NCJ Number
151205
Date Published
1994
Length
252 pages
Annotation
This book examines how emerging technology can help nations cope with the explosion of regional conflict and terrorism, especially in the form of ethnic cleansing, and of drug trafficking and other international crime since the end of the Cold War; it also recommends how nations can cooperate and coordinate peacemaking and peacekeeping efforts.
Abstract
A major theme of the book is that political changes since 1989 have made the world far more unstable and dangerous than it was previously. The ways in which the international community addresses international crime, particularly terrorism and drug trafficking, need rethinking. The author assesses the technological developments in modern weapons and advances in detecting explosives and spotting and convicting terrorists, criminals, and drug traffickers. He considers some experiments with identification techniques that could revolutionize the safety and convenience of air travel. He also questions whether this new technology could yield a "big brother" invasion of civil liberties. In a discussion of peacekeeping and peacemaking in the post-Cold War world, the author addresses the possibilities for international organizations, such as the United Nations and NATO, to assume a more active role in international law enforcement. Ways in which such a role could be enhanced are suggested. Chapter references and a subject index