Weapons of Mass Destruction

Beschrijving

When Tom Lehrer sang ‘We’ll all go together when we go’, the world was gripped by fear of nuclear holocaust. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the threat was assumed to have gone away. But Libya, Iraq, Iran and North Korea and others are building weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemical. And terrorists like bin Laden are trying to get their hands on them too. The next live Scud missile launch could signal the next Hiroshima. Russia has enough weapons grade plutonium in poorly guarded facilities to make 20,000 atomic bombs. Osama bin Laden only needs one. Chemical weapons remain the ‘poor man’s nuke’. Saddam believed his chemical weapons saved him in the first Gulf War. Islamic fundamentalists have been preparing to use ricin for mass poisoning in London. A Japanese doomsday cult used sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground. Robert Hutchinson’s measured account provides a straightforward guide to the weapons that threaten civilisation.

Beschrijving

This foundational primer offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolution and current status of weapons of mass destruction and seeks to inform and advance policy debate in ways that support international security, while also adding important connective tissue between analytical areas in the IR and historical domains that often remain separate.

Whether possessed by a state or non-state actor, the specter of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), and more specifically, nuclear weapons and their associated material, present a significant threat to global security. Notwithstanding the fact that there are fewer nuclear weapons today than the massive stockpiles that existed during the height of the Cold War, the complexities relating to nuclear security have in many ways intensified amid globalization and porous borders. More states in volatile regions possess such weapons, UN Security Council states are busily modernizing their weapons, and non-states actors have made it clear their intention to use such weapons should they attain them. The emerging prospect of a cyber-attack, or a misunderstanding that could potentially evolve into a limited regional nuclear war, would both have dire global ramifications and are scenarios that should not be considered farfetched. Additionally, concerns pertaining to chemical and biological weapons, the associated ramifications relating to nuclear terrorism, and broader limitations of the NPT regime, all pose major challenges to global stability. In considering all of these areas, this foundational primer for the Rowman and Littlefield WMD Series seeks to inform and advance policy debate in ways that support international security, while also adding important connective tissue between analytical areas in the IR and historical domains that often remain separate.

Offering a comprehensive analysis of the evolution and current status of WMDs, this volume will be of great interest to scholars, analysts, and students of security studies, international history, and international relations.