Insecurity Complex

AMERICA’S most secret weapons designs have apparently been snatched by the Chinese. How did it happen? The story can be told in three parts: how competing interests within the U.S. bureaucracy created the conditions for espionage; how China uniquely is prepared to exploit those conditions at relatively low cost; and how the Clinton administration has handled the unfolding scandal and damage to national security.

Since the nuclear National Laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia) were established to meet the weapons needs of World War II and the Cold War, officials in charge have frequently confronted contradictory objectives. On the one hand, they need to attract the best possible talent with a campus-like atmosphere and the promise of full participation in the activities of the international scientific community; otherwise, they run the risk of attracting only the second-rate.

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Douglas H. Paal

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AMERICA’S most secret weapons designs have apparently been snatched by the Chinese. How did it happen? The story can be told in three parts: how competing interests within the U.S. bureaucracy created the conditions for espionage; how China uniquely is prepared to exploit those conditions at relatively low cost; and how the Clinton administration has handled the unfolding scandal and damage to national security.

Since the nuclear National Laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia) were established to meet the weapons needs of World War II and the Cold War, officials in charge have frequently confronted contradictory objectives. On the one hand, they need to attract the best possible talent with a campus-like atmosphere and the promise of full participation in the activities of the international scientific community; otherwise, they run the risk of attracting only the second-rate.