14 November 2012

New ASP Report 
National Security Challenges…That We’re Not Talking About

Event Invites
Whitman: American Competitiveness and National Security
A Conversation with James Kitfield: National Security in an Era of Global Upheaval
Meeting of the Financial Intelligence and Information Sharing (FIIS) Working Group

What We Are Reading

Energy Independence in the United States? Don’t Pop the Cork Yet

Clifford Krauss/New York Times

Ever since the Arab oil embargoes in the 1960s and 1970s, American presidents have pledged to end the country’s dependence on foreign oil by drilling more at home and increasing energy efficiency. But “energy independence” was little more than a dreamy campaign slogan.

Leading the Voice of America: An interview with VOA director David Ensor

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Ensor spoke with Tom Fox, who writes the Washington Post’s Federal Coach blog and is the vice president for leadership and innovation at the Partnership for Public Service. Fox also heads up the Partnership’s Center for Government Leadership.

International Affairs Experts Look at Next Four Years of Public Diplomacy

C-Span

A panel of international affairs experts discuss the course of U.S. Public Diplomacy for the next four years at an event hosted by the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.

Obama signs secret cybersecurity directive, allowing more aggressive military role

Ellen Nakashima/Washington Post

President Obama has signed a secret directive that effectively enables the military to act more aggressively to thwart cyberattacks on the nation’s web of government and private computer networks. Presidential Policy Directive 20, effective as of October, establishes a broad and strict set of standards to guide the operations of federal agencies in confronting threats in cyberspace, according to several U.S. officials who have seen the classified document and are not authorized to speak on the record.

U.N.’s nuclear report on Iran may not be all bad news for West

Fredrik Dahl/Reuters

Iran is believed to have increased the number of centrifuges in an underground nuclear plant by nearly a third in three months, diplomats say, underlining the tough task facing major powers pressing Tehran to curb its atomic activity.

Carbon Tax Could Curb Emissions While Cutting Deficit

Jon Hurdle/AOL Energy

In the search for safety barriers at the edge of the US fiscal cliff, a carbon tax is a possible solution that’s expected to get serious attention during the remainder of 2012 and beyond.

Special Report: South Sudan’s Chinese oil puzzle

Alexander Dziadosz/Reuters

A few months before South Sudan seceded last year, Henry Odwar drove to a Juba hotel to confront the men who would be at the heart of the new country’s economy.

In the News

The reality of climate change can no longer be ignored

An oped from ASP board members and members of ASP’s Consensus featuring Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, USA (Ret.), Brigadier General Steve Anderson, USA (Ret.) and Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) ran in the Global Post discussing the global problems of climate change and possible solutions.

Garaghty: American Dreams, Indian Realities

ASP’s Adjunct Junior Fellow Colin Geraghty, published an article on the transformation of U.S. India Relations in the Dipomat.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Why Are Permits Needed for LNG Export Terminals?

Andrew Holland

It is not clear to why the Department of Energy needs to approve the building of export terminals for LNG. This article explains the history.

Sandy Showed that US Energy Infrastructure is Vulnerable

Andrew Holland

When people think about climate change and energy, they naturally are drawn to thinking about clean technology, carbon capture, or emissions. We’re thinking about mitigation, in other words. However, as Sandy showed, our energy infrastructure is at high risk to the effects of climate change as well. There is a need to adapt to the effects of a changed climate.

The Business of Threat Proliferation: Rethinking the Approach

Ashley Boyle

Ultimately, threat finance cannot be countered through comprehensive legislation alone; rather, its individual factors will need to be addressed as such through both policy and practice.

On Congress’s To-Do List: Trim the Nuclear Budget

Mary Kaszynski

There’s one thing that all policymakers should be able to agree on: bringing the U.S. nuclear force in line with today’s security threats by eliminating unnecessary nuclear programs.

 

 

About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.