NCJ Number
184047
Date Published
1999
Length
218 pages
Annotation
A former member of the U.S. National Security Council staff, the author guides the reader through a post-Cold War world in which the threat of all-out nuclear war, devastating but highly unlikely, is being replaced by the less costly but much more imminent threat of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction.
Abstract
Several factors increase the probability of a major terrorist incident. Most important is the emergence of a new breed of terrorists, i.e., violent right-wing extremists, apocalyptic groups, and millenarian cults, all of which are less constrained than their predecessors by traditional ethics, political pressures, or rational assessments of the consequences of their actions. The dissemination of knowledge about nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in books and on the Internet increases the risk of the use of weapons of mass destruction. Risks are also posed by the weak states and atomized societies left in the wake of the Cold War. These risks include the dangers of theft and smuggling of nuclear and chemical materials from former Soviet facilities, as well as the risk that underpaid weapons experts will sell their expertise to state sponsors of terrorism or to the terrorists themselves. After citing the risks that weapons of mass destruction will be deployed by terrorists, the book holds out hope for new technologies that might combat this trend, as well as for legal and political remedies that would improve public safety without compromising basic constitutional rights. 4 tables, chapter notes, and a subject index