Friday's Miscellany 02-08-2008

American Enterprise Institute

• The Incidence of a U.S. Carbon Tax: A Lifetime and Regional Analysis
• Chicken Little Is Right: State of the U.S. military, and Its Equipment

Amnesty International

• Justice Failed in Kosovo
• Police Ill-Treatment Plagues Bosnia and Herzegovina

BASIC

• Iran Update, No. 113

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

• Lebanon’s Sunni Islamists: A Growing Force

CATO

• What to Do about Climate Change

Center for American Progress

• Issue Pulse: Waterboarding Is Torture
• The Surge Isn't Working: Pulse on Iraq

Center for Contemporary Conflict (CCC)
Strategic Insights (v. 7, no. 1, February 2008)

• Energy Security: Current and Future Strategic Challenges
  * Introduction: Special Edition on Energy Security by Friedrich Steinhäusler, James A. Russell, and Daniel Moran
  * The Militarization of Energy Security by Daniel Moran and James A. Russell
  * Security of Energy: The Conflict after Next? by David W. Hamon and Arnold C. Dupuy
  * Energy Security or a New Globalization of Conflicts? Oil and Gas in Evolving New Power Structures by Uwe Nerlich
  * The Middle East: Petroleum Supply Security or Political Stability? by Naji Abi-Aad
  · Supply Chain and Infrastructure Security
  * Security Risks to the Oil and Gas Industry: Terrorist Capabilities by Friedrich Steinhäusler, P. Furthner, W. Heidegger, S. Rydell, and L. Zaitseva
  * Integrated Security Concept for the Oil and Gas Industry by P. Furthner and Friedrich Steinhäusler
  * Scenario Development in Oil and Gas Management: “Envisioning the Future” by Means of Analytical Techniques by James David Ballard and Fred C. Dilger
  * Severe Accidents in the Oil Chain with Emphasis on Oil Spills by Peter Burgherr and S. Hirschberg
  * A Guideline: Using or Creating Incident Databases for Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines by Achim Hilgenstock
  * Gas Analytical Technologies for Physical Protection of Oil and Gas Objects by Vladimir Gruznov and M. Baldin
  * Gas Analyzing System Based on Semiconductor Sensors for Providing Safety of Oil and Gas Pipeline Operations by O. Tolbanov, O. Anisimov, V. Sachkov, G. Sakovich, Alexander Vorozhtsov, N. Eisenreich, and M. Krausa
  * Inline Inspection from an Operator’s Point of View by Thomas Huwener
  * Remote Detection of Leaks in Gas Pipelines with an Airborne Raman Lidar by Sergey M. Bobrovnikov, Ilia B. Serikov, Yuri F. Arshinov, G. Sakovich, Alexander Vorozhtsov, and N. Eisenreich
  * Emergency Shut-Down Valve for Gas Pipelines by Alexander Vorozhtsov, V. Arkhipov, and I. Plekhanov
  Viewpoints: Emerging Resource Conflict Zones
  * Resource Wars: Energy, Resource Conflict, and the Emerging World Order with Michael T. Klare
  * Cold Front Rising: As Climate Change Thins Polar Ice, a New Race for Arctic Resources Begins by Barry Zellen
  * The United Nations Africa Union Mission in Darfur—UNAMID by Glen Segell

Center for Defense Information

• FY 09 Air Force Space Budget: Modest Increase
• Defense Monitor: Special Issue: The World At War

Center for Security Policy

• Russia Extends a Helping Hand to Chavez
• A Teaching Moment: Saudi Arabia Funded al Qaeda Outside

Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA)

• FY 2009 Request Would Bring DoD Budget to Record (or Near-Record) Levels

Center for Strategic and International Studies

• The CNGR Final Report: The Best Shot for a Stronger, Sustainable Reserve Component
• Integrating 21st Century Development and Security Assistance
• Managing the Transition to a Secure, Low-Carbon Energy Future
• Why Georgia's Election Matters
• U.S. Policy Options for Strengthening Coordination between Global HIV/AIDS and TB Programs

Committee on the Present Danger

• Cracks in Iran's Economic Façade

Council on Foreign Relations

• The French Military in Africa
• Iraq, Afghanistan, and the U.S. Economy
• Leading Africa
• Pakistan’s New Generation of Terrorists
• Tellis: Pakistan’s Mixed Record on Anti-Terrorism
• Tensions Rise in Iraq’s Kurdish North

Department of the Interior Inspector General

• Assessment of the United States Park Police

Director of National Intelligence

• Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 5 February 2008.

EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)

• Is There an Albanian Question? [Chaillot Paper n°107]

Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)

• Bush, the Nudge-in-Chief

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

• Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on the Federal Protective Service's Efforts to Protect Federal Property, by Mark L. Goldstein, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
• Department of Homeland Security: Status and Accountability Challenges Associated with the Use of Special DHS Acquisition Authority, by John K. Needham, acting director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology, House Committee on Homeland Security
• The Department of Defense's Civilian Human Capital Strategic Plan Does Not Meet Most Statutory Requirements
• Immigration Benefits: Internal Controls for Adjudicating Humanitarian Parole Cases Are Generally Effective, but Some Can Be Strengthened.
• "Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today," by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, in Chandler, Arizona.
• "U.S. Financial Condition and Fiscal Future Briefing," by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, at the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.

Heritage Foundation

• Administration Makes Needed Reforms in the Arms Export Control Process
• The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves: Reforming the Reserve Component
• Northern Exposure: The Right Way to Address U.S.–Canadian Counterterrorism

Institute for Science and International Security

• ISIS Statement Regarding "A Shot in the Dark" in the February 11 Issue of the New Yorker, by Seymour Hersh
  ISIS Report on Iran: Iran Installing More Advanced Centrifuges at Natanz Pilot Enrichment Plant: Factsheet on the P-2/IR-2 Centrifuge

International Assistance and Strategy Center

• Bank Liability Under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Dispelling the ‘Routine Banking Services” Defense in Material Support Cases
• China's Emerging 5th Generation Air-to-Air Missiles

International Crisis Group

• Afghanistan: The Need for International Resolve
• Iraq’s Civil War, the Sadrists and the Surge

International Federation for Human Rights

• Surplus People? Undocumented and Other Vulnerable Migrants in South Africa

Lexington Institute

• Powering JSF: One Engine Is Enough
• 2009 Defense Budget: Key Patterns and Priorities

Project on Defense Alternatives

• Cul de Sac: 9/11 and the Paradox of American Power
• A Prisoner to Primacy: Dearth of New Thinking Regarding Security Policy

Project on National Security Reform

• Proceedings from a Conference on "Integrating Instruments of National Power in the New Security Environment

Rand

• Assessing the Impact of Revisions to the EU Horizontal Food Labelling Legislation
• Assessing the Impact of Revisions to the EU Nutrition Labelling Legislation
• Estimating the Benefits of the Air Force Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Initiative
• Guidelines and Metrics for Assessing Space System Cost Estimates
• Maintaining Military Medical Skills During Peacetime

Small Wars Journal

• COIN and Irregular Warfare in a Tribal Society

Stanley Foundation

• Arab Media and US Policy: A Public Diplomacy Reset
• Oil and Security
• Restructuring America's Ground Forces: Better, Not Bigger

Strategic Studies Institute

• Deterrence, Missile Defense, and Collateral Damage in the Iranian-Israeli Strategic Relationship
• Developing Strategic Leaders for the 21st Century

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

• Afghanistan Opium Winter Rapid Assessment

United States Commission on Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People (HELP)

• HELP Commission website
• Final report - Beyond Assistance: The HELP Commission Report on Foreign Assistance Reform

USAF Chief of Staff

• “The Nation’s Guardians—21st Century Air Force” White Paper

Washington Institute for Near East Policy

• Egypt Working to Contain Gaza
• Winograd Part II: Implications for U.S.-Israeli Relations

Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

• Iran Watch Roundtable: An Assessment of Europe's Leadership in Confronting the Iranian Nuclear Challenge

Afghanistan Study Group report

In case you didn't catch this one last week, the Afghanistan Study Group headed by Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and General James L. Jones has been released and is now available.

Entitled "Revitalizing Our Efforts, Rethinking Our Strategies" it is available directly at http://www.thepresidency.org/pubs/Afghan_Study_Group_final.pdf or as a link from the Center for the Study of the Presidency's Afghanistan Study Group website http://www.thepresidency.org/Leadership/afghan.html

ODNI - new standards on reporting of Suspicious Activity related to terrorism

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released
a set of standards for how local, state and federal law enforcement
agencies should share information about suspicious activity with
potential links to terrorism.

The Information Sharing Environment (ISE) Functional Standard (FS)
Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) ISE-FE-200 [version 1.0] is
available as a zipped file.

Friday's Miscellany 02-01-2008

American Enterprise Institute (AEI

• In Search of Moderate Muslims

Arms Control Association

• What Are Nuclear Weapons For? Recommendations for Restructuring U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces

Atlantic Council of the United States

• Saving Afghanistan: An Appeal and Plan for Urgent Action

BASIC

• Getting to Zero Update

Brookings Institution

• Building Capacity for Stabilization & Reconstruction
  
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Japan: Moving Together to Reshape the Eurasian Community

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

• India's Trade Policy Choices: Managing Diverse Challenges
• Pakistan and the War on Terror: Conflicted Goals, Compromised Performance

Center for a New American Security

• Solarium II Energy Security Strategy

Center for American Progress

• The Forgotten Front
• Iraq Benchmark Report Card: One Year After the Surge
• Playing Politics with Intelligence: Bush Puts Security at Risk
• Remembering the Forgotten War in Afghanistan

Center for Defense Information

• Fueling the Arms Race in the Middle East
• The State of Space Security

Center for Security Policy

• The State Department and Chavez
• Olmert: Grimmacing to Victory, Grinning to Defeat
• Chavez to Colombia: The FARC be With You

Center for Strategic and International Studies

• The Afghan-Pakistan War: Threat Developments
• Decoding Chinese Politics: Intellectual Debates and Why They Matter
• U.S. Air Force Bomber Modernization Plans: An Independent Assessment
• US-Turkish Relations: Another Honeymoon?

Center for the Study of the Presidency

• Afghanistan Study Group
• Afghanistan Study Group Report - Revitalizing Our Efforts Rethinking Our Strategies

Commission on the National Guard and Reserves

• Commission on the National Guard and Reserves website
• Transforming the National Guard and Reserves into a 21st Century Operational Force

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

• Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending
• Testimony on Growth in Health Care Costs

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

• China’s Yin, India’s Yang
• Domestic Spy War Intensifies
• Divisions Simmer Behind Iran’s Public Face
• In Last Lap, Bush Seeks Unity on Iraq
• Winograd Commission Final Report

Defense Science Board (DSB)

• Defense Science Board Task Force on Directed Energy Weapons
• Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication

Department of Homeland Security

• Privacy Impact Assessment for the ICE Pattern Analysis and Information Collection (ICEPIC)
• Privacy Impact Assessment for the Use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology for Border Crossings
• Report of the DHS National Small Vessel Security Summit

Department of Homeland Security. Inspector General

• Major Management Challenges Facing the Department of Homeland Security

Dept of the Army

• FM 3-21.75 - The Warrior Ethos and Soldier Combat Skills

EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)

• Peace in the Middle East: Is There a Way Forward?
• Pioneering Foreign Policy: The EU Special Representatives [Chaillot Paper n°106]
• Provoking an Agreement? The Hormuz Incident Revisited

Foreign Policy Research Institute

• Americanism vs. Islamism: A Personal Perspective

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

• Best Practices: Increased Focus on Requirements and Oversight Needed to Improve DOD's Acquisition Environment and Weapon System Quality
• Federal Oversight of Food Safety: FDA's Food Protection Plan Proposes Positive First Steps, but Capacity to Carry Them Out Is Critical, by Lisa R. Shames, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
• Global War on Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense
• Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: Action Is Needed to Avoid the Possibility of a Serious Economic Disruption in the Future, by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Senate Committee on the Budget.
• Military Readiness: Navy Is Making Progress Implementing Its Fleet Response Plan, But Has Not Fully Developed Goals, Measures, and Resource Needs
• "Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today," by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour in Tallahassee, Florida.

Heritage Foundation

• Congress Must Stop Playing Politics with FISA and National Security
• Congress Should Withhold Funding for Spendthrift U.N.
• A Second Look at Container Security: Lessons from Hong Kong
  
• The EU Reform Treaty: Why Washington Should Be Concerned
• Thwarting Terrorists While Protecting Innocents: The Material Support and Related Provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act

Homeland Security Institute (HSI)

• Homeland Security Strategic Planning: Mission Area Analysis
• Radicalization: An Overview and Annotated Bibliography of Open-Source Literature from the Homeland Security Institute
  
• Underlying Reasons for Success and Failure of Terrorist Attacks: Selected Case Studies
• Venture Capital Concept Analysis

Human Rights Watch

• World Report 2008: Events of 2007

International Crisis Group

• Burma/Myanmar: After the Crackdown

Lexington Institute

• Brazil’s $1 billion for Cuba
• Future Combat Systems: Why the Army is so Committed

National Defense Intelligence College Press

• The Coast Guard Intelligence Program Enters the Intelligence Community
• Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis
• Improving the Law-Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship
• Mongolia's Peacekeeping Commitment
• A Muslim Archipelago Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia

Naval War College

• Defense Strategy and Forces: Setting Future Directions - Workshop Proceedings

Rand

• Advancing the U.S. Air Force's Force-Development Initiative
• Estimating the Value of Water-Use Efficiency in the Intermountain West
• International Perspectives on Interagency Reform - testimony
• Navy/OSD Collaborative Review of Acquisition Policy for DoD C3I and Weapon Programs
• Presenting Uncertainty About Climate Change to Water-Resource Managers: A Summary of Workshops with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency
• Preparing for an Uncertain Future Climate in the Inland Empire: Identifying Robust Water-Management Strategies

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)

• Differences in Services and Fees for Management and Administration of Iraq Reconstruction Contracts
• Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to Congress (January 30, 2008)

Strategic Studies Institute

• Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience

Union of Concerned Scientists

• Nuclear Power in a Warming World

Washington Institute for Near East Policy

• Blacklisting Terrorism Supporters in Kuwait
• Iranian Threats and the UN Sanctions Debate
• Kirkuk's Article 140: Expired or Not?
• Setbacks in Arab League Mediation on Lebanon
• U.S. Foreign Policy and Israel's Qualitative Military Edge: The Need for a Common Vision

Commission on the National Guard and Reserves final report

The final report to Congress and the Secretary of Defense from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves is now available. "Transforming the National Guard and Reserves into a 21st Century Operational Force"

Their main site also includes links to the hearings and other reports.

National Defense Intelligence College Press publications

The National Defense Intelligence College Press is now posting their publications on their website. http://www.ndic.edu/press/press.htm

Some recent releases of interest include:

• A Muslim Archipelago Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia
• Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis
• Improving the Law-Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship
• The Coast Guard Intelligence Program Enters the Intelligence Community
• Mongolia's Peacekeeping Commitment
  

DBS Report - Directed Energy Weapons

The Defense Science Board (DSB) has posted its Dec 2007 report on Directed Energy Weapons. The Defense Science Board Task Force on Directed Energy Weapon" is available directly at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2007-12-Directed_Energy_Report.pdf
or from their main reports page at
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports.htm

A previous report was done in 2001 -- The DSB Task Force on High Energy Laser Weapon Systems Applications can be found directly at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/rephel.pdf or again from the main DSB reports page -- http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports.htm