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Begin New Search Topic Terrorism Political Geography United States Publishing Institution Center for Defense Information Publication Year within 25 Years

1. The Defense Monitor, Conventional Weapons Pose Challenges for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan

Author:
Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Mark Burgess, Marta Conti, Monica Czwarno, and Ana Marte
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Six years Ago, the United States began its operations in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the time, scant attention was paid to the dangers of landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms that plagued the country. Now, six years later, U.S. and coalition military forces serving in Afghanistan continue to face a variety of dangers, beyond the unfriendly geography and resurgent Taliban forces. Troops supporting the international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and operation enduring Freedom (OEF) face additional challenges from landmines, unexploded ordnance, man-portable air defense systems and other small arms.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Asia

2. Afghan Update: April 1 - April 30, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
A senior U.S. State Department official said on April 3 that more violence was expected in the coming months. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher reaffirmed the opinion of some U.S. military leaders that the warmer months and the increased presence of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops would signal a stepped up effort by insurgents to disrupt peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts. Boucher also cited the battle against narcotics traffickers as cause for increased fighting.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

3. Terrorism Statistics Flawed

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
It has become a truism that any attempt to define or quantify terrorism is informed by political trends, and thus subject to fluctuations based not on hard facts but on political fashion. Yet the State Department's now defunct annual publication, Patterns of Global Terrorism, was the closest approximation of any government effort to provide information in an objective and consistent manner. As a successor to Patterns, the report produced by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) – called A Chronology of Significant International Terrorism for 2004--effectively ends over 20 years of analytical consistency in the U.S. government's terrorism accounting practices.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

4. Afghan Update: Jan. 1 - Feb. 7, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Feb. 13 when their vehicle hit a bomb in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest single-day loss of American troops since September, when five died in a helicopter crash.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

5. Defense Monitor: Where is America Going? Five Years After Sept. 11

Author:
Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, Jessica Ashooh, Mark Burgess, and Rhea Myerscough
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In the days before Sept. 11, riding the post-Cold War high, America was blissfully unaware of the threats it faced, and why. A few in the William J. Clinton administration tried to warn their successors about al-Qaida's danger, but overall, most Americans were blindsided by the Sept. 11 attacks. Five years later, America is still largely in the dark.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

6. The Defense Monitor: Congress Steps Back From Nukes

Author:
Victoria Samson
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
The United States just took one small step away from the brink. Congress has opted against funding research for a nuclear weapon that would target underground bunkers. This decision squelched a program that would likely have created a new nuclear warhead, something that is particularly incongruous at a time when nations around the world are fervently trying to convince the leaderships of North Korea and Iran that their countries do not need nuclear weapons. However, this wisdom on the part of the U.S. government may prove to be temporary.
Topic:
Government, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Asia, and North Korea

7. Current List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Other Terrorist Organizations

Author:
Mark Burgess
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
The U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) began in 1997 as a method of tracking down and striking back against specific terrorist groups around the world. FTOs are designated as such based on a demonstrated capability and/or willingness to engage in terrorist methods that threaten the U.S. national security interests. These methods include attacks on U.S. nationals, and American national defense, military, diplomatic, and economic interests. The FTO list provides the U.S. government with the legal authority to conduct prosecutions against U.S. citizens, or foreign nationals within the country, for aiding — financially, ideologically or logistically — any designated FTO. FTO designation can also mean certain members or representatives of the designated terror group can be denied entry to the United States through visa rejection or other means. The United States also maintains the authority to compel U.S. financial institutions to freeze any assets linked to an FTO and to report them to the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13244.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

8. The Defense Monitor: Give Iraqis a Government Worth Dying For

Author:
Chet Richards
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
There is a principle of engineering that says that when what you're doing isn't working, and trying harder makes the situation worse, you may be solving the wrong problem. With the attacks on London proving that occupying Iraq is not making the world safer, it is time for a radically new approach.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Government, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, Middle East, and London

9. Law Watch - Detainees: Supreme Court Guantanamo Decision

Author:
Steven C. Welsh
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
With a decision notably brief for the mountain of argument leading up to it, the U.S. Supreme Court in Rasul v. Bush held on June 28, 2004, that foreign nationals imprisoned without charge at the Guantanamo Bay interrogation camps were entitled to bring legal action challenging their captivity in U.S. federal civilian courts.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

10. The Proliferation Security Initiative in Perspective

Author:
Andrew Prosser
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Participant countries of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a U.S.-led effort to stem the illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and delivery systems, met on the first anniversary of the initiative, from May 31 to June 1 in Krakow, Poland. Russia announced on the first day of the meeting its decision to participate in the PSI, a move that U.S. officials had supported as an important step in augmenting the effectiveness of the initiative. However, Russia's participation will only occur, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as long as PSI activities do not violate national or international law. Russian officials have similarly expressed concerns that the PSI's land, sea, and air-based WMD interdiction activities could endanger international commerce, and give unwarranted powers to the U.S. Navy to act as a global police force.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia and United States