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  Combating WMD: Challenges for the Next 10 Years

  Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction

  One need only glance at newspaper headlines each morning to appreciate that the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat environment is dynamic. President George W. Bush has identified WMD in the hands of rogue states and terrorists as the greatest security threat to the United States. The pace of WMD events in recent years has been truly remarkable. Taking stock of what has occurred since the National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction was issued nearly 2 years ago, it is clear that combating WMD is a difficult but far from hopeless task. Important progress has been made, though major challenges continue to confront the United States. The threats that dominate the near-term vision are those posed by hostile state and nonstate actors that seek or possess familiar forms of WMD. But the longer-term vision must remain focused on the ways in which technology potentially can transform the nature of the threat—perhaps in ways that will redefine the conception of weapons of mass destruction.

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  At the Crossroads: Counterproliferation and National Security Strategy

  Center for Counterproliferation Research

  The continued proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) represents the most serious threat to U.S. national security and an enormous challenge for the entire international community. In the hands of rogue states, failing states, or substate terrorist groups, these weapons threaten not only U.S. forces, friends, and allies abroad, but also the U.S. homeland. Rogue states armed with WMD threaten the security of regions that are vital to the United States and raise the costs and risks of U.S. military operations intended to protect those interests. Forming international coalitions to defend shared interests is also more difficult in the shadow of the rogue state WMD threat. WMD in the hands of regional rivals exacerbate long-standing conflicts and increase the potential for escalation and conflict. Finally, terrorist interest in WMD and the threat of terrorist use of such weapons appear to be growing.