By
SB Anderson
We are pleased to present National Security Zone: War 2.0, a special report by NSZ Carnegie Fellow Sharon Weinberger, who spent the six months investigating social media and its opportunity to predict and perhaps even influence, future international events. The Pentagon is now funding efforts to develop models that can predict rising insurgencies, or even identify ways to undermine covert terrorist networks. Military-funded researchers and private companies are looking at how to apply these models … (Continue reading . . .)
By
National Security Zone
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A three-month investigation by a team of Medill student reporters has found significant gaps between the health care and support for the 665,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and their active-duty counterparts. The project, called Hidden Surge, found that many have been hastily channeled through a post-deployment process that has been plagued with difficulties, including reliance on self-reporting to identify health problems. These service members face unique challenges … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Tim McNulty
We are pleased to present The Data Minefield, a project that encompasses original research on the U.S. government’s use of data mining tools for national and homeland security, as well as similar uses around the world. Heading the project was our Carnegie Fellow, Paul Rosenzweig, former first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He is the coauthor (with James Jay Carafano) of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold … (Continue reading . . .)
By
SB Anderson
At the request of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, journalism graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill School spent 10 weeks this summer exploring how to best connect consumers with important online content in new and innovative ways. The team presented its findings and unveiled its products, business plan and research to the Medill community and interested business leaders on Aug. 24 in Evanston. (For a video archive of the August, 2011 presentation, please visit … (Continue reading . . .)
By
SB Anderson
For her investigation of U.S. special military operations, Medill National Security Journalism Initiative Fellow Tara McKelvey visited Pakistan to explore the role — and risks — of special operators working there. She reported from Swat Valley, northwest of Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden was killed by special forces troops this week. “I found that things on the ground, and in the air, were different from what U.S. and Pakistani officials had told me. Officially, Pakistanis … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Alex Campbell
WASHINGTON — The controversy began with an announcement on – where else? – Twitter. “Just got this,” Birgitta Jónsdóttir wrote on Jan. 7, adding in a second tweet: “usa government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. do they realize i am a member of parliament in iceland?” The Department of Justice had obtained a secret order for all of Jónsdóttir’s Twitter account information. Twitter was supposed to provide … (Continue reading . . .)
By
NSZ Editor
United States Special Operations forces target crisis situations — whether natural disasters, civil wars, or terrorist attacks. Special operators engage in risky, Hollywood-ready adventures, hunting down terrorists and militants in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. They also do less glamorous but vital aid work, such as providing food and water to hurricane victims in Haiti. Today, the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative unveils results of its “The Age of Special Warfare” project, which involved six months … (Continue reading . . .)
