Nuclear Terrorism: A Threat Assessment for the 21st Century

by G. Cameron

Overview

Will the twenty-first century see terrorist fingers on the nuclear trigger? How likely is it terrorists will obtain weapons of mass destruction? What factors would determine their decision to use them? Gavin Cameron assesses the causes for, and implications of, the escalating lethality of terrorism. The growing opportunities for nuclear proliferation, primarily arising from the collapse of the Soviet Union are explained. The book concludes that the organisational and psychological pressures within terrorist groups and the changing nature of political violence combined with the heightened danger of nuclear micro-proliferation have made mass-destructive terrorism the greatest non-traditional threat to international security in the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349411351
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/1999
Series:	Threat Assessment for the 21st Century
Edition description:	1st ed. 1999
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

GAVIN CAMERON is Post-Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California. He previously taught at the University of St Andrews where he received his doctorate.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Opportunities for Nuclear Terrorism Terrorism: Psychological and Instrumental Approaches Religious Terror Ideological Terrorism The Likelihood of Nuclear Terrorism Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'...full of interest and there are plenty of examples to illustrate every point...it is convincing, accessible and unpretentious and will prove to be an invaluable reference work for those engaged in the future of terrorism and terrorists.' - Rear Admiral Richard Cobbold, RUSI Journal

'The great merit of nuclear Nuclear Terrorism: A Threat Assesment for the Twenty-First Century, Gavin Cameron's survey of the problem, is that he looks at why terrorist attacks might be mounted...Gavin Cameron has performed a valuable service in helping to keep analysis of the problem on the right side of the line between prudence and paranoia.' - Lawrence Freedman, Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher