Nuclear Terrorism

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that the possibility of a significant terrorist attack against the United States or its interest by a terrorist organization using such weapons of mass destruction as nuclear weapons is very real. The writer contends that, currently, the United States is grossly unprepared to defend against this very real and very dangerous threat. The writer also contends that the United States needs to restructure its approach to military defense strategies and thus develop a new strategy better capable of effectively preventing and managing these nuclear threats.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Threat
The Response
Preparedness

From the Paper:

"The nuclear attack itself would be the first event in a long line of events, acting as the touching spark to set off a chain of events that would threaten to destabilize the global nuclear weapons regime, leading to fundamental and irreversible alterations to the global security system. Take as example the fact that a nuclear attack coming from a terrorist organization would leave immense casualties in its wake and be almost impossible to determine who was responsible, thus leveraging third-party provocation in the crisis to an unprecedented extent."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bolt, Paul J., Coletta, Damon V., and Collins G. Shackleford. American Defense Policy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005.
• De Becker, Gavin. Fear Less: Real Truth About Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism. New York: Little Brown & Co., 2005.
• Burd, R. "Nuclear Detection to Prevent or Defeat Clandestine Nuclear Attack." Los Alamos Manuscript LA-UR-04-0629, submitted to IEEE Sensors Journal, Special Issue on Sensors for the Prevention of Terrorist Acts. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government, 2004.
• Department of Defense. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government, 2004.
• Friedman, Thomas L. Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism. New York: Knopf Publishing Group, 2003.

More papers on Nuclear Terrorism:

• Analytical Essay # 115717 : "Assessing the Risk of Domestic Nuclear Terrorism"
• Persuasive Essay # 105749 : "Globalization and Nuclear Terrorism"
• Term Paper # 111747 : "Nuclear Energy"

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