Is it possible to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism?

September 01, 2006

Scholars explore this question in SAGE Publications' September volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 'Confronting the Specter of Nuclear Terrorism'

Nuclear terrorism is the gravest international security challenge today. Is the United States prepared to cope with this very real threat? Is nuclear terrorism preventable? What steps has the U.S. already taken to avoid this catastrophe and what steps should be taken in the future?

Esteemed scholars, scientists, and policymakers address these crucial questions in the September volume of SAGE Publications' The ANNALS of The American Academy of Political and Social Science. All sides of the discussion, from strategic to tactical, from ideological to technical, and from the historical to the contemporary, are explored in this volume, which is edited by Graham Allison of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John. F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

This special volume of The ANNALS clarifies and assesses the possibility of a nuclear terrorist attack by taking a comprehensive historical look at this threat over time, while examining and proposing solutions for preventing such a catastrophic event.

"The authors devoutly hope for a future when world leaders recognize this grave danger, taking the actions necessary to defeat it," commented issue editor Graham Allison. "On current trendlines, however, the likelihood of failure is greater than that of success. We hope to remind the world just how horrible nuclear anarchy would be."

SAGE Publications

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	Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe by Graham Allison (Author) "Allison's comprehensive but accessible treatment of this vital subject is a major contribution to public understanding." -The New York Times Book Review Americans in the twenty-first century are keenly aware of the many forms of terrorism: hijackings, biological attacks, chemical weapons. But the deadliest form is almost too scary to think about-a terrorist group exploding a nuclear device in an American city. In this urgent call to action, Graham Allison, one of America's leading experts on nuclear weapons and national security, presents the evidence for two provocative, compelling conclusions. First, if policy makers in Washington keep doing what they are currently doing about the threat, a nuclear terrorist attack on America is inevitable. Second, the surprising and...
	On Nuclear Terrorism by Michael Levi (Author) Nuclear terrorism is such a disturbing prospect that we shy away from its details. Yet as a consequence, we fail to understand how best to defeat it. Michael Levi takes us inside nuclear terrorism and behind the decisions a terrorist leader would be faced with in pursuing a nuclear plot. Along the way, Levi identifies the many obstacles, large and small, that such a terrorist scheme might encounter, allowing him to discover a host of ways that any plan might be foiled. Surveying the broad universe of plots and defenses, this accessible account shows how a wide-ranging defense that integrates the tools of weapon and materials security, law enforcement, intelligence, border controls, diplomacy, and the military can multiply, intensify, and compound the possibility that nuclear...
	The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism by Charles D. Ferguson (Author), William C. Potter (Author) The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, a new book from the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, assesses the motivations and capabilities of terrorist organizations to acquire and use nuclear weapons, to fabricate and and detonate crude nuclear explosives, to strike nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, and to build and employ radiological weapons or "dirty bombs."
	King of Bombs: A Novel About Nuclear Terrorism by Sheldon Filger (Author) King of Bombs is the story of a plot by a fanatical Islamist terrorist cell linked to Al-Qaeda, in alliance with North Korea and Iran, to bring about the downfall of America through a single, apocalyptic terrorist event.
	The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed, Second Edition by Scott D. Sagan (Author), Kenneth N. Waltz (Author) In The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed, professors Waltz and Sagan resume their well-known dialogue concerning nuclear proliferation and the threat of nuclear war.Kenneth Waltz, Dean of Realist Theory in international relations at Columbia University, expands on his argument that "more may be better," contending that new nuclear states will use their acquired nuclear capabilities to deter threats and preserve peace. Scott Sagan, the leading proponent of organizational theories in international politics, continues to make the counterpoint that "more will be worse": novice nuclear states lack adequate organizational controls over their new weapons, resulting in a higher risk of either deliberate of accidental nuclear war. Treating issues from the ’long peace’...
	The Raid: A Novel of Nuclear Terrorism by Irv Eachus (Author) "A strong...plausible nuclear thriller. Authentic technical detail, solid characterization - top drawer in this genre," ravesKirkus Review. In Irv Eachus' acclaimed suspense novel a highly-trained team of seven men and women seize a U.S. Navy nuclear cruiser docked at Long Beach and turn its number-one reactor into a weapon aimed at the millions of Southern Californians who live just miles from the dock. Opposing them are the ship's most unorthodox sailor and best reactor technician; the outspoken chief of base security who must decide whether to go in or give up; and the admiral's seventeen-year-old daughter, who discovers just how tough she can really be. Suspense and danger build until the stress-in the people and the reactor-cannot be contained. Here is a unique thriller with...
	Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century: Lessons from the Cold War for a New Era of Strategic Piracy by Thérèse Delpech (Author) Thérèse Delpech was one of France’s—and the world’s—most serious and respected scholars of nuclear weapons, strategy, and policy. In this posthumously published volume, she provides an eloquent review and essential update of deterrence theory, focusing a critical eye on nuclear deterrence during the Cold War, examining the lessons of past nuclear crises, and outlining ways in which these lessons apply to major nuclear powers and nuclear pretenders today.
	America's Achilles' Heel: Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Terrorism and Covert Attack (BCSIA Studies in International Security) by Richard A Falkenrath (Author), Robert D Newman (Author), Bradley A Thayer (Author) Nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons delivered covertly by terrorists or hostile governments pose a significant and growing threat to the United States and other countries. Although the threat of NBC attack is widely recognized as a central national security issue, most analysts have assumed that the primary danger is military use by states in war, with traditional military means of delivery. The threat of covert attack has been imprudently neglected.Covert attack is hard to deter or prevent, and NBC weapons suitable for covert attack are available to a growing range of states and groups hostile to the United States. At the same time, constraints on...
	The Nuclear Security Summit's Priorities and Pitfalls (Global Insights, by Richard Weitz) by World Politics Review The main objective of this week’s Nuclear Security Summit is to prevent nonstate actors, including terrorists and criminals, from acquiring dangerous nuclear materials, as the greatest obstacle to nuclear terrorism is not designing a weapon, concocting a plot or recruiting volunteers willing to suffer martyrdom -- it is acquiring the fissile nuclear material needed for a nuclear explosive device. World Politics Review helps its users closely follow and better understand the events, issues and trends in international affairs. Find out more at worldpoliticsreview.com.
	Nuclear Security Initiatives Lack Integration (Global Insights, by Richard Weitz) by World Politics Review One issue left unresolved by last week’s Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul is how to integrate the summits with several similar initiatives that have emerged to respond to a new threat not anticipated by the architects of the original nuclear nonproliferation regime: nuclear terrorism. These processes now need to be better integrated to overcome gaps, reduce redundancies and exploit synergies among them. World Politics Review helps its users closely follow and better understand the events, issues and trends in international affairs. Find out more at worldpoliticsreview.com.