The Global Security Defense Index on Climate Change
The American Security Project releases the preliminary results of a new resource on climate change and national security: The Global Security and Defense Index on Climate Change.
Fusion Power – A 10 Year Plan to Energy Security
ASP's new White Paper provides a detailed plan on how to accelerate the development of fusion power.
Advanced Biofuels and National Security
This report demonstrates that developing advanced biofuels are important in reducing America’s dependence on oil and why this will enhance our national security
Understanding the Strategic and Tactical Considerations of Drone Strikes
This American Security Project report examines the known data to generate a series of ten metrics to gauge the effects of the program.
The ASP congratulates board members John Kerry and Chuck Hagel
ASP congratulates John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, a founding board members, on their nominations as the next Secretary Of State and Secretary of Defense
American Competitiveness Report – An Issue of National Security
Our ability to compete in a global economy, attract the world’s brightest workers and enhance our competitiveness is slipping - this is a national security challenge
Energy: Check out our mini-site on the next steps for fusion power in the U.S.
FUSIONIn the News
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05/23/2013
ASP Fact Sheet Cited on FierceHomelandSecurity
An article in Fierce Homeland Security quoted and referenced ASP’s recently released fact sheet, “Protecting the Homeland – The Rising Cost of Inaction on Climate Change.”
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05/22/2013
Senator Barbara Boxer Highlights ASP’s Global Security & Defense Index on the Floor of the Senate
The American Security Project’s work on climate change was recently highlighted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in a speech on the floor of the Senate.
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05/21/2013
ASP’s Senior Fellow Andrew Holland talks Climate Change on Florida Public Television
ASP’s Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate Policy, Andrew Holland spoke on WUCF TV about the the threats of climate change on the show “Global Perspectives”
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05/08/2013
EVENT – Nuclear Terrorism: What’s at Stake?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 from 8:00am until 9:30am
Location: 1100 New York Avenue, 7th Floor West Tower
Join us for a conversation on preventing nuclear terror on the U.S. domestic front. U.S. ports present a potential vulnerability and securing these ports requires improvement in the capacity to detect and secure nuclear materials that could arrive in shipping containers. -
05/03/2013
ASP Statement – Foreign Affairs Day
In honor of Foreign Service Day, the American Security Project, in keeping with our dictum of always keeping our country’s national security foremost in mind, wishes to express our admiration and gratitude to the many Foreign Service members, past and present, who have given so much for our country
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04/29/2013
Cunningham and MacDonald: The United States is Losing the Race for Fusion Power
ASP’s Nick Cunningham and Theodore MacDonald wrote an OpEd for AOL Energy on the possibility that the U.S. will be left behind in the race for fusion power.
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04/22/2013
ASP’s Cole Quotes in the Washington Post – Defense Companies Branching Out
Companies will have to be very deliberate with the steps they take into markets that they think they know — and really don’t
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04/15/2013
ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman Featured in Politico
ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman makes the case for investing in our long-term energy future.
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04/08/2013
Video: ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman on Platts Energy Week
ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman appeared on Platts Energy Week discussing the evolving energy landscape.
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04/02/2013
Norman Augustine and Gary Hart: A Challenge to America: Develop Fusion Power Within a Decade
The article talks about the importance of fusion power as a future energy source, and one that can revolutionize the energy system.
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03/29/2013
ASP’s Holland and Vagg: Climate Change a Clear and Present Danger
The UN Security Council declined to take up climate change as a security issue. ASP’s Holland and Vagg argue this is a mistake.
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03/27/2013
ASP Senior Fellow Andrew Holland Featured in Macleans Magazine
Andrew Holland was quoted today in an Macleans article that discussed environmental protests over the Keystone XL pipeline.
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03/26/2013
ASP’s CEO BGen Stephen Cheney on NBC
ASP’s CEO BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) was featured on NBC news stations across the country talking about the role that biofuels play in reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Our Reports
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05/23/2013
FACT SHEET – Shipping Container Security
“A nuclear weapon is more likely to arrive in a shipping container than on a missile” Graham Allison. Costs and international disputes make it difficult to achieve 100 percent nuclear and radiological scanning of inbound U.S. cargo containers. This fact sheet describes the challenges we face and some key ways we can mitigate the risk.
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05/16/2013
Protecting the Homeland – The Rising Costs of Inaction on Climate Change
This fact sheet lays out some of the trends in climate events over the last ten to fifteen years, demonstrating rising threats to the United States.
Mitigating greenhouse gases is necessary to reduce the effects of climate change. However, the United States must also take adaptation measures in order to minimize the inevitable consequences of climate change. -
04/24/2013
International Progress on Fusion Energy – How American Leadership is Slipping
ASP’s fact sheet, “International Progress on Fusion Energy” outlines the steps other countries are taking in developing fusion energy. Meanwhile, the U.S. is considering budget cuts to its fusion program, which will cause irreparable harm to the development of fusion power.
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04/09/2013
PERSPECTIVE – The Defense Industrial Base
The defense industrial base is tied to American competitiveness in the 21st Century. For that reason, leaders in the private and public sector must take steps to thrive during a drawn out period of changing expectations while also remaining committed to keeping the country strong through innovation, long-term investment and disciplined management.
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04/01/2013
AMERICAN SECURITY QUARTERLY
Read our latest collection of our writings in this edition of American Security Quarterly – with a special lead of American Competitiveness
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03/21/2013
The Global Security Defense Index on Climate Change: Preliminary Results
The American Security Project releases the preliminary results of a new resource on climate change and national security: The Global Security and Defense Index on Climate Change. The Index analyzes how governments around the world and their militaries plan for and anticipate the strategic threats of climate change.
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03/13/2013
WHITE PAPER: Fusion Power – A 10 Year Plan to Energy Security
Fusion energy holds great promise to meet America’s energy needs. Energy from fusion is clean, safe, secure and abundant. ASP’s new White Paper report provides a detailed plan on how to accelerate the development of fusion power.
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03/13/2013
Fusion Fact Sheet
Fusion energy holds the promise of providing a practically inexhaustible source of energy. But, what is fusion? ASP’s fact sheet, “What is Fusion Power?” provides clear answers on how fusion works, the main approaches to fusion, and the benefits of fully developing fusion power.
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03/05/2013
PERSPECTIVE: The Geopolitical Implications of U.S. Natural Gas Exports
Low prices for natural gas in the U.S., and high prices in Asia, have sparked calls to allow American drillers to export LNG. Thus far, the debate surrounding LNG exports has focused on the economic impacts. This paper examines the geopolitical benefits of removing restrictions on LNG exports to two key regions – Europe and Asia.
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02/28/2013
FACT SHEET: The U.S. State Department’s American Spaces Program
For American public diplomacy, engaging with foreign audiences face-to-face continues to be an invaluable asset for promoting mutual understanding and the values of American culture. The State Department’s American Spaces programs are traditional tools in that effort.
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02/20/2013
FACT SHEET: What is Energy Independence ?
ASP’s fact sheet “What is Energy Independence?” explores the reasons why energy independence is the wrong goal to be working towards. Instead, a comprehensive goal of “energy security” – access to energy that is secure, economically stable, and sustainable.
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02/11/2013
PERSPECTIVE: Cause and Effect – U.S. Gasoline Prices
This paper examines the causes of America’s soaring gasoline prices. The paper underscores that the price of gas is intimately interconnected with crude oil prices, which are set by global markets. The paper cautions that although America’s oil production has surged in recent years, it has not lowered gas prices.
On Our Blog
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05/23/2013
U.S. Natural Gas Exports Slowly Moving Forward
The oil and gas industries are calling for blanket approvals of remaining permit applications, but the administration appears to be taking them on a case-by-case basis.
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05/22/2013
Pipeline Politics in Europe
The political debate surrounding natural gas in Washington is currently focused on whether or not the Department of Energy will allow more U.S. natural gas exports. Meanwhile, in Southeastern Europe there is another decision in the offing that will significantly impact natural gas markets around the world
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05/22/2013
Mass. Senators send letter to DOE Secretary
The Boston Globe reported on a letter sent by Massachusetts’ two Senators to the Secretary of Energy, opposing the planned “cold” shutdown of MIT’s fusion facility.
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05/22/2013
Senator Barbara Boxer Highlights ASP’s Global Security & Defense Index on the Floor of the Senate
The American Security Project’s work on climate change was recently highlighted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in a speech on the floor of the Senate.
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05/21/2013
Apple’s spotlight shines attention on needed tax reforms
The appearance of an Apple CEO in front of a bank of cameras is enough to get the company’s diehard fans worked up into a frothy lather over a new iPhone or an even thinner MacBook Air.
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05/21/2013
Tornado in Oklahoma – Hopes for Rescues, and Weather as a Security Threat
It was with a heavy heart that all of us here at the American Security Project watched news of the devastating tornado in Oklahoma. We are encouraged by news reports revising down the death tolls, and we hope that more lives are saved.
Yet again, we are reminded that weather is an issue of national security. Six months ago, the Marines deployed to Staten Island and the New York area in response to Hurricane Sandy. In every major disaster, America’s armed forces are called to assist in disaster relief. That is appropriate because of the expertise and organization that these units can bring. Today, the Oklahoma National Guard is providing critical assistance in relief and recovery efforts. We hope their presence saves lives. -
05/20/2013
Mounting Opposition to US Fusion Budget Cuts
On May 20, the Boston Globe wrote an article, “Fusion program at MIT is ending, Layoffs predicted; federal funds cut.” The article was about the slated closure of MIT’s fusion facility, the Alcator C-Mod. This is a demonstration of the tangible impacts of the Obama Administration’s decision to pair back fusion funding.
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05/20/2013
GAO finds Pentagon still faces a tough foe: itself
In a report this month, the GAO found that while the DoD is working to implement its plans to organize and streamline the very systems it uses to run the defense bureaucracy, it’s falling short. While the GAO report is focused on the business systems used by the Pentagon, it is an important subject because these are the very tools used to make decisions involving more than half a trillion dollars a year in taxpayer money. If the IT systems themselves are not up to snuff, it will be hard to enact the kind of oversight and management that is expected today.
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05/17/2013
Extreme weather’s test of American competitiveness
As summer approaches, many families are beginning to plan where they will travel and in which hotels they will stay while on holiday. For some 900 people in the New York City area displaced by Hurricane Sandy, hotels have been their only home for more than half a year. That aid program looks to continue, according to The New York Times, by the order of a judge. That is just one way to count the toll that extreme weather events are taking on the U.S.
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05/16/2013
The Scientific Consensus for Man-Made Climate Change
Out today is a new study from the Consensus Project that shows the overwhelming scientific consensus is that climate change is real and is caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases.
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05/16/2013
Don’t lose sight of American competitiveness
America’s competitiveness keeps taking blow after blow. Congress and the White House run headlong willingly into political skirmishes over these issues while ignoring the big, strategic challenges that will shape America’s security and prosperity well into the 21st Century.
Must Reads
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03/13/2013
WHITE PAPER: Fusion Power – A 10 Year Plan to Energy Security
Fusion energy holds great promise to meet America’s energy needs. Energy from fusion is clean, safe, secure and abundant. ASP’s new White Paper report provides a detailed plan on how to accelerate the development of fusion power.
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01/29/2013
WHITE PAPER: Advanced Biofuels and National Security
ASP’s White Paper report, “Advanced Biofuels and National Security” builds on ASP’s long history of demonstrating the importance of reducing oil use for national security and highlighting the work of the Department of Defense in promoting alternative fuels. This report demonstrates that developing advanced biofuels are important in reducing America’s dependence on oil; this dependence presents real national security threats to the United States and the American military.
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01/24/2013
PERSPECTIVE: Understanding the Strategic and Tactical Considerations of Drone Strikes
This American Security Project report, the second in our series on drone strikes and targeted killing, examines the known data to generate a series of ten metrics to gauge the effects of the program. This paper presents a factual, apolitical discussion of the many aspects of the lethal drones program, and suggests how policymakers and the public can make it more effective.
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11/28/2012
WHITE PAPER: American Competitiveness Report – An Issue of National Security
This report examines interrelated elements of American present vulnerabilities: business climate, infrastructure, national debt, labor market and immigration, defense industrial base, as well as education and healthcare. And turning these to the strengths they once were. In keeping with ASP’s core mission of examining more than military might when assessing national security, the report also reframes one of the recurring questions of international relations: What factors really make us strong and safe?
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11/01/2012
Climate Security Report
Climate change poses a clear and present danger to the United States through its effects on our global allies as well as its direct effects on our agriculture, infrastructure, economy and public health.
This report aims to move past the current debate about climate change and towards a real, informed discussion about its security implications—both global and domestic. -
08/07/2012
WHITE PAPER – The New Public Diplomacy Imperative
The New Public Diplomacy Imperative takes a look at the strategic necessity for strong American public diplomacy. Author Matthew Wallin examines many of the issues in contemporary public diplomacy, and recommends best practices for policy makers and public diplomacy practitioners.
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06/26/2012
FACT SHEET: Law of the Sea – separating fact from fiction
Although the Law of the Sea Treaty has been overwhelmingly backed by the private sector, military officials, Democrats and Republicans – including the previous George W. Bush Administration, unfortunately a minority partisan opposition seeks to block the treaty’s ratification.
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03/07/2012
America’s Energy Choices: 2012 Edition
The paper details a range of options for America’s energy future, ranging from coal to natural gas and from solar to tidal power. The report sets out how each contributes to America’s energy make-up and how our business and political leaders should weigh the competing priorities of energy security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability when making decisions.
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11/07/2011
REPORT: Nuclear Security Index
The spread of nuclear weapons continues to be an urgent national security concern for the United States. The analysis included within the NSI is intended to encourage productive, informed debate about nuclear security challenges while also encouraging broader citizen participation in that debate. The NSI was produced with the American public in mind and it distills this highly technical subject and the complex debate surrounding it.
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05/26/2011
Pay Now, Pay Later: A State-by-State Assessment of the Costs of Climate Change
The American Security Project released a series of 50 reports which analyze and project possible economic losses—or in some cases, gains—on a state-by-state basis as a result of unmitigated climate change. The project, “Pay Now, Pay Later” (PNPL), draws attention to the costs of inaction for each state if we fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.