"But Allison does more than weave a tale of doom, because his second proposition is that nuclear terrorism is preventable. He outlines an ambitious but feasible strategy by which we can essentially eliminate the danger of nuclear terrorism."--BOOK JACKET.

With our highly connected and interdependent world, the growing threat of infectious diseases and public health crisis has shed light on the requirement for global efforts to manage and combat highly pathogenic infectious diseases and other public health crisis on an unprecedented level. Such disease threats transcend borders. Reducing global threats posed by infectious disease outbreaks – whether naturally caused or resulting from a deliberate or accidental release – requires efforts that cross the disaster management pillars: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. This book addresses the issues of global health security along 4 themes: Emerging Threats; Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery; Exploring the Technology Landscape for Solutions; Leadership and Partnership. The authors of this volume highlight many of the challenges that confront our global security environment today. These range from politically induced disasters, to food insecurity, to zoonosis and terrorism. More optimistically, the authors also present some advances in technology that can help us combat these threats. Understanding the challenges that confront us and the tools we have to overcome them will allow us to face our future with confidence.

Crucial information on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons From the diseased animal carcass hurled over the wall of a besieged castle to the nuclear suitcase bomb carried by a clandestine operative, the threat of unconventional weapons has always been a feature of warfare. Today's danger comes mainly from the potential use of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by international terrorists or rogue states. False alarms and misinformation about these weapons have abounded in the jittery post-9/11 atmosphere. To understand and deal with the actual threat posed requires basing response plans, policy, and reporting on actual facts. Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction separates fact from fiction about NBC weaponry by providing clear, technically precise information. For each family of weapon, coverage in this handbook includes: * History and background information * Agent types and delivery mechanisms * Effects of exposure * Protection * Safe storage and handling * Decontamination * Medical treatments Drawing from a broad array of military, scientific, and safety resources, this text offers both accessibility to the general public and accuracy and depth for professional emergency responders. Additional resources include a bibliography of references and a list of addresses and telephone numbers of federal and military agencies and professional organizations of interest. With full coverage of WMDs, from high-tech, genetically modified organisms to rudimentary radiological "dirty bombs," Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction is an essential reference for understanding and responding to these dangerous warfare agents.

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."

Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.

Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons are designed to cause destruction on a vastly greater scale than any conventional weapons, with the potential to kill thousands in a single attack and with effects that may persist in the environment and in our bodies indefinitely. This report by the independent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Dr Hans Blix, sets out 60 recommendations on how the world community, national governments and civil society should address this global challenge under the following headings: preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons; preventing nuclear terrorism; reducing the threat and numbers of existing nuclear weapons; moving from regulating nuclear weapons to outlawing them; biological and toxin weapons; chemical weapons; weapons of mass destruction (WMD) delivery means, missile defences and weapons in space; export controls, international assistance and non-governmental actors; compliance, verification, enforcement and the role of the United Nations.

This ABC introduces medicine in areas of conflict or naturaldisaster responding to the growing number of regions affected. Chapters deal with subjects such as earthquakes and landslidesas well as nuclear incidents and biological warfare both nationallyand internationally. It covers both logistical planning and medical aid as well aspost-conflict recovery, offering psychological as well as medicaland public health support. It prepares aid workers for a range of roles in all possiblesituations.

What is being done to counter threats of maritime terrorism and how effective are the safeguards? The author presents evidence that Al-Qaeda aims to disrupt the seaborne trading system, the backbone of the model global economy, and would use a crude nuclear explosive device or radiological bomb to do so if it could obtain one and position it to go off in a port-city, shipping strait or waterway that plays a key role in international trade. Improving maritime trade is especially important for the US and Canada, member states of the EU, Australia and New Zealand and for China, Japan and South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and other East Asian economies that have extensive direct seaborne trade. It is doubly vital for places like Singapore, Hong Kong and Rotterdam that are not only very large global seaports but also giant giant container transshipment hubs. This book discusses some major threats to seaborne trade and its land links in the global supply chain, their potential impact and the new security measures in place or pending for ships, ports and cargo containers, and recommendations for preventing or handling a catastrophic terrorist attack designed to disrupt world trade.