Terrorism, War, or Disease?: Unraveling the Use of Biological Weapons (Stanford Security Studies) [Paperback]

Anne Clunan (Editor), Peter Lavoy (Editor), Susan Martin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0804759774 | ISBN-13: 978-0804759779 | Publication Date: May 30, 2008

The use of biological warfare (BW) agents by states or terrorists is one of the world's most frightening security threats but, thus far, little attention has been devoted to understanding how to improve policies and procedures to identify and attribute BW events. Terrorism, War, or Disease? is the first book to examine the complex political, military, legal, and scientific challenges involved in determining when BW have been used and who has used them.

Through detailed analysis of the most significant and controversial allegations of BW use from the Second World War to the present, internationally recognized experts assess past attempts at attribution of unusual biological events and draw lessons to improve our ability to counter these deadly silent killers. This volume presents the most comprehensive analysis of actual and alleged BW use, and provides an up-to-date evaluation of law enforcement, forensic epidemiology, and arms control measures available to policymakers to investigate and attribute suspected attacks.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Terrorism, War, or Disease? proves the importance of general awareness of biological weapons threads and the establishment of procedures to detect and respond to possible hostile attacks . . . Clunan's, Lavoy's, and Martin's book rightly emphasizes the need for adequate information networks on both national and international level, sufficient mechanism to investigate alleged uses of biological weapons, and, in particular, agreed standards on the evaluation of evidence."—Ines Peterson, Criminal Law Forum

"This is a key book for anyone studying BW, WMD or public health, especially considering its highly impressive list of contributors. It is well focused, cohesive and achieves its objectives in an iformative and interesting way."—Michelle Bentley, Political Studies Review

"Terrorism, War or Disease is a genuine synthesis of scholarship, analyzing the complexity of BW events and the political, social and natural factors that influence the interpretation and handling of available information. The lessons learned from each case study apply to a number of serious global issues of increasing importance and urgency. The writers are leaders in the field, known for their individual and collaborative scholarship."—Nancy Connell, Director, the Center for Biodefense, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

"This book offers flashes of insight over the dark terrain of bioterrorism. A real contribution." —Richard Danzig, Secretary of the Navy 1998-2001

"This book provides a much-needed, detailed and authoritative examination of the issues that have to be addressed in the accurate attribution of the causes of unusual outbreaks of disease and allegations of the use of biological weapons."—Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission

About the Author

Anne L. Clunan is Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. Peter R. Lavoy is National Intelligence Officer for South Asia at the National Intelligence Council. Susan B. Martin is Lecturer at the Department of War Studies and the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King's College London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Stanford Security Studies (May 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804759774
• ISBN-13: 978-0804759779
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,575,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent case studies, February 6, 2009

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D. Edger (Choctaw, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Terrorism, War, or Disease?: Unraveling the Use of Biological Weapons (Stanford Security Studies) (Paperback)

This is a very good introductory book on analyzing biological incidents to see if they are terrorism or not. Among other incidents, the anthrax letters case and the Cuban allegations that the US used bio weapons are discussed and analyzed. This is a serious book, grounded in good scholarship.