"[The] country's defense experts and policy makers are now addressing systemic reform and modernization issues, and are talking about breaking down barriers to cooperation with civilian industry and market-driven management."

"It is troubling that someone who lectured on constitutional law for a dozen years…would misidentify the president's primary pledge and obligation," Micah Zenko writes. In this article, Zenko highlights the discrepancies between constitutional obligations of the U.S. presidency and what President Obama and former President Bush have identified as primary obligations.

Matt Waxman argues that even if President Obama is able close Guantanamo, nothing he has done so far will prevent the creation of another detention facility.

The U.S. military can learn from West Point about how to approach sexual misconduct cases, writes Jeanne Hull.

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes stated on June 13, 2013, that "our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons."

Douglas A. Ollivant of Mantid International, Robert Satloff of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Mona Yacoubian of Stimson Center discuss the potential regional fallout of the Syrian civil war.

There is no evidence that signature strikes will be reduced or ended based upon anything the Obama administration has recently stated.

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Never solely a military organization in the traditional sense, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)—also known as the Pasdaran (Persian for "guards")—has seen a significant expansion and diversification of its domestic roles since the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.

In the Los Angeles Times, Max Boot argues that, rather than being a scandal, NSA intercepts are a vital tool in the global war on terror.

Ray Takeyh debunks the myth that the CIA was responsible for Mossadeq's demise and the 1953 Iranian coup.

The CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet, finds that as more people and services become interconnected and dependent on the Internet, societies are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Both the Bush and Obama administrations have sought to justify controversial domestic surveillance programs amid pointed criticism from Congress and rights activists, explains this Backgrounder.

Disclosures of Obama administration domestic intelligence activities have rekindled public discussion of the balance between counterterrorism efforts and civil liberties, as examined in this Issue Guide.

The Guardian obtained a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order requiring Verizon to give the National Security Agency "information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries" on an "ongoing, daily basis" from April 25 through July 19, 2013.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released a statement to address the recent "unauthorized disclosure" of a U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order. The document requires Verizon to provide the National Security Agency with detailed telephone call records of millions of U.S.-based customers on a daily basis. In response, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has declassified selected details related to the "business records" provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Syria has been mired in deadly strife since March 2011 and the outlook for resolving what is now a full blown civil war looks increasingly dire. The worst case outcome for Syria is one whereby the country fragments and becomes a failed state in which the Damascus government no longer controls its own territory. Under such a scenario, the glue holding the country together comes unstuck.

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The U.S. government needs to marshal its cybersecurity resources in support of the private sector and build alliances with international partners, says former CIA director Michael Hayden, member of a new CFR independent task force on digital policy.

This report discusses the history of constitutional interpretations and legislative responses relevant to the collection of private information for criminal investigation, foreign intelligence gathering, and national security purposes. Next, it summarizes the relevant statutory frameworks and changes made by the USA PATRIOT Act and subsequent measures

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provides a statutory framework by which government agencies may, when gathering foreign intelligence information, obtain authorization to conduct wiretapping or physical searches, utilize pen registers and trap and trace devices, or access specified business records and other tangible things.

The CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet, finds that as more people and services become interconnected and dependent on the Internet, societies are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.