Emergence of the NBC Terrorism Debate: The United States and the "Third Wave of Vulnerability" (From New Face of Terrorism: Threats from Weapons of Mass Destruction, P 1-21, 2000, Nadine Gurr and Benjamin Cole, -- See NCJ-190875)

• NCJ Number: 190876
• Author(s): Nadine Gurr; Benjamin Cole
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter details the emergence of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons.

Abstract

Since the successful development of the first nuclear weapons in 1945, debates about terrorism involving NBC weapons have recurred in every decade, with varying levels of intensity. The debate in the 1990's was different from the previous debates because of its impact upon mainstream national security, with much of the most alarming rhetoric originating in the United States. Since the Second World War ended, this country has experienced three waves of vulnerability. The first followed the test of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union in 1949. The second was a consequence of the superpower nuclear arms race. And, from 1995, the third has been NBC terrorism. Previous to this time, the United States had experienced low levels of domestic terrorism. The issue of terrorism has been a particular problem since the 1970's, when ethno-nationalist groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization and political groups such as the Red Army Faction were at their peak. In the wake of the end of the Cold War, defense communities re-assessed the risks and challenges facing the United States. The outcome was that the primary threats to international security were perceived to come from a greater number of smaller sources, such as regional states seeking weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in pursuit of regional political ambitions, and transnational threats from nonstate actors involving terrorism, crime, and narcotics. During the Cold War, this country knew exactly who its enemies were, and there was a peculiar comfort and safety in this knowledge. The new sense of vulnerability was heightened by the fact that the traditional means of dealing with WMD threats through deterrence, arms control, and political engagement were ineffective for dealing with these new threats. The origins of this debate have established many assumptions and preconceptions concerning the threat from NBC terrorism, such as the inevitability of further incidents, the available technology to the terrorists, and terrorism in the name of religion. This continues to permeate much of the thinking driving the debate. 55 notes