home > by issue > defense/homeland security > defense technology
October 6, 2009
Audio
Listen as Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, outlines the Obama administration’s assessment of defense resources and priorities, and DOD’s shifting relationships with Capitol Hill and the business community.
See more in Defense Policy & Budget, Congress
Updated: September 17, 2009
Backgrounder
The United States has been developing missile defense technologies since the beginning of the Cold War, first with nuclear-tipped interceptors and later with conventional "hit-to-kill" missiles, weapons intended to destroy enemy warheads in flight.
See more in United States
August 2009
Essential Documents
Report
See more in United States
May/June 2009
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
The threat of nuclear armageddon is overblown.
See more in National Security and Defense
March 14, 2009
Must Read
Newsweek International Assistant Managing Editor Fred Guterl reports on four battle cruisers in the Sea of Japan--two American, two Japanese--that carry missiles capable of reaching North Korean nuclear-tipped rockets on their way to Japan. The U.S. Navy has seventy-three Aegis ships. As the Obama administration shows signs of backing away from plans to put missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, this fleet of "Aegis" cruisers, as they're called, may be called upon to take up the slack.
See more in United States, Defense/Homeland Security
March 14, 2009
Must Read
Graham Allison, author and director of the Belfer Center at Harvard University, writes that the only thing that can keep nuclear bombs out of the hands of terrorists is a brand-new science of nuclear forensics. Developing this science, he says, entails working backward from a terrorist event to trace the path of the material to its source.
See more in Proliferation, Terrorism
February 4, 2009
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Dinshaw Mistry and Charles D. Ferguson urge Europe and the United States not to rush decisions on deploying a missile defense system in Europe.
See more in Europe/Russia, Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 26, 2008
Must Read
A combination of intellectual rigor, technical sophistication, hard work, and intelligence gathering brought China into the world's nuclear club in record-shattering time.
See more in United States, China, Intelligence, Technology and Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Disarmament, Weapons of Mass Destruction
May 29, 2008
Must Read
With the help of U.S. defense contractors, China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state. It is ready for export.
See more in China, Defense/Homeland Security, Homeland Security
April 1, 2008
Interview
The U.S.Air Force is standing up a dedicated command to coordinate offensive and defensive cyber strategy within the Pentagon.
See more in United States, Defense/Homeland Security
CFR offers a variety of email newsletters about up-to-date CFR.org material on what’s happening around the world.
Enter your email address and click 'Go' to subscribe.
CFR Experts are based in CFR’s New York and Washington offices. Each expert's bio page contains his or her contact information, professional and educational history, links to publications and current research, a downloadable one-page biographical narrative, and a high-definition photo.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Senior Fellow for Defense Policy
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies
Senior Fellow for East, Central, and South Asia
David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
Global Economy 