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INTELLIGENCE

2009

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October 2009

"Strategic Advantage: Why America Should Care About Cybersecurity"

Discussion Paper

By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Project Minerva

The internet is an interconnected series of networks--where it is difficult to determine where private security threats end and public ones begin. These networks deliver power and water to our households and businesses, enable us to access our bank accounts from almost any city in the world, and transform the way our doctors provide healthcare. For all of these reasons, we need a safe Internet with a strong network infrastructure.

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October 11, 2009

"Deciphering the Attack on Pakistan's Army Headquarters"

Op-Ed, Foreign Policy

By Hassan Abbas, Senior Advisor, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"This was neither the first attack on an army structure in the country nor the most deadly — but it is unprecedented given the extent of the breach of the GHQ security, the confusion that it created in its initial stage (raising concerns about the safety of army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani), and its timing vis-à-vis the planned launch of a ground military operation in South Waziristan. It could be a transformational event for the army — cementing its resolve against local militants, bridging internal divisions and forcing a review of its intelligence estimates. However, jumping to conclusions without a thorough investigation and reacting rashly based on preconceived notions would be highly counterproductive. Additionally, though Pakistan's nuclear installations are not in the immediate vicinity of GHQ, the nature of the attack raises questions about how security agencies would react if a future attack targets any of the nuclear weapons facilities."

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October 9. 2009

"The Global War on Terrorism: Rectifying a Failure of Imagination"

Presentation

By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen analyzes U.S. policy and intelligence after 9/11.

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October 9, 2009

"Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: Evolving Forms of the Nuclear Genie"

Presentation

By Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen traces nuclear terrorism in the 21st century beginning with theory and practice, analyzing the implications of 9/11 and weighs in on the reconstruction of the global nuclear order.

July 2009

"State and Local Fusion Centers"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memo provides members of Congress with an overview of fusion centers, explains the role these centers play in information sharing and addresses some challenges that they face today.

July 2009

"The USA-PATRIOT Act"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memo provides an overview of the USA-PATRIOT Act and its provisions that will expire at the end of 2009.

July 2009

"The Role of Private Corporations in the Intelligence Community"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memo provides members of Congress and their staffs with an overview of the role of private corporations working with and within the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC).

July 2009

"Terrorist Safehavens and the Intelligence Community"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memo provides new members of Congress with an overview of safehavens, as well as potential ways in which the Intelligence Community can support U.S. policymakers to mitigate the threat from these areas.

July 2009

"The National Interest, Energy Security, and the Intelligence Community"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memo provides a proposed conceptual framework for assessing energy security and the potential areas in which the Intelligence Community can support policymakers.

July 2009

"Overhead Surveillance"

Memorandum

By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Aki J. Peritz

This memorandum provides an overview of overhead surveillance systems, the agencies involved in gathering and analyzing overhead surveillance, and the costs and benefits of this form of intelligence collection.

Targeting Civilians in War

Targeting Civilians in War

Accidental harm to civilians in warfare often becomes an occasion for public outrage, from citizens of both the victimized and the victimizing nation. In this vitally important book on a topic of acute concern for anyone interested in military strategy, international security, or human rights, Alexander B. Downes reminds readers that democratic and authoritarian governments alike will sometimes deliberately kill large numbers of civilians as a matter of military strategy. What leads governments to make such a choice?

International Security

<em>International Security</em>

The Summer 2009 issue of the quarterly journal International Security is now available. It includes articles by Matthew Fuhrmann, Elizabeth Stanley, Daniel Lake, Christopher Layne, and more.

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Securing the Bomb 2008

Securing the Bomb 2008

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Project on Managing the Atom Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Bunn provides a comprehensive assessment of efforts to secure and remove vulnerable nuclear stockpiles around the world, and a detailed action plan for reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism. Securing the Bomb 2008 was commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). The full report, with additional information on the threat of nuclear terrorism, is available on the NTI website.

Intelligence Experts

Intelligence Experts

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Policy Memo

Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

Why do terrorist attacks frequently succeed, even though later investigations almost always show that warnings had been available but were either misunderstood or ignored? Conventional wisdom, as seen in the 9/11 Commission Report, holds that disasters such as the 9/11 attacks have been caused by failures of analytical imagination, a lack of long-term strategic intelligence on the threat, and organizational limitations that prevent the U.S. intelligence community from being able to “connect the dots” of the existing intelligence.

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New Policy Memo

Homeland Security: How to Improve Interoperability for State and Local Responders

One of the most important lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is that, in order to respond successfully, local agencies must be able to exchange information in real time. In the past seven years, the federal government has given millions of dollars to state and local governments with the goal of improving interoperability programs. However, state and local politics often get in the way of effective use of the money. Our research provides insight and recommendations into how state and local governments can improve the effectiveness of these programs.