The strategy and tactics of the European theatre were discussed with me by Paul and by Warren, colonels in US Army Intelligence and Infantry, respectively, who had served extensively in West Germany. Though Los Alamos is significant and of interest in and of itself given its historical association to national security, study of Los Alamos is further important for understanding how the business of security and military research permeates everyday social life – perhaps this is even more germane given the recent release of the Washington Post report on ‘Top Secret America’ which indicates that more than 850,000 Americans currently have Top Secret level clearances (presumably many more have Secret or other clearances, indicating that the security state permeates, to a significant degree, the fabric of American life) –, accessed 20 July 2010.ĥ. A further description of this longitudinal research project, the Center for the Ethnographic and Historical Research of Los Alamos and National Security, is available at, accessed 20 July 2010.Ĥ. While no informants discussed any classified material with me, it was often the case that they were more at ease talking anonymously, and felt they could be more candid about non-classified aspects of their work and experience. Pseudonyms are used for all research informants as a consequence of anonymity agreements. Unless otherwise noted all interviews were conducted in Los Alamos. The interviews concern the time period of the Manhattan Project through the present. Several hundred interviews have been conducted with scientists, engineers, technicians, support staff, and townspeople not directly employed by the Laboratory (teachers, shop owners, bus drivers, etc.). The participant-observation included working in four groups within the Laboratory, including Personnel Security, Classification, and Nuclear Technologies, as well as in sections of the Department of Energy and the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and holding a security clearance. The present article draws on participant-observation, historical-archival, and comparative research carried out in and pertaining to Los Alamos since 1990. This film depicts one of the peculiarities of Los Alamos life: the way that residents take regular explosives tests in stride, hardly noticing them.ģ. Film The Atomic City, Paramount Pictures 1952. Of course, the encouragement and support of Islamic fundamentalism in strategic locations was itself a part of Cold War policy, and has been commented upon extensively.Ģ.
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