congressional Office of Technology Assessment in 1995 was a self-inflicted wound that left Congress with diminished capacity to evaluate the challenging scientific and technological issues that continue to confront it.  Steven Aftergood writes that the need for such an enterprise to support the legislative process has not gone away, and to a limited extent it is now being addressed by the Congressional Research Service (as well as the Government Accountability Office).

• A Closer Look at Water Security in Yemen: A few weeks ago, the State Department took advantage of World Water Day to announce the release of a National Intelligence Council report entitled “Water Security,” which assessed the possible effects of water shortages on U.S. national security over the next several decades. Mark Jansson investigates the relationship between water security and U.S. national security, and how the NIC report relates to Yemen’s current water challenges on the FAS in a Nutshell Blog.

• Pink Slime and More from CRS: Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such as STEM education funding at NSF, classified information in criminal trials, and U.S. oil imports and exports.

• Fermi Versus Some Guy from Podunk: In a new post on the ScienceWonk Blog, Dr. Y writes that the world is the way that it is and the job of science is to try to tease out the rules that describe its workings. No vote – no matter how overwhelmingly one-sided – will change the rules of nature. So why is it that a recent University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) survey showed that belief in science continues to dwindle in the United States?

• Institutionalizing Innovation in Secrecy Policy: Steven Aftergood writes that it is possible to imagine all kinds of changes in government secrecy policy that would make the secrecy system smaller, more efficient, more susceptible to error correction, and more attuned to shifting security requirements. But before any change could be adopted in practice, it would almost certainly need to be tested and validated for use, particularly if it involved a real departure from current procedures.

• A New Edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial: Last week, the Department of Defense published the 2012 edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM). The Manual contains the Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM), the Military Rules of Evidence (MRE), and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  The latest edition incorporates legislative amendments and other changes introduced since the previous edition was published in 2008.

Publications

• Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, wrote a chapter discussing France’s nuclear forces in a new publication by Reaching Critical Will, Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World.

​Volunteer Opportunity in DC

• FAS will have a booth at the 2nd Annual USA Science and Engineering Festival which will be held on April 28-29 in Washington, DC. We are looking for volunteers to staff our booth-come share your knowledge and career experiences with festival attendees! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Melanie Stegman at mstegman@fas.org. For more information on our booth and the festival, click here.

​FAS in the News

• Apr 13: National Public Radio, “The Case of an Accused Leaker: Politics or Justice?”
• Apr 12: Huffington Post, “The Deadly Folly of Nuclear Power Overhead”
• Apr 12: The Week, “Inside the Secret World of America’s Top Eavesdropping Spies”
• Apr 11: Federal Computer Week, “Digital Information May Strain GPO and Library System, CRS Says”
• Apr 10: GameSutra, “Video Games Are Good For You, Says High-Tech Parenting Expert”
• Apr 6: El Pais, “El fin del Mercader de la Muerte”

Letter to the Obama administration regarding nuclear budget, new podcast highlighting sustainable energy and water security, 2011 intelligence budget spending on the decline and  more.

From the Blogs

• Prospects Fade for a Separate Intelligence Budget: Steven Aftergood writes about the National Intelligence Program budget, which will mostly remain hidden in the Department of Defense budget for the foreseeable future; it will not be given a separate budget line item or a separate appropriation despite the efforts of budget reformers and intelligence community leaders.

• Intelligence Spending Declined in 2011: For the first time in more than a decade, the total U.S. intelligence budget declined in 2011, according to budget figures declassified and disclosed last week.

As they wrap up their meetings on the development of the International Science Partnership (ISP) between the U.S. and Yemen, Dr. Charles Ferguson and Lindsey Marburger share their perceptions on the future of the ISP, the needs of Yemen and the Yemeni scientific community, and areas for collaboration between American and Yemeni researchers. Click here to access this blog, found on the new Earth Systems blog.