Ultimate Security: Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction
January 01, 2004
Brian D. Finlay, Bernard I. Finel, and Janne E. Nolan, editors
The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other advanced
military technologies has emerged as the preeminent security concern for
the United States since the end of the twentieth century. This was
pointedly demonstrated in early spring 2003 by the U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq, which embraced the twin objectives of destroying Saddam Hussein's
military arsenal and toppling his regime. In North Korea, Pyongyang's
nuclear saber rattling and illicit missile technology exports are newly
testing the diplomatic skill and military resolve of the administration
of George W. Bush. Elsewhere, the continued acquisition of nuclear
technologies by Iran from Russia, the intensifying nuclear rivalry
between India and Pakistan, the prospect of China as a nuclear "peer
competitor," and the looming threat of terrorists' acquiring weapons of
mass destruction (WMD) have heightened the urgency of finding workable
strategies to counteract proliferation.
