Planning the Unthinkable: How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The proliferation of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons is now the single most serious security concern for governments around the world. Peter R. Lavoy, Scott D. Sagan, and James J. Wirtz compare how military threats, strategic cultures, and organizations shape the way leaders intend to employ these armaments. They reveal the many frightening ways that emerging military powers and terrorist groups are planning the unthinkable by preparing to use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons in future conflicts.

Distinguished specialists consider several states and organizations that have this weaponry: Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel, as well as the Aum Shinrikyo cult. The contributors expose plans for using unconventional weapons, highlighting the revolutionary effects these arsenals might have on international politics and regional disputes.

Contributors:
Joseph S. Bermudez, Jane's Intelligence Review
Zafar Iqbal Cheema, Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Avner Cohen, National Security Archive, George Washington University
Lewis A. Dunn, Science Applications International Corporation
Gregory F. Giles, Science Applications International Corporation
Peter R. Lavoy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction and the Naval Postgraduate School
Timothy V. McCarthy, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Scott D. Sagan, Center for International Security and Cooperation,Stanford University
Waheguru Pal SinghSidhu, Centre for International Studies, Oxford
Jessica Stern, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Jonathan B. Tucker, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies
James J. Wirtz, Naval Postgraduate School