Unit One of the book introduces key terms and addresses important strategic and policy debates. Authors explain how the new forms of terrorism affect the post-9/11 security environment and introduce the notion that weapons of mass destruction could give terrorists short-term, asymmetric attack advantages over conventional military forces. Unit Two offers detailed accounts of the characteristics, availability, and dangers of specific types of WMD, along with four case studies that associate theory with practice—an important feature of this volume. Unit Three deals with past, present, and future national and international responses to—and defenses against—the threat of WMD terrorism. And in the final section of the volume, authors predict future WMD threats and seek to draw on past events and mistakes in order to identify lessons and strategies for the future.
Appendices include a primer on bioterrorism and fact sheets on chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological terrorism.
