Archive
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. VA Education Benefits: VA Needs to Improve Program Management and Provide More Timely Information to Students. GAO-13-338, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-338
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654793.pdf
2. Spectrum Management: Federal Relocation Costs and Auction Revenues. GAO-13-472, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-472
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654795.pdf
Testimonies
1. Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication through Enhanced Performance Management and Oversight, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
GAO-13-590T, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-590T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654610.pdf
2. Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Observations on States’ Role, Liabilities at DOD and Hardrock Mining Sites, and Litigation Issues, by David Trimble, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-633T, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-633T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654791.pdf
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Homeland Security: An Overall Strategy Is Needed to Strengthen Disease Surveillance in Livestock and Poultry. GAO-13-424, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-424
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654750.pdf
Podcast – http://www.gao.gov/multimedia/podcasts/654743
2. Funding for 10 States’ Programs Supported by Four Environmental Protection Agency Categorical Grants. GAO-13-504R, May 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-504R
Testimonies
1. Immigration Enforcement: Preliminary Observations on DHS’s Overstay Enforcement Efforts, by Rebecca Gambler, director, homeland security and justice, before the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, House Committee on Homeland Security. GAO-13-602T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-602T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654753.pdf
2. Telecommunications Networks: Addressing Potential Security Risks of Foreign-Manufactured Equipment, by Mark L. Goldstein, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-652T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-652T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654764.pdf
3. Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Senate Committee on Appropriations. GAO-13-617T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-617T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654758.pdf
Faded Colors: From the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) to the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)
Source: Naval Postgraduate Center
After the events of 9/11, Homeland Security Presidential Directive – 3 (HSPD – 3) established the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) to provide a comprehensive and effective means to di sseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to federal, state, and local authorities and the American people. Under HSAS, threat levels were raised or lowered 16 times, but never below Threat Level Yellow (Elevated Condition). HSAS should ha ve been straightforward and easy to understand. What evolved was confusion over alerts, lack of specific threat information, concerns over costs to institute and maintain protective measures, and questions regarding what was expected of citizens. Governmen t agencies, the private sector, and the general population became immune with the threat level remaining at or above Yellow.
HSAS was woefully misunderstood not just by the general population, but also within federal, state, and local governments. Ridicul ed by comedians, HSAS gradually began to disappear, to the point where it was necessary to search to find the current threat level, whereas it had once been prominently posted. The purpose of this thesis is to review HSAS and the associated problems, look at comparable international systems, and present an alternative recommendation to provide timely and informative warnings of terrorist threats, and restore credibility by merging HSAS with the already existing DoD force protection conditions.
Tentative Eligibility Determinations; Presumptive Eligibility for Psychosis and Other Mental Illness
Tentative Eligibility Determinations; Presumptive Eligibility for Psychosis and Other Mental Illness
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (via Federal Register)
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulation authorizing tentative eligibility determinations to comply with amended statutory authority concerning minimum active-duty service requirements. This document also codifies in regulation statutory presumptions of medical care eligibility for veterans of certain wars and conflicts who developed psychosis within specified time periods and for Persian Gulf War veterans who developed a mental illness other than psychosis within 2 years after service and within 2 years after the end of the Persian Gulf War period.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Diversity Management: Trends and Practices in the Financial Services Industry and Agencies after the Recent Financial Crisis. GAO-13-238, April 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-238
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653815.pdf
2. Medicare: Legislative Modifications Have Resulted In Payment Adjustments for Most Hospitals. GAO-13-334, April 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-334
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653854.pdf
3. Defense Management: Additional Information Needed to Improve Military Departments’ Strategies for Corrosion Prevention and Control. GAO-13-379, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-379
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654676.pdf
4. K-12 Education: States’ Test Security Policies and Procedures Varied. GAO-13-495R, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-495R
Testimonies
1. Elder Justice: Federal Government Has Taken Some Steps but Could Do More to Combat Elder Financial Exploitation, by Kay E. Brown, director, education, workforce, and income security, before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-626T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-626T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654664.pdf
2. Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Strategies for Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieving Cost Savings, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Senate Committee on the Budget. GAO-13-631T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-631T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654669.pdf
3. Oil and Gas Management: Continued Attention to Interior’s Revenue Collection and Human Capital Challenges Is Needed, by Frank Rusco, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care, and Entitlements, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-13-647T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-647T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654668.pdf
Defense Officials Aim to Reduce Adverse Effects of Furloughs
Defense Officials Aim to Reduce Adverse Effects of Furloughs
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
Following Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s announcement yesterday that most Defense Department civilian employees will experience up to 11 furlough days from early July through September, senior defense officials emphasized their goal to reduce adverse effects on the workforce and the mission.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters on background, two senior defense officials discussed details of the furlough, exemptions and stressed their intent to lessen its effects.
One official said it appears that about 15 percent — 120,000 of the department’s roughly 800,000 civilian employees — will be exempt from the furlough, and that number could rise once issues involving intelligence personnel are resolved.
While the furloughs will save the Defense Department $1.8 billion, “it’s not something that we wanted to do,” the official said.
Part of the department’s plan to reduce the furlough’s effects is to ask Congress allow shifting funds from one account to another, the official said.
The services previously had taken steps in an attempt to avoid furlough, the official noted, with the Air Force stopping flights for 12 combat-coded squadrons and the Army canceling most of its combat training rotations.
While all the services will experience furloughs, the official said, the Navy is getting a critical exemption for its civilian employees that work in shipyards and do nuclear maintenance, citing long periods required for maintenance and very little ability to catch up with maintenance on submarines and carriers.
The official acknowledged furloughs will reduce efficiency across the department.
+ Furlough memorandum (PDF)
+ OPM Frequently Asked Questions: Furlough
+ Special Report: Sequestration
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimony
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Climate Change: Future Federal Adaptation Efforts Could Better Support Local Infrastructure Decision Makers. GAO-13-242, April 12.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-242
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653740.pdf
2. Data Center Consolidation: Strengthened Oversight Needed to Achieve Cost Savings Goal. GAO-13-378, April 23.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-378
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654091.pdf
3. Defense Infrastructure: Communities Need Additional Guidance and Information to Improve Their Ability to Adjust to DOD Installation Closure or Growth. GAO-13-436, May 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-436
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654598.pdf
Testimony
1. Data Center Consolidation: Strengthened Oversight Needed to Achieve Billions of Dollars in Savings, by David A. Powner, director, information technology management issues, before the Subcommittee on Government Operations, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-13-627T, May 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-627T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654606.pdf
Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields
Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields
Source: National Research Council
The U.S. military does not believe its soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines should be engaged in combat with adversaries on a "level playing field." Our combat individuals enter engagements to win. To that end, the United States has used its technical prowess and industrial capability to develop decisive weapons that overmatch those of potential enemies. In its current engagement—what has been identified as an "era of persistent conflict"— the nation’s most important weapon is the dismounted soldier operating in small units. Today’s soldier must be prepared to contend with both regular and irregular adversaries. Results in Iraq and Afghanistan show that, while the U.S. soldier is a formidable fighter, the contemporary suite of equipment and support does not afford the same high degree of overmatch capability exhibited by large weapons platforms—yet it is the soldier who ultimately will play the decisive role in restoring stability.
Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields establishes the technical requirements for overmatch capability for dismounted soldiers operating individually or in small units. It prescribes technological and organizational capabilities needed to make the dismounted soldier a decisive weapon in a changing, uncertain, and complex future environment and provides the Army with 15 recommendations on how to focus its efforts to enable the soldier and tactical small unit (TSU) to achieve overmatch.
Taxes: Afghan Government Has Levied Nearly a Billion Dollars in Business Taxes on Contractors Supporting U.S. Government Efforts in Afghanistan
Source: Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
Since 2008, the Afghan Ministry of Finance (MOF) has levied over $921 million in business taxes, and associated penalties, on 43 contractors that support U.S. government efforts in Afghanistan. DOD, INL, and USAID have agreements with the Afghan government that provide exemption from certain Afghan taxes. SIGAR identified instances where contractors were taxed despite these agreements. For example, $93 million of the $921 million represented taxes levied on business receipts and annual corporate income—a tax category that both the U.S. and Afghan governments have agreed should be exempt for contractors operating under covered agreements. SIGAR also identified instances in which the MOF assessed tax liabilities on contractors even though the contractors held MOF-issued tax exemption certificates. For example, the MOF issued Business Receipts Tax and annual corporate income tax assessments on some DOD contractors, even though the contractors should have been exempt from both tax categories. Three DOD contractors in SIGAR’s sample that held MOF-issued tax exemption certificates were improperly assessed nearly $59 million in business receipts and annual corporate income taxes. U.S. and MOF officials disagree about the tax-exempt status of subcontractors. MOF officials assert that the DOD and State INL agreements provide tax-exempt status only to prime contractors, and not subcontractors, whereas U.S. government officials contend that the agreements provide tax exemption for all non-Afghan companies (both prime and subcontractors) supporting U.S. government efforts. Given these ongoing disputes and the ambiguous nature of the MOF-issued assessments, the 43 contractors in SIGAR’s sample have paid approximately $67 million of the $921 million in total tax assessments, and most still face unresolved assessments. As a result of the outstanding assessments, the MOF has restricted contractors’ freedom of movement and refused to renew business licenses, and the Afghan government has even arrested some contractor personnel. The combined effect is the potential interruption of support to U.S. military operations.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Agricultural Research: Two USDA Agencies Can Enhance Safeguards against Project Duplication and Strengthen Collaborative Planning. GAO-13-255, April 12.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-255
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653753.pdf
2. Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service’s Internal Controls. GAO-13-420R, May 13.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-420R
3. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: Shift toward Partner-Country Treatment Programs Will Require Better Information on Results. GAO-13-460, April 12.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-460
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653767.pdf
4. Defense Logistics: The Department of Defense’s Report on Strategic Seaports Addressed All Congressionally Directed Elements. GAO-13-511R, May 13.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-511R
NSA — Untangling the Web: A Guide to Internet Research
Untangling the Web: A Guide to Internet Research (PDF)
Source: National Security Agency
Last updated 2/28/07. Recently released via FOIA request. From FCW:
The National Security Agency just released “Untangling the Web,” an unclassified how-to guide to Internet search. It’s a sprawling document, clocking in at over 650 pages, and is the product of many years of research and updating by a NSA information specialist whose name is redacted on the official release, but who is identified as Robyn Winder of the Center for Digital Content on the Freedom of Information Act request that led to its release.
It’s a droll document on many levels. First and foremost, it’s funny to think of officials who control some of the most sophisticated supercomputers and satellites ever invented turning to a .pdf file for tricks on how to track down domain name system information on an enemy website. But “Untangling the Web” isn’t for code-breakers or wire-tappers. The target audience seems to be staffers looking for basic factual information, like the preferred spelling of Kazakhstan, or telephonic prefix information for East Timor.
Hat tip: PW
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Bureau of the Public Debt: Areas for Improvement in Information Systems Controls. GAO-13-416R, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-416R
2. Federal Reserve Banks: Areas for Improvement in Information Systems Controls. GAO-13-419R, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-419R
3. Preliminary Results of Work on FAA Facility Conditions and Workplace Safety. GAO-13-509R, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-509R
Testimonies
1. Transportation Worker Identification Credential: Card Reader Pilot Results Are Unreliable; Security Benefits Should Be Reassessed, by Stephen M. Lord, director, homeland security and justice, before the Subcommittee on Government Operations, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-13-610T, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-610T
2. Federal Retirement Processing: OPM Is Pursuing Incremental Information Technology Improvements after Canceling a Modernization Plagued by Management Weaknesses, by Valerie C. Melvin, director, information management and technology resource issues. GAO-13-580T, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-580T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654450.pdf
3. Missile Defense: Opportunity to Refocus on Strengthening Acquisition Management, by Cristina T. Chaplain, director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Senate Committee on Armed Services. GAO-13-604T, May 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-604T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654457.pdf
Cyber Infrastructure Protection: Vol. II
Cyber Infrastructure Protection: Vol. II
Source: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College
Increased reliance on the Internet and other networked systems raise the risks of cyber attacks that could harm our nation’s cyber infrastructure. The cyber infrastructure encompasses a number of sectors including: the nation’s mass transit and other transportation systems; banking and financial systems; factories; energy systems and the electric power grid; and telecommunications, which increasingly rely on a complex array of computer networks, including the public Internet. However, many of these systems and networks were not built and designed with security in mind. Therefore, our cyber infrastructure contains many holes, risks, and vulnerabilities that may enable an attacker to cause damage or disrupt cyber infrastructure operations. Threats to cyber infrastructure safety and security come from hackers, terrorists, criminal groups, and sophisticated organized crime groups; even nation-states and foreign intelligence services conduct cyber warfare. Cyber attackers can introduce new viruses, worms, and bots capable of defeating many of our efforts. Costs to the economy from these threats are huge and increasing. Government, business, and academia must therefore work together to understand the threat and develop various modes of fighting cyber attacks, and to establish and enhance a framework to assess the vulnerability of our cyber infrastructure and provide strategic policy directions for the protection of such an infrastructure. This book addresses such questions as: How serious is the cyber threat? What technical and policy-based approaches are best suited to securing telecommunications networks and information systems infrastructure security? What role will government and the private sector play in homeland defense against cyber attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, financial, and logistical systems? What legal impediments exist concerning efforts to defend the nation against cyber attacks, especially in preventive, preemptive, and retaliatory actions?
See also: Cyber Infrastructure Protection (2011)
New From the GAO
New From the GAO
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Transportation Worker Identification Credential: Card Reader Pilot Results Are Unreliable; Security Benefits Need to be Reassessed. GAO-13-198, May 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-198
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654432.pdf
2. Internal Revenue Service: Preliminary Observations on the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request. GAO-13-599R, May 3.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-599R
Testimonies
1. Social Security Administration: Preliminary Observations on the Death Master File, by Daniel Bertoni, director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. GAO-13-574T, May 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-574T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654412.pdf
2. Homeland Security: DHS and TSA Continue to Face Challenges Developing and Acquiring Screening Technologies, by Stephen M. Lord, director, forensic audits and investigative services, before the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, House Committee on Homeland Security. GAO-13-469T, May 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-469T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654420.pdf
3. Department of Energy: Observations on Project and Program Cost Estimating in NNSA and the Office of Environmental Management, by David Trimble, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Senate Committee on Armed Services. GAO-13-510T, May 8. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-510T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654424.pdf
Predictors of psychiatric disorders in combat Veterans
Predictors of psychiatric disorders in combat Veterans
Source: BMC Psychiatry
Background
Most previous research that has examined mental health among Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) combatants has relied on self-report measures to assess mental health outcomes; few studies have examined predictors of actual mental health diagnoses. The objective of this longitudinal investigation was to identify predictors of psychiatric disorders among Marines who deployed to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Methods
The study sample consisted of 1113 Marines who had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Demographic and psychosocial predictor variables from a survey that all Marines in the sample had completed were studied in relation to subsequent psychiatric diagnoses. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the influence of the predictors on the occurrence of psychiatric disorders.
Results
In a sample of Marines with no previous psychiatric disorder diagnoses, 18% were diagnosed with a new-onset psychiatric disorder. Adjusting for other variables, the strongest predictors of overall psychiatric disorders were female gender, mild traumatic brain injury symptoms, and satisfaction with leadership. Service members who expressed greater satisfaction with leadership were about half as likely to develop a mental disorder as those who were not satisfied. Unique predictors of specific types of mental disorders were also identified.
Conclusions
Overall, the study’s most relevant result was that two potentially modifiable factors, low satisfaction with leadership and low organizational commitment, predicted mental disorder diagnoses in a military sample. Additional research should aim to clarify the nature and impact of these factors on combatant mental health.
Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military 2012
Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military 2012
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
In FY12, the Military Services received a total of 3,374 reports of sexual assault involving Service members as either victims or subjects, which represents a 6 percent increase from the 3,192 reports made in FY11.
Report on North Korea’s Military and Security Developments
Report on North Korea’s Military and Security Developments (PDF)
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) remains one of the United States’ most critical security challenges in Northeast Asia. North Korea remains a security threat because of its willingness to undertake provocative and destabilizing behavior, including attacks on the Republic of Korea (ROK), its pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, and its willingness to proliferate weapons in contravention of its international agreements and United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2013
Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2013 (PDF)
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (PRC) continues to pursue a long – term, comprehensive military modernization program designed to improve the capacity of its armed forces to fight and win short-duration, high-intensity regional military conflict . Preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait appears to remain the principal focus and primary driver of China’s military investment. However, as China’s interests have grown and as it has gained greater influence in the international system, its military modernization has also become increasingly focus ed on investments in military capabilities to conduct a wider range of missions beyond its immediate territorial concerns, including counter – piracy, peace keeping, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, and regional military operations. Some of these missions and capabilities can address international security challenges, while other s could serve more narrowly-defined PRC interests and objectives, including advancing territorial claims and building influence abroad.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Federal Employees’ Compensation Act: Case Examples Illustrate Vulnerabilities That Could Result in Improper Payments or Overlapping Benefits. GAO-13-386, April 3.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-386
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653523.pdf
2. VA Construction: Additional Actions Needed to Decrease Delays and Lower Costs of Major Medical-Facility Projects. GAO-13-302, April 4.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-302
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653586.pdf
CRS — Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy
Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy (PDF)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via U.S. Department of State Foreign Press Center)
Kuwait was pivotal to two decades of U.S. efforts to end a strategic threat posed by Iraq, because of its location, its role as the object of past Iraqi aggression, and its close cooperation with the United States. Kuwait is a key to the U.S. ability to act militarily, if necessary, in the northern Persian Gulf region now that all U.S. forces have left Iraq. Kuwait’s relations with the postSaddam government in Iraq have been hampered by long-standing territorial, economic, and political issues unresolved from the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, but those issues have been narrowed significantly since 2011. Kuwait is increasingly suspicious of Iranian intentions in the Gulf, aligning Kuwait with U.S. efforts to contain Iranian power in the Gulf and prevent Iran from exerting undue influence in post-withdrawal Iraq. Still, Kuwait maintains relatively normal economic and political relations with Iran so as not to provoke Iran militarily or prompt it to try to empower pro-Iranian elements in Kuwait.
Although Kuwait’s foreign policy fluctuates little, its political system has been in turmoil since 2006, and has deteriorated significantly since late 2012. Previously, political disputes in Kuwait had consisted of opposition within the elected National Assembly to the political dominance of the Al Sabah family. These disputes aggravated—and been aggravated by—schisms within rival branches of the ruling Al Sabah. The disputes produced five dissolutions of the National Assembly and new elections since 2006, the latest of which occurred on October 8, 2012, requiring new elections that were held on December 1, 2012.
During 2011-2012, there were relatively small demonstrations in Kuwait by opposition groups over official corruption, security force brutality, citizenship eligibility, and other issues. However, protests expanded significantly in late 2012 to challenge Sabah regime efforts to shape the December 1, 2012 elections to its advantage. Most oppositionists boycotted the December 1 elections, lowering the turnout but producing an overwhelmingly pro-government Assembly. Since the election, the opposition has continued its battle to reduce Sabah power through public protests, but the demonstrations sometimes are suspended after compromises with the government.
Even though opposition to Sabah rule has grown, the opposition still largely confines its demands to limiting Sabah power rather than ending the family’s rule. And, Kuwait remains a relatively wealthy society where most citizens do not want to risk their economic well-being to try to bring about the downfall of Al Sabah rule through violence. To try to contain the unrest, the government has used financial largesse—budgets loaded with subsidies and salary increases—as well as some repressive measures, including beatings and imprisonments. But, the many years of political paralysis have led to some economic stagnation as well, because parliamentary approval for several major investment projects, such as development of major oil fields in northern Kuwait, has been held up due to the infighting. The lack of economic vibrancy led to strikes in several economic sectors in 2012.
On other regional issues, in part because of its leadership turmoil, Kuwait tends to defer to consensus positions within the Gulf Cooperation Council; this deference is evident in Kuwait’s stances on the Israel-Palestinian dispute as well as on the uprisings in Yemen and Syria. On the uprising in Bahrain, in March 2011, Kuwait joined a Gulf Cooperation Council intervention on the side of the government, but unlike Saudi Arabia and UAE, Kuwait sent naval and not ground forces.
