GlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy

Public policy

Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

 organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration

Space exploration

Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....

, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction

Weapons of mass destruction

A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...

 and homeland security

Homeland security

Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

. With its editorial office located in Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the organization self-describes as a "leading source of background information and developing news stories" in these fields.

The organization's website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

 provides news and analysis on weapon

Weapon

A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

s systems and industry

Defense industry

The defense industry, also called the military industry, comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military materiel, equipment and facilities...

, as well as guides and directories of military and space related programs, entities, and facilities. GlobalSecurity.org also emphasizes primary political documentation—legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

, political debates, hearing

Hearing (law)

In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency.A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and often less formal...

s, and reports—materials that may or may not be available online

ONLINE

ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

 elsewhere, but which GlobalSecurity.org states that it processes and collates to make more accessible to its readers.

The website specifically targets "Subject Matter Experts", "Senior Leaders", "Junior Staff and Interns", "Concerned Citizens", and "News Reporters"; the latter stated to be the site's most important online target audience

Target market

A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy...

. The website is behind a MyPressPlus paywall and only eight articles are free per month, beyond which a monthly subscription fee of $5.95 is charged.

Independent reviews

Forbes.com

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

 reviewed the site as part of their "Best of the Web" directory. While praising GlobalSecurity for its "depth of military information" it criticized the basic graphics and that the site contained some dead links.

History

GlobalSecurity.org, created in 2000, was originally a fork

Fork (software development)

In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...

 of http://www.fas.org, the website of the Federation of American Scientists

Federation of American Scientists

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...

, the former employer of GlobalSecurity.org's founder, John Pike

John E. Pike

John E. Pike is a national security analyst and director and founder of GlobalSecurity.org. An easily accessible pundit, he was active in opposing the Strategic Defense Initiative, and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and consulting on Near-Earth objects that are potential threats to the...

. It uses some of Pike's content originally on the FAS site.