This report addresses consequences of current and proposed restrictions on international contacts by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) national laboratories and explores methods of best serving national security through positive new scientific advances facilitated by international communication among scientists, through scientific contacts to further non-proliferation, and through careful protection of crucial classified information from foreign espionage. The report summarizes a symposium that examined: the role of the DOE's national laboratories in national security and the contributions by foreign laboratories and scientists, proposals for amending security policies of the weapons laboratories in regard to contact with foreign laboratories and scientists, and the risks and benefits of scientific openness in this context. Finally, the report reviews current policies and proposals designed to enhance security at the weapons laboratories, primarily those related to restrictions on foreign contacts by DOE scientists.

International trade plays an enormous role in economic growth and prosperity. This activity can also be used to transfer military equipment, knowledge, and technology to hostile governments and transnational terrorist and criminal organizations seeking to attack and destroy their enemies. The U.S. and other countries have used economic sanctions such as export controls to try to restrict and eliminate the transfer of weapons and financial assets to these governments and organizations. This work examines how the U.S. has attempted to restrict the export of national security sensitive equipment, finance, knowledge, and technology since World War II with varying degrees of success and failure. It also examines how multiple U.S. Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international government organizations seek to influence U.S. international trade, foreign, and security policies while concluding that some export controls are essential for promoting and defending U.S. national security interests.

An increasing number of scholars have begun to see science and technology as relevant issues in International Relations (IR), acknowledging the impact of material elements, technical instruments, and scientific practices on international security, statehood, and global governance. This two-volume collection brings the debate about science and technology to the center of International Relations. It shows how integrating science and technology translates into novel analytical frameworks, conceptual approaches and empirical puzzles, and thereby offers a state-of-the-art review of various methodological and theoretical ways in which sciences and technologies matter for the study of international affairs and world politics. The authors not only offer a set of practical examples of research frameworks for experts and students alike, but also propose a conceptual space for interdisciplinary learning in order to improve our understanding of the global politics of science and technology. This first volume summarizes various time-tested approaches for studying the global politics of science and technology from an IR perspective. It also provides empirical, theoretical, and conceptual interventions from geography, history, innovation studies, and science and technology studies that indicate ways to enhance and rearticulate IR approaches. In addition, several interviews advance possibilities of multi-disciplinary collaboration.

This report of the Stimson Center's Task Force addresses one critical aspect of our nation's S & T future: transformation of our nuclear weapons Laboratories. In early 2008, the Stimson Center convened a bipartisan Task Force comprised of counterterrorism, nonproliferation, intelligence, military, business, and scientific experts to provide the incoming administration with a roadmap to more effectively leverage the existing capabilities at the nation's nuclear weapons Laboratories and Nevada Test Site (NTS) to meet an array of emerging vital national security challenges. The strategy has two key purposes: to ensure retention of core nuclear weapons competencies at the weapons Laboratories and NTS, and to expand their S & T capabilities to service a wider array of 21st century national security needs.

In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas. This congressionally requested report by a pre-eminent committee makes four recommendations along with 20 implementation actions that federal policy-makers should take to create high-quality jobs and focus new science and technology efforts on meeting the nation's needs, especially in the area of clean, affordable energy: 1) Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education; 2) Sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research; 3) Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the U.S. and abroad; and 4) Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation. Some actions will involve changing existing laws, while others will require financial support that would come from reallocating existing budgets or increasing them. Rising Above the Gathering Storm will be of great interest to federal and state government agencies, educators and schools, public decision makers, research sponsors, regulatory analysts, and scholars.

The national security controls that regulate access to and export of science and technology are broken. As currently structured, many of these controls undermine our national and homeland security and stifle American engagement in the global economy, and in science and technology. These unintended consequences arise from policies that were crafted for an earlier era. In the name of maintaining superiority, the U.S. now runs the risk of becoming less secure, less competitive and less prosperous. Beyond "Fortress America" provides an account of the costs associated with building walls that hamper our access to global science and technology that dampen our economic potential. The book also makes recommendations to reform the export control process, ensure scientific and technological competitiveness, and improve the non-immigrant visa system that regulates entry into the United States of foreign science and engineering students, scholars, and professionals. Beyond "Fortress America" contains vital information and action items for the President and policy makers that will affect the United States' ability to compete globally. Interested parties-including military personnel, engineers, scientists, professionals, industrialists, and scholars-will find this book a valuable tool for stemming a serious decline affecting broad areas of the nation's security and economy.