
Planning the Unthinkable
How New Powers Will Use Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons
Cornell University Press
Published on 18. August 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-8014-8704-0 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
This important volume breaks new ground by moving past a focus on the reasons why international actors acquire unconventional weapons... For the statesperson, the volume acts as an admonition to refrain from treating all proliferators alike; for the scholar, it serves as an exceptional example of the analytical robustness that results from a willingness to use multiple theoretical approaches to explain complex phenomena.- Dennis Foster, Pennsylvania State University (The Journal of Conflict Studies)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ithaca
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8014-8704-0 (9780801487040)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Peter R. Lavoy is Director, Counterproliferation Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. Scott D. Sagan is Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University. James J. Wirtz is Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School and author of The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War, also from Cornell.