Terrorist Organizations and Weapons of Mass Destruction

U.S. Threats, Responses, and Policies

Alethia H. Cook

Weapons of Mass Destruction are diverse and pose unique challenges to governments attempting to keep them out of the wrong hands and preparing to respond to an attack. This text analyzes Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons and terrorist groups with a known interest in them. It presents accessible information about the technical challenges posed by each type of weapon, assesses the threats, and reviews the US governmental responses. It provides structured CBRN case studies and allows for easy comparison of threats, challenges, and responses. The text combines weapons and policy information in one comprehensive and comparative resource for researchers and students interested in key issues in modern terrorism and international security.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 226 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9⅜

978-1-4422-7662-8 • Hardback • September 2017 • $76.00 • (£58.00)

978-1-4422-7663-5 • eBook • September 2017 • $72.00 • (£55.00)

Series: Weapons of Mass Destruction and Emerging Technologies

Subjects: Political Science / Security (National & International), Political Science / International Relations / Arms Control, Political Science / Terrorism

Terrorist Organizations and Weapons of Mass Destruction

U.S. Threats, Responses, and Policies

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Weapons of Mass Destruction are diverse and pose unique challenges to governments attempting to keep them out of the wrong hands and preparing to respond to an attack. This text analyzes Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons and terrorist groups with a known interest in them. It presents accessible information about the technical challenges posed by each type of weapon, assesses the threats, and reviews the US governmental responses. It provides structured CBRN case studies and allows for easy comparison of threats, challenges, and responses. The text combines weapons and policy information in one comprehensive and comparative resource for researchers and students interested in key issues in modern terrorism and international security.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 226 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9⅜

978-1-4422-7662-8 • Hardback • September 2017 • $76.00 • (£58.00)

978-1-4422-7663-5 • eBook • September 2017 • $72.00 • (£55.00)

Series: Weapons of Mass Destruction and Emerging Technologies

Subjects: Political Science / Security (National & International), Political Science / International Relations / Arms Control, Political Science / Terrorism

Author

Alethia H. Cook is Chair of the Department of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies program at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition, she has been involved in defense consulting for over 20 years.

Table of Contents

I: Introduction to WMD and Interested Groups
1: WMD and Key Concepts
2: Terrorist Group Interest, Efforts and Use of WMD
3: U.S. Governmental WMD Policy Responses

II: CBRN: Agents, Threats, and Responses
4: Chemical Agents and Weapons
5: Biological Agents and Weapons
6: Radiological Isotopes and Weapons
7: Fissile Materials and Nuclear Weapons

III: Conclusions
8: Terrorist Organizations and WMD: Summary of the Threats and US Responses

Reviews

Terrorist Organizations and Weapons of Mass Destruction is a useful primer for students fascinated by or dedicated to American policies in light of such perils. Cook (East Carolina Univ.) intermingles defense-related consulting work with a vigorous publications regimen spanning an array of topics including pandemic diseases, civil conflict, and broadly all things “security.” Cook’s approach to WMDs is fraught with threat scenarios of weaponized lethal materials in the hands of non-state actors and is focused on the American governmental response. Those are appropriate foci for the series of books in which this volume appears.… Although more provocative books have appeared in the past two decades with similar titles, Cook may have outperformed them all on the number of tables listing weapons or agents—in order of her chapters chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclears—that could be weaponized. Foremost a text, not a research tool, the volume includes a summary of acronyms, a brief index, and a list of figures/tables. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

— Choice

This is a comprehensive and well-organized examination of the likelihood of terrorist groups (and lone wolves) to acquire and employ weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in their warfare and the U.S. Government’s programs to address this threat. . . .With numerous books published over the years about this threat, this book is highly recommended for updating our understanding on these issues in a systematic and well-reasoned manner.
— Perspectives on Terrorism