Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network [Hardcover]

Gordon Corera (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195304950 | ISBN-13: 978-0195304954 | Publication Date: September 1, 2006 | Edition: 1St Edition

A.Q. Khan was the world's leading black market dealer in nuclear technology, described by a former CIA Director as "at least as dangerous as Osama bin Laden." A hero in Pakistan and revered as the Father of the Bomb, Khan built a global clandestine network that sold the most closely guarded nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea, and Libya.

Here for the first time is the riveting inside story of the rise and fall of A.Q. Khan and his role in the devastating spread of nuclear technology over the last thirty years. Drawing on exclusive interviews with key players in Islamabad, London, and Washington, as well as with members of Khan's own network, BBC journalist Gordon Corera paints a truly unsettling picture of the ultimate arms bazaar. Corera reveals how Khan operated within a world of shadowy deals among rogue states and how his privileged position in Pakistan provided him with the protection to build his unique and deadly business empire. It explains why and how he was able to operate so freely for so many years. Brimming with revelations, the book provides new insight into Iran's nuclear ambitions and how close Tehran may be to the bomb.

In addition, the book contains startling new information on how the CIA and MI6 penetrated Khan's network, how the U.S. and UK ultimately broke Khan's ring, and how they persuaded Pakistan's President Musharraf to arrest a national hero. The book also provides the first detailed account of the high-wire dealings with Muammar Gadaffi, which led to Libya's renunciation of nuclear weapons and which played a key role in Khan's downfall.

The spread of nuclear weapons technology around the globe presents the greatest security challenge of our time. Shopping for Bombs presents a unique window into the challenges of stopping a new nuclear arms race, a race that A.Q. Khan himself did more than any other individual to promote.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Corera, a security correspondent for the BBC, offers a measured account of how a young Pakistani metallurgist named A.Q. Khan became the world's leading dealer in nuclear technology. The story starts as Khan watched Pakistan lose the 1971 war with India and vowed to help prevent it from happening again. Three years later, as India tested its first nuclear device, he offered Prime Minister Bhutto his help in creating the Muslim world's first nuclear bomb. In 1975, when his Dutch employer discovered Khan had stolen centrifuge designs, he fled to Pakistan. Though he was tried in absentia in 1983, it wasn't until January 2004, under pressure from the U.S. and Britain, that he was arrested for 30 years of selling nuclear materials and designs to Libya, North Korea and Iran. By the mid-1980s, Corera points out, the U.S. was aware that Pakistan had produced weapons-grade uranium. Drawing on CIA and diplomatic accounts of the spread of technology, Corera also examines why the Americans initially looked the other way as Pakistan joined forces in arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan before becoming an ally in the hunt for bin Laden. (Sept.)
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Review

" It is tempting to demonize A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani engineer who became infamous for selling nuclear weapons designs and production equipment to North Korea, Iran, Libya and perhaps others. If Khan is written off as simply evil, then his deeds can be written off as peculiar sins that do not reflect flaws in the international system. Unfortunately, life is more complicated, as the BBC reporter Gordon Corera vividly narrates in his fine new book. Shopping for Bombs is more than the fast-paced story of an alarming proliferation network and the conditions that let it flourish. Corera also offers a fascinating, detailed account of how Libya surprised the world with its undetected nuclear acquisitions and how the United States and Britain secretly persuaded Moammar Gaddafi to verifiably give them up. Corera takes readers briskly through real policy conundrums without lapsing into wonk talk."--George Perkovich, Washington Post Book World

"A measured account of how a young Pakistani metallurgist became the world's leading dealer in nuclear technology. Drawing on CIA and diplomatic accounts of the spread of technology, Corera examines why the Americans initially looked the other way as Pakistan joined forces in arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan before becoming an ally in the hunt for bin Laden."--Publishers Weekly

"A page-turner."--The Economist

"Shopping for Bombs tells a disturbing tale.... From the 1970s through the 1990s, Khan secretly disseminated nuclear technology to a number of rogue states around the world. The full story of Khan's activities cannot yet be fully told--much information is under lock and key in Pakistan, if it has been preserved at all--but a persuasive preliminary account has been prepared by Gordon Corera."--The Wall Street Journal

"Gordon Corera has written a book you will not be able to put down. It reads like a thriller, but it is true! He has done an impressive job in researching and describing the extraordinary threat we face from nuclear weapons falling into the hands of those who wish us harm."--Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University and author of The Power Game: A Washington Novel

"A superb account of how A.Q. Khan, the pioneer of nuclear black marketeering, exploited the forces of globalization and loopholes in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to provide what IAEA Secretary General, Mohamed El-Baradei, called the 'Wal-Mart of private sector proliferation'."--Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor, J. F. K. School of Government, Harvard University

"Reads like a thriller. Corera's story, about one of the greatest threats to international security of which I am aware, is chilling and disturbing. As a former practitioner in the field, and one who has remained a close observer of issues related to nuclear proliferation, I found Shopping for Bombs a great read; it is detailed and well sourced, and full of useful insights. For anyone interested in understanding the character of the threat posed by nuclear proliferation today, it is essential reading."-Ambassador Robert L. Gallucci, Dean, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

"Corera's book magnificently sheds light on the activities of A.Q. Khan and rogue regimes around the world. In today's world of heightened nuclear tensions, this invaluable expos� represents a must-read for both policymakers and the general public." --Steven Emerson, author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us

"Shopping for Bombs is a clearly written and fascinating account of one of the most important episodes in the history of weapons of mass destruction--Pakistan's illicit and successful effort to build nuclear weapons and then to spread nuclear materials across the globe, an effort spearheaded by the maverick scientist A.Q. Khan. Corera has produced an even handed and absorbing history of that important story."--Peter Bergen, fellow of the New America Foundation and author of The Osama bin Laden I Know and Holy War, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1St Edition edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195304950
• ISBN-13: 978-0195304954
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,002,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ego = mc squared, September 21, 2006

By 

T. R. Santhanakrishnan "trsfmly" (Chennai, Tamil Nadu India) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network (Hardcover)

The nuclear five missed an opportunity to give up their arsenal and get everyone's covenant to stay away from the bomb. It is only natural that some states and some nations sought to avoid the "less than equal" status by joining the nuclear club overtly and covertly.

Pakistan is probably the only state that was smart enough to get the bomb but not wise enough to "control" access to technology. Individuals were more important than institutions. A Q Khan used the nation's need for a bomb to create a personal fiefdom that was beyond any institutionalized control. Benazir Bhutto, the PM of Pakistan, could not visit his laboratories and got her first glimpse of Khan's facility and work when the United States shared with her the results of their espionage!

A Q Khan used his intelligence and his ability to manage perceptions to create several myths:
(a) He was not the father of Pakistan's bomb. The bomb came from PAEC and its scientists Munir Khan and Mubarakmand. (Khan had a parallel initiative in Kahuta but did not have enough "cold test" experiences to do the honours). Khan was however the one to take the limelight and give an exaggerated impression of his role. The nation took to the flamboyant A Q K and ignored the true heroes of PAEC.
(b) He was not keeping Pakistan's interest in mind. Z A Bhutto was astute in stating that Pakistan's bomb should not take the image of an Islamic bomb. Khan ignored this, and for personal gain, in an uncontrolled manner sold technology (stolen from URENCO) to Iran, Libya and North Korea. For money. Without approval from Pakistan's policy makers.

Increasing insensitivity to oppressed causes, increasing unwillingness of majority to live with a homogenous minority, increasing conflict between nations and states have all enhanced threats from terrorism and threats from rogue states for humanity.

A Q Khan's clanedestine one stop shopping mall for nuclear technology to anyone with money (and often poor credentials) may have handed terrorists and rogue states their first chance to acquire technology that has so far been under the rigorous control of responsible States including the State of Pakistan. At relatively inexpensive prices.

A Q Khan has endangered the World and has significantly affected Pakistan's image as a responsible State.

Gordon Correra traces the history of Khan's rise and fall. The author must have worked hard to get all the facts from a very sensitive nation, on a very sensitive issue. The author continues to sustain the reader's interest and attention by an easy and narrative style. Yet the book has enough material for a serious researcher to pursue further.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A top recommendation for both general-interest collections strong in terrorist studies and military holdings., February 8, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network (Hardcover)

A.Q. Khan was the world's leading black market dealer in nuclear technology and a hero in Pakistan: Khan was known as the Father of the Bomb and built a global network selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. It's surprising to note that this is the first book-length survey of the rise and fall of the man and his role in spreading nuclear technology. It use interviews with politicians and key members of his own network to survey not only Khan's life and influence on the spread of nuclear technology, but the methods and intentions of the rogue states who bought from him. New details on how the CIA penetrated his network and broke his ring makes for a unique and eye-opening analysis which is a top recommendation for both general-interest collections strong in terrorist studies and military holdings.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice research, though lot of it unsubstantiated, October 9, 2006

By 

Purvesh Khona (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent piece of work on Nuclear Proliferation. Things that I would have liked to see in this book :

*) Substantiated material with actual interviews with intelligence officers. Author uses lots of qoutes from private conversations, but how did he get access to those ? That makes me question a bit the authencity of the research.

*) The book keeps on jumping back and forth, which is an excellent case to muddy the presentation. I would have liked a chronological order maintained in the book so that thought processes can be collected and processed efficiently.

Overall it is an eye-opener.