Lists of journals, collections, blogs, and other academic resources for use by students studying national and international security.
Blog Roll
Most mornings, SPL digests news and commentary from the following security, defense, and law blogs. Sign up to SPL’s twitter feed to access this digest.
- Blogs of War
- The Cipher Brief
- Crossroads: Cybersecurity Law & Policy (College of Law)
- Defense News
- Impunity Watch (College of Law)
- Jurist Paper Chase
- Lawfare
- Legal Insurrection
- Just Security
- Opinio Juris
- Secrecy News
- Small Wars Journal
- Strife Blog
- War on the Rocks
Security Journals
The following list of journals is provided as an educational resource to SPL students and faculty. It is not a complete list of journals to which security and legal scholars can subscribe or submit their work, and we welcome your additions to the list (send to Martin Walls at mwalls@syr.edu). SPL neither endorses nor ranks the following journals.
Click on journal titles to browse issues:
Collections, Databases, & Aggregate Research Sites
National & International Security
- ACLU National Security Project
The ACLU’s National Security Project advocates for national security policies that are consistent with the Constitution, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights. - ADL Terrorist Symbols Database
Symbols serve several purposes for terrorist groups. Appearing on flags, communiqués, the Internet, and as graffiti, they announce a group’s identity and purpose, deepen its sense of unity, appeal to the like-minded, and frighten those to whom the group is opposed. - Chinese Military Power
A compendium of online resources about Chinese military policy & capabilities. - Digital National Security Archive
The Digital National Security Archive contains the most comprehensive set of declassified government documents available. - EBSCO International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center
This database offers information on virtually every dimension of security and counter-terrorism.r - Federation of American Scientists Resources
FAS provides many resources that it has developed over its many years for use by the general public. - Global Terrorism Database
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world - Islam, Law, & War
SPL’s online portal to datasets, white papers, conference material and more examining conflict, postconflict, security, and peace in muslim-majority nations. - National Security Archive
The National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions: investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified US documents, global advocate of open government, and indexer and publisher of former secrets. - Nuclear Threat Initiative Data
NTI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and to work to build the trust, transparency, and security that are preconditions to the ultimate fulfillment of the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s goals and ambitions. - Qualitative Data Repository
Based at Syracuse University, QDR selects, ingests, curates, archives, manages, durably preserves, and provides access to digital data used in qualitative and multi-method social inquiry. - RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents
The RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) is a compilation of data from 1968 through 2009. - Revolution in Military Affairs
Listings by categories of many hundreds of articles and studies on the “revolution in military affairs,” information warfare, and asymmetric warfare. - Social Science Data Repository
UCLA’s comprehensive list of social science data repositories covering national and international data, including numerical data, news archives, maps, interactive data, and more. - START Global Terrorism Database (University of Maryland)
GTD is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2015 (with annual updates planned for the future). - Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Several datasets overviewing peace and conflict operations worldwide. - Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Homeland Security
Listings by categories of many hundreds of articles and studies on terrorism, counterterrorism, and homeland security. - Thomas (Library of Congress’ Posting of Legislative Information)
Federal legislative information freely available to the public. - Transactional Records Clearinghouse
An source for independent information regarding federal enforcement, staffing, and spending. - United Nations Databases
A collection of official documents and bibliographic databases. - UN Resources on Peace & Security
A comprehensive listing of UN peace and security initiatives and resources. - Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2013
The DBIR combines the expertise of 19 organizations from around the globe.
Freedom of Information, Secrecy, & Declassification
- Access Reports
Access Reports provides the most comprehensive coverage available of access issues in the United States, Canada, and abroad, including the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Sunshine Act, declassification, and more. - FAS: Secrecy News
Secrecy News reports on new developments in government secrecy and provides public access to documentary resources on secrecy, intelligence, and national security policy, written by Steven Aftergood. - First Amendment Center: How to File a FOIA Request
The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government. - FreedomInfo.org
Freedominfo.org is a one-stop portal that describes best practices, consolidates lessons learned, explains campaign strategies and tactics, and links the efforts of freedom of information advocates around the world. - The Freedom of Information Center
The Freedom of Information Center is a reference and research library in the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism on the campus of the University of Missouri. - IRE: Public Right to Records
Know how to use FOI laws and how to get help when government officials throw roadblocks in your path. - National Freedom of Information Coalition
A nonpartisan alliance of citizen-driven nonprofit freedom of information organizations, academic and First Amendment centers, journalistic societies and attorneys.