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An excerpt from the White Paper issued by the British Minister of Defense about the new British defense policy is presented.

The article focuses on the reorganization of the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) under the presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower. The author provides an analysis on the performance of NSC under the administration of former president Harry S. Truman and identifies its weakness. Some of which is the informal nature of NSC proceedings during that time and that NSC had been always late in the policy-making process in matters concerning national security. But with the powerful tandem of Robert Cutler and Eisenhower, several significant changes occurred in the NSC. The NSC structure was strengthened and the Council mechanism was implemented for all major foreign and military policy-making.

The article focuses on the changes in the British defense policy that would include nuclear weapons such as hydrogen bomb in its policy. Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was the main proponents of the changes of the policy. Churchill has expressed his concern about the dominance of Soviet Union and its communist satellites in the nuclear warfare. He has suggested a universal agreement of disarmament of nuclear weapons as a solution to the problem. The agreement on cessation of nuclear bomb test would decrease the threat from radioactive contamination.

Research on the risky-shift effect has indicated that groups are more risky than individuals. Since many decisions involving military and international policy are made by groups, some authors have warned us of the potentially dangerous effects of the risky shift in these areas, where increased risk might work against our best interests. However, most risky-shift research has used as a measure of risk the Choice-Dilemma Questionnaire (CDQ), a paper-and-pencil measure of hypothetical risk taking. Thus, the validity of generalizations from risky-shift findings to real-world military settings would be affected by the extent to which riskiness on the CDQ reflects riskiness in such settings. Two-man groups of male college students (assigned on the basis of similar CDQ scores) participated in a simulated internation conflict. Subjects' CDQ scores were not related either to the actual level of riskiness of their military decisions, or to their perceived level of riskiness. Generalizations to real-world military decision making from risky-shift studies using the CDQ may not be warranted on the basis of currently available evidence, since the CDQ may not reflect actual military riskiness in the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the policy statements and programs of the Democratic Advisory Council concerning issues and topics on science for the 1960 Presidential campaign in the U.S. In recognition of science as an important issue during the campaign period, both the Democratic and Republican Parties have appointed advisory committees to consider science organization and its role in national and international affairs. This paper highlights the ceaseless attempt of the U.S. to reduce the intensity of the arms race with the general objective of providing a rational world security system by means other than sheer strength in military weapons, force, and alliances. Unfortunately, these efforts have not met with success despite fourteen years of disarmament negotiations within the United Nations.

The article cites two points on nuclear deterrence and a specific proposal based on those points. The first point that the author wants to cite is that deterrence through the threat of mutual assured destruction is not the best strategy for the United States. The second point is that to accept the threat of mutual assured destruction, would mean the creation of mass and deadly weapons. Reducing the level of overkill without requiring or producing any change in the strategy of nuclear deterrence is proposed by the author.

The article reports on issues and topics related to the armed forces and defense industry in the U.S. The Defense Department announced a new draft and reserve plan designed to overcome inequalities in the method of recruiting men. The Office of Defense Mobilization plans to have trained skeleton staffs in some secret headquarters outside Washington. A Defense Department directive was issued to procurement officials to avoid concentrating orders in the plants of a few suppliers in order to insure a sound mobilization base by a broad geographical spread.

The article reports developments related to global military organization and strategy. The Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at its Paris, France meeting in December 1954, approved the report of its Military Committee that defense planning be based on the use of atomic weapons. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles contended that the cuts in army manpower were the result of technological advances rather than any reappraisal of the world outlook, thus differing from Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson.

The article reports on what the U.S. Navy thinks on naval problems posed by the atomic bomb. Those interviewed include Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations, and senior naval officers designated by him. The Navy's planning in respect to changes brought by the atomic bomb must envisage the needs of three different situations: police functions requiring weapons of precision during peacetime, a war in which the atomic bomb is either not used at all or introduced only substantially after the onset of hostilities, and a war where atomic bombs are available in substantial numbers to both sides.

The article focuses on the American policy regarding the Vietnam crisis as of April 1965. The decision of carrying the war to North Vietnam amounts in effect to an admission of defeat. It has been obvious to anyone with an elementary knowledge of the situation that the war can only be won or lost in South Vietnam, and that aid from the North, while substantial, is not and has not been the decisive factor. According to experts, it is a guerrilla war, and the winning of such a war requires the allegiance, or at least the passive support, of the population.

The article focuses on the civil defense proposals in the U.S. Accordingly, it should prove useful to discuss here the wide range of questions civil defense raises concerning our national strategy and the arms interaction process. Perhaps the most far-reaching consequence of a civil defense program might be to pile a civil defense race upon the arms interaction process and thus open up, as it were a new cold war front in an area in which there has been something approaching tacit agreement. There would be an increased risk inherent in adding this new dimension to the arms race. A substantial civil defense program would be inordinately tension heightening because it would involve large scale community action.

The article presents the perspective of the U.S. on the Western Alliance nuclear deterrent power. The explosion of a nuclear device by Frances had generated debate on the British capability to counter nuclear strike. Regarding the future of nuclear deterrence, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has planned to integrate Western deterrent power and disperse the power among members of the coalition. It can be seen that the difference of international perspectives and interests between the U.S. and European counties is an underlying factor which tend to weaken NATO. The author explains the different proposals for the solution of the problem encountered by NATO. He suggests that an allied deterrence would be the perfect solution to the dilemma that now confronts NATO.

The article discusses the possible consequences on the continuance of inventing nuclear weapons by the superpower nations. Each of this nation's aim focuses on national security. The system of thinking based on security through military dominance has been their core strategy in achieving world peace. However, this mode of analysis is becoming obsolete and is far more positively dangerous in that it will bring about catastrophic damages to the humanity. At a certain point, where tests of thermonuclear weapons in the Pacific and Siberia dramatized this transition. Understandably, accidents and misunderstandings are always a possibility should this misadventure continues, thus, the term stalemate.

The article reports developments related to nuclear weapons in 1954. The testing of the first new series of weapons have taken place at the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) Pacific Proving Ground last March 1. The British defense plans are allegedly based on the premise that a prolonged period of tension is more likely now than a major war on a particular date. An amount of $44 million for the construction of power reactor was reportedly asked by the AEC in fiscal 1955.

The article presents a reprint of the article "For a Continental Defense," by James R. Killian, Jr. and A. G. Hill , which appeared in the November 1953 issue of "The Atlantic Monthly." It discusses the major tasks related to military responsibility including the capability to mount a counterattack on the enemy, control of high seas, defense of the North America and others.

The article discusses the fundamental challenges in the development of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems to intercept incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles and defend the country against heavy missile assault in the U.S. According to the article, the first American ABM system called Nike Zeus system did not have the capability to address complicated problem of a number of objects arriving simultaneously. The author points three different types of ABM systems and their problems of interaction, including a simple kind of system that can detect few incoming objects, a defense system for hardened facilities and a deliberate system to defend the population against a heavy attack.

The article discusses the development of political, military, and economic programs to improve the national security in Europe. The said programs are expected to make a significant change in the standards of living and to achieve a significant reduction in strategic and conventional armaments. The proposed measures should be properly balanced in each stage so that at no point could any state or group of states gain an important military and political advantage over the participants. In particular, the figures for arms reductions, reparations, and commercial credits are contributors in the military, political, and economic fields.

The article provides information on the defense expenditures that amounted to $53 billion in the U.S. in 1962. The expenditures is about 10 percent of the gross national income of the country. The published Soviet military budget is about two-thirds as large, it has been estimated to be equal with the U.S. Soviet defense expenditures are probably considerably smaller than those of the U.S. although they certainly absorb a higher proportion of their national income. However, the U.S. economy has averaged for some time a rate of growth of only about 2.5 to 3.5 percent per year.

The article discusses the problem concerning the use of technology for the benefit of human beings rather than to boost the ends of various corporate and military vested interests. World War II and the partitioning of Europe into spheres of influence have provided the immediate cause for the inevitable and predictable collision of the American and Soviet national colossi. The collision of unchained national sovereignties gave birth to the military-industrial complex. When it had been established, the influence of the military in the U.S. and the Soviet Union tended to expand and to become self-perpetuating.

The article reflects on the developments pertaining to open resistance of Greek universities on the military rule in Greece. The police measures continue when two university professors were exiled in remote mountain towns because of alleged resistance activities. The author asserts that everybody could get along a great deal better if esthetics is restored to a place of honor and pay more heed to philosophic ideals.

The article shares the author's insights on the containment effort of the U.S. to retain its position as a major power in Asia which results to a struggle with China. The author points out that the U.S. containment of China depends on the chain of military bases in China's periphery. Vietnam on the other hand, represents the chain's anchor in Southeast Asia with its vast ports and airfields and its commitment to the American troops. The author cites that the U.S. military bases in Japan are responsible for the country's defense, yet the U.S. failed to link Japan to the containment policy. He suggested that the U.S. should refrain from military maneuvering in order to force Japan into a deeper commitment with its interests and to encourage increasing contacts between Japan and China.

The article focuses on the implications of nuclear capabilities on international relations among nations. Government leaders seem to put greater emphasis on atomic capability as a deterrent factor from aggression. The U.S. felt the need to build and develop its nuclear capability to destroy the communist Soviet Union at a moment's notice, even if it has been to all intents, wholly destroyed. At the same time, Russians too, feel that they need to be able to wipe out its aggressor in retaliation if placed under attack.

The author reflects on the possibility for the U.S. government to apply the preemptive war military policy. He claims that the importance of the policy for both the Soviet Union and the U.S. has aroused public attention. The adoption of such doctrine by Soviet military leaders is claimed to be alarming because of the unrestrained dictatorship in the country. Moreover, he believes that the policy can help forged a peaceful world.

The article offers news briefs related to the weapons development and testing in the U.S. The Atomic Energy Commission confirmed on January 24, 1957 that a series of low-yield nuclear tests would be held at the Nevada proving ground beginning in late spring. Meanwhile, the second atomic submarine, Seawolf, made its first trial run on January 21, 1957. On the other hand, developments indicate the great emphasis placed on missiles in Washington's military thinking.

The article reports on issues and topics concernng the national security in the U.S. The twelve members of the commission created by Congress to investigate the government's security and loyalty program were named on November 10, 1955. The Department of Justice said it would recommend to Congress the abolition of the present requirement that an employee must be suspended before a hearing on security charges. The Army announced two modifications in security procedures, including the examination of Ground Infiltrators entering the service before rather than after induction and the separation of information in intelligence files pertaining to general unsuitability and unrelated to loyalty or subversion during evaluation.

The article presents several comments related to the new military policy centered on massive air power and atomic bombs proposed before the U.S. government in 1954. To columnist Doris Fleeson, the policy showed that the U.S. could never agree to any international control of military atomic energy and that the next war must be atomic from the moment of its inception. The same sentiment is shared by journalist Walter Millis who stressed the danger of relying more heavily on nuclear weapons. However, to Water Lippmann, the new policy is just a complement to improve its defense strategy. It was seconded by General Gruenther, who claimed that the U.S. needs a strong shield of ground forces to make the enemy concentrate and form targets for atomic attack.

The article offers news briefs regarding atomic weapons and defense in the U.S. R. C. Sprague, an electronic manufacturer, has been named by the Senate Armed Services Committee to head a study of the country's continental defenses. An eventual reduction of the U.S. forces in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is predicted by the defense secretary.

The article reports on policies and programs concerning the national security in the U.S. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has reviewed the Classification of Nuclear Weapons. In a report prepared by the AEC, a complete review was being made in classifying the weapons field with the aim of the revising the basic policy. There are several factors prompting the review, including the widespread knowledge today of weapons technology, the information exchange with Britain approved by Congress, and the distribution of atomic weapons within the military forces with the consequent increase in the numbers of persons familiar with them.

The article reports issues and topics related to military defense and strategy in Great Britain. The annual conference of the Labour party at Scarborough accepted the position that a future Labour government must have freedom to manufacture nuclear weapons in the absence of an international ban and that it was necessary to keep U.S. nuclear bases in Britain. The first Thor intermediate ballistic missile, with a range of 1,700 miles, was delivered to Britain. The thermonuclear warheads are to remain in U.S. ownership, custody, and control and the decision to fire a missile must be made jointly by the two governments.