Simons Center News

On June 21, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary met for a hearing titled  “The MS-13 Problem: Investigating Gang Membership As Well As Its Nexus to Illegal Immigration, and Assessing Federal Efforts to to End the Threat.” During the hearing several individuals representing U.S. government agencies, including those representing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. […]

Featured article: Optimizing the CWMD Enterprise Across the Interagency by Michael J. Kwon In recent decades, interagency cooperation has enabled the U.S. government in countering weapons of mass destruction (CWMD) organizations. This interagency cooperation, collectively referred to as the U.S. CWMD enterprise is an ongoing effort to protect the nation from the threat of WMD. Progress, such […]

Last month, the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) hosted an all-day conference focused on relations between the military and the civilian world. “Command Climate: The State of U.S. Civil-Military Relations” took place on May 23, with panelists representing the Department of Defense (DoD) and other U.S. government entities discussing different aspects of civil-military relations. […]

National Security   Safety lapses undermine nuclear warhead work at Los Alamos, The Washington Post As U.S. Adds Troops in Afghanistan, Trump’s Strategy Remains Undefined, The New York Times Texas Cities Caught in the Crossfire of Sanctuary Fight, Foreign Policy Graham ‘All In’ on Trump’s New Afghanistan Strategy, Roll Call Defense Secretary Mattis explains what […]

National Security   Special counsel is investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice, officials say, The Washington Post After A Shooting, What Do Security Pros Do Behind Closed Doors?, Defense One Trump puts U.S.-EU Privacy Shield at risk, Brookings Protecting the Integrity of National Security Supply Chains, Government Executive Army plans to field new system […]

Nearly 1,200 officers graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officer Course on June 9 at 9 a.m on the Fort Leavenworth main parade field.  The graduating class includes mid-career officers from all American military services as well as 110 international officers representing 85 countries and 15 federal government civilian employees. (See the […]

A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examines the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to address subterranean, aerial, and maritime smuggling of drugs and humans. GAO-17-474 focuses on the known prevalence of these smuggling methods, efforts to address smuggling, and efforts to assess the results of activities to counter smuggling. GAO examined DHS’s investments into technology […]

Featured article: Plutonium and Picasso – A Typology of Nuclear and Fine Art Smuggling by Joshua D. Foss The global security environment continues to evolve. Globalization, advances in technology, and greater connectedness of people and economies have enabled transnational organized crime and new and existing illicit markets to expand. Never has the prolific and rapid dissemination of technology and information […]

National Security   Sessions will testify in open hearing Tuesday before Senate Intelligence Committee, The Washington Post Angus King: National security only reason for closed hearing, The Hill The US Joins the Philippines in a Battle Against ISIS, The Atlantic The Dark Architecture of National Security, City Lab Federal appeals court upholds freeze on Trump’s […]

National Security   Comey: ‘I Was Fired Because of the Russia Investigation’, The Atlantic Trump’s pressure on Iran may be stoking sectarian tensions in the Mideast, The Washington Post Everything we know about the Mueller probe so far, Politico Without Trump’s Stalled Travel Ban, DHS Chief Not ‘Fully Confident’ of US Security, Defense One The Mysterious […]