The Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) has released a WMD Report Card, examining US Government programs to prevent nuclear, chemical, and biological terrorism. In 2005, the 9/11 Public Discourse Project found that the U.S. Government had made “insufficient progress” on safeguarding the country against a WMD terrorist attack, giving these efforts a final grade of “D.” Three years later, PSA gives the US Government a “C.”

Brian D. Finlay, Senior Associate and Co-Director of the Henry L. Stimson Center’s Cooperative Nonproliferation Program, authored the section on US efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism. The US government has taken important steps to prevent nuclear proliferation and to detect and interdict the international transfer of potentially dangerous nuclear materials. Yet US government money and authority remains overly stove-piped within agencies, and poor interagency coordination hampers overall policy effectiveness. At the other end of the policy process, foreign government partners often do not share US goals and expectations, while investments in sustainable and transparent civilian opportunities for WMD experts are inadequate, undermining long-term US goals.

For more information on the Partnership for a Secure America, please click here.