Research on International Security

see also Think Tanks, NGOs and IGOs and Document Sources (US Agencies)

About Identifying Books:

We have MANY books on this topic - when searching the catalog, specific subject terms listed below yield more manageable lists.
[country or geographic region] --national security
[country or geographic region] -- armed forces
[country or geographic region] -- military policy
[country or geographic region] -- air force
arms control
military
military readiness
space warfare
space weapons
national security - united states
national security -- international cooperation
weapons of mass destruction
strategic defense initiative
security, international

top Primary US Government Sites

CIA
Speeches, testimony, publications and reports. Publishes The World Factbook

DefenseLINK
This U.S. Department of Defense web site is the starting point for finding U.S. military information on the Internet. The purpose is to provide "official, timely and accurate information about defense policies, organizations, functions and operations."

Defense Intelligence Agency
The mission of the DIA is "To provide timely, objective and cogent military intelligence to the warfighters -- soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines -- and to the decisionmakers and policymakers of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Government." This site is best used through its site map.

STINET (Scientific and Technical Information Network)
The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET) Service helps the DoD community access pertinent scientific and technical information to meet mission needs more effectively. Public STINET gives you access to all unclassified, unlimited citations to documents added into DTIC from late December 1974 to present. Special Collections provides access to U2 documents.

United States Intelligence Community
The Intelligence Community is a group of 13 government agencies and organizations that carry out the intelligence activities of the United States Government. Good gateway page to sites like the United States Navy - Navy Fact File, which describes individual weapons and equipment.


top Selected Think Tanks/Institute Sources

American Foreign Policy Council
Issues covered include: Aid to the Former USSR; Missile Threats & Defenses; Espionage, the KGB & the Russian Security Services; Reform in Russia; U.S.-China Relations, and Chemical Weapons.

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Non-Proliferation Project
"An internationally recognized source of information and analysis on weapons of mass destruction" (from the website).

Cato Institute - Defense Studies
Maintains an extensive publications program on topics such as military spending, NATO, and international security.

The Center for Defense Information
A private, nongovernmental, and "independent monitor" of the military. Maintains the Arms Trade Database.

Center for International Policy
"Promoting a U.S. foreign policy based on peace, international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights."(from the site) Topics include Cuba, Arms Trade, and Demilitarization.

Center for Nonproliferation Studies
"The world's largest non-governmental organization devoted to combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction."(from the site) Resources by subject and by region.

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Topics ranging from Defense and Preventive Diplomacy to Infectious Disease.

Center for the Study of Technology and Society
A major focus of the Center is National Security.

Commonwealth Institute
A local (Cambridge) public policy research organization with current projecs in defense and military affairs.

Council on Foreign Relations - National Security
Publishes Foreign Affairs, a leading journal on global issues.

Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
The FAS is a widely respected organization of scientists concerned with arms control issues.

see also Arms Control Agreements

Foreign Policy in Focus
"A "think tank without walls" that functions as an international network of more than 650 policy analysts and advocates."(from the site)

Global Focus - Flashpoints
Provides country reports on current conflicts, ethnic violence, terrorism, nationalism, human rights, and foreign policy issues.

Henry L. Stimson Center
An independent, nonprofit, public policy institute committed to finding and promoting innovative solutions to the security challenges confronting the United States and other nations in the twenty-first century.

Heritage Foundation
Openly conservative in its views, the objective of Heritage is to present to policy-makers and opinion leaders, and especially members of Congress and their staff, factual and timely information on major issues of the day. 'Key issues' include matters of both domestic and foreign policy.

Hoover Institution (Stanford University)
Publishes research on political issues, foreign relations and diplomacy, economic issues, and security and defense.
Publishes
Essays in Public Policy


Institute for Global Communication (IGC)
Manages a number of 'Nets', including PeaceNet. Choose 'search documents' to find full-text material.

International Institute for Strategic Studies
The IISS publishes Strategic Surveys focusing on trouble spots around the world. It also issues a World Directory of Strategic Studies Centres.

International Relations and Security Network (ISN)
ISN hosts (with SIPRI) Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST), a free-of-charge database on weapons, political systems, armed forces and peace-keeping activities.

The National Security Archive
"The National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." (from the site)

Rand
The publications of the Rand Corporation frequently focus on national security issues of all sorts. This Web site provides a searchable index of documents produced by Rand. Includes, citations, abstracts and Rand accession numbers. Boston University currently owns aproximately 1500 of these publications.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
SIPRI was established as an international independent research institute "to conduct scientific research on questions of conflict and co-operation of importance for international peace and security, with the aim of contributing to an understanding of the conditions for peaceful solutions of international conflicts and for a stable peace."

World Policy Institute
Examines critical world problems in the United States and abroad. Organzed by 'research project', such as 'Arms Trade'. The 'North America Project' explores issues of democracy, human rights, and environmental quality in the context of North American economic integration.

U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) is the primary research faculty of the U.S. Army War College. The Strategic Studies Institute identifies international security issues likely to affect the United States, its friends, and potential adversaries; analyzes national security issues and, through the timely publication of studies and conduct of conferences, informs Army leaders of policy options; and provides the U.S. Army with a source of ideas, criticism, innovative approaches, and independent analyses. Of particular value is this site's 'Hotlinks to Military and Strategy Related Sites'.

top International Sources

INCORE
INCORE (Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity) was initiated in 1993 by the University of Ulster and the United Nations University "to undertake research and policy work that is useful to the resolution of ethnic, political and religious conflicts."
'Peace agreements' provides full-text of agreements by country.


International Relations and Security Network (ISN)
ISN hosts (with SIPRI) Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST), a free-of-charge database on weapons, political systems, armed forces and peace-keeping activities.

War, Peace and Security WWW Server
A particularly well-done metasite, produced by the Information Resource Centre, Canadian Forces College, Toronto, Canada.

Sub-sites include:

Peace and Security - Integrated Internet Resource Guide

Contemporary conflicts (clickable map)

Armed forces of the world (clickable map)


top Additional US Government Sites

Some of the many government departments and offices producing web documents related to defense and international security include:

Department of Energy - Energy and National Security
Department of State
Many different offices working in International Security. (See International Topics and Issues)

U.S. House of Representatives
see
(House) Committee on International Relations
House Armed Services Committee: Bills, Reports and Publications
U.S. Senate
Susan Wishinsky
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