Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was passed by the United States Congress in 1978 following an intensive investigation of the activities of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies by the Church Committee.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review is an appellate court for the review of matters related to espionage and counterintelligence.
Forensic Geology in Military or Intelligence Operations
Forensic geology is strictly defined as the use of geologic principles and techniques to establish facts or provide evidence used in a court of law. A broader working definition includes the use of the same principles and techniques to establish facts or sequences of events regardless of whether they are used in court.
Forensic Science
Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject used for examining crime scenes and gathering evidence to be used in prosecution of offenders in a court of law. Forensic science techniques are also used to examine compliance with international agreements regarding weapons of mass destruction.
Forensic Voice and Tape Analysis
Methods of forensic voice and tape analysis first entered the limelight during the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s, and the basic methodology—if not the tools and precision with which the techniques are practiced—has changed little since. Much of this field is concerned with identification or elimination using voice-stress analysis, but controversy over techniques and their admissibility as evidence remains.
France, Counter-Terrorism Policy
Counter-terrorism is the use of military, law enforcement, intelligence, and other resources to identify, circumvent, and neutralize terrorist groups within a country. Like all western European nations, France has been forced by events since the 1960s to develop a response to terrorism.
France, Intelligence and Security
Although France has employed espionage agents since the Middle Ages, the modern intelligence community emerged in the nineteenth century. As France expanded its boundaries during the Napoleonic era and Age of Empire, military intelligence was equally crucial to the success of battlefield operations and the security of territorial government outposts.
French Underground During World War II, Communication and Codes
By 1940, Nazi Germany had invaded several Eastern European nations and turned its attention to gaining control of Western Europe. With strategic planning reminiscent of World War I, the Nazis planned to forcefully invade France, Belgium, and Holland.
Fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form one heavier atomic nucleus. As an example, a proton (the nucleus of a hydrogen atom) and a neutron will, under the proper circumstances, combine to form a deuteron (the nucleus of an atom of "heavy" hydrogen).
G–2
The term G–2 refers to the intelligence staff of a unit in the United States Army. It is contrasted with G–1 (personnel), G–3 (operations), and G–4 (supply).
GAO (General Accounting Office, United States)
The United States General Accounting Office, or GAO, is an independent agency charged with investigating expenditures by the federal government, as well as activities associated with those expenditures. The GAO issues some 1,000 reports a year, and since September 2001, its evaluation of security measures undertaken by the federal government have provided a key means for assessing the degree to which various agencies and departments are prepared, or not prepared, for terrorist threats.
Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer
The gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS) is an instrument used to analyze the molecular and ionic composition of chemical compounds. GC/MS technology combines two widely used laboratory techniques: gas chromatography (GC), which separates and identifies compounds in complex mixtures, and mass spectrometry (MS), which determines the molecular weight and ionic components of individual compounds.
General Services Administration, United States
The General Services Administration (GSA) is one of the three central management agencies of the federal government, along with the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget. It affects almost $66 billion in federal spending, or about a quarter of total procurement dollars at the government's disposal, and manages assets collectively valued at almost $500 billion.
Genetic Code
Although the genetic code is not a "code" in the sense normally used in intelligence and espionage terminology, a fundamental understanding of the genetic code is essential to understanding the molecular basis of advanced DNA and genetic tests that are increasingly important in forensic science and identification technology.
Genetic Information: Ethics, Privacy, and Security Issues
Genetic information refers to all of the known genetic data for all organisms, but it can also refer to the genetic make–up of one individual or one family. Initially, genetics was highly statistical and relied on the expression of particular characters in various family members to determine a pattern of inheritance and estimate risks of recurrence.
Genetic Technology
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), or an organism's genetic material—inherited from one generation to the next—holds many clues that have unlocked some of the mysteries behind human behavior, disease, evolution, and aging. As technological advances lead to a better under-standing of DNA, new DNA-based genetic technologies will emerge.
Genomics
Genomics is the study of genes and their function in relation to the environment. In contrast to genetics, which focuses on genes and inheritance, the goal of genomics is to understand genes, their products and how, when, and why these products are synthesized.
Geologic and Topographical Influences on Military and Intelligence Operations
Geology and topography have placed important constraints on military operations since the beginning of organized warfare. The movement of troops on foot, on horseback, or in motorized vehicles can be hindered by topography and soil conditions.
Geospatial Imagery
Geospatial imagery encompasses a wide range of graphical products that convey information about natural phenomena and human activities occurring on Earth's surface. The term can include color and panchromatic (black and white) aerial photographs, multispectral or hyperspectral digital imagery (including portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that lie beyond the range of human vision), and products such as shaded relief maps or three-dimensional images produced from digital elevation models.
Germany, Counter-Terrorism Policy
Since the 1972 Olympics in Munich, counter-terrorism—the use of military, law enforcement, intelligence, and other resources to identify, circumvent, and neutralize terrorist groups within a country—has been among the principal security concerns in Germany. This priority has changed little with the reunification of the country in 1990; rather, the states of eastern Germany have been integrated into the federal system, which provides the framework for response to terrorist threats.
Germany, Intelligence and Security
Germany is an active, key participant in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), working closely with neighboring European nations and the United States on international economic, intelligence, and security issues. However, Germany weathered a turbulent and sometimes violent past century.
Gestapo
The Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo, a German secret police force, was created in 1933 after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The Gestapo was created to help solidify Nazi control by identifying and arresting anti-Nazi agents in Germany.
GIS
GIS is the common abbreviation for Geographic Information Systems, a powerful and widely used computer database and software program that allows scientists to link geographically referenced information related to any number of variables to a map of a geographical area. GIS allows its users to analyze and display data using digitized maps.
Global Communications, United States Office
President George W. Bush created the Office of Global Communication (OGC) through executive order in January, 2003.
Glomar Explorer
The Hughes Glomar Explorer was a salvage ship built for a clandestine Central Intelligence Agency mission to retrieve a sunken Soviet submarine. The United States government approached billionaire Howard Hughes in the late 1960s with a proposal to build the vessel under the guise of a business venture to mine manganese nodules off the ocean floor.
Government Ethics (USOGE), United States Office
The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is charged with setting standards intended to regulate and ensure ethical conduct of personnel within the executive branch. The office's mission is to prevent personnel from using their position in the federal government for personal gain (monetary or otherwise), and to prevent fraud and abuses of power.
GPS
Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system consisting of a constellation of 24 navigational satellites orbiting Earth, launched and maintained by the U.S. military.
Great Game
In intelligence history, the "Great Game" described a complex rivalry—characterized by wars, assassinations, and espionage conspiracies—between Britain and Russia for control of Central Asia and the Near East.
Greece, Intelligence and Security
Agents of espionage have been employed in the area corresponding to the modern nation of Greece for thousands of years. Spies are mentioned in the works the philosophers and playwrights of ancient Greece, giving the Grecian intelligence community one of the longest lineages and traditions in the world.
GSM Encryption
GSM stands for either "group special mobile" or "general system for mobile communications," a protocol or standard for digital cellular communications. GSM encryption is the means by which phone conversations on networks using GSM are scrambled, such that they cannot be descrambled and intercepted by others.