NATO was hugely successful in facing off the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But has it been equally successful in addressing the "new threats" of the post-Cold War era? This new study assesses the organization’s political and military initiatives, and how its outreach to Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the Euro-Atlantic and Mediterranean regions, devoted considerable attention to WMD proliferation risks. It also probes the political factors, both inside and outside NATO, as well as resource constraints, which have limited the alliance's "added value" in the international community's effort to combat proliferation. The events of 11 September 2001 and bitter intra-alliance controversy over the 2003 Iraq intervention have highlighted questions regarding NATO's future role, and even its continued viability. This is a serious reflection on how the alliance should figure in the fight against WMD and terrorist threats and an examination of today’s key issues, including the use of force in international relations and the possibility of constructing new, post-Cold War collective security rules. This is the first study to evaluate, critically and in-depth, how a long-standing security organization has adapted - and must continue to adapt - to the global security challenges of our time. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of international politics, military history and all readers interested in the future of NATO and international security.

Examines the class of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for terrorist use. The authors have found that their (terrorist) effects range from serious nuisance value up to catastrophic destruction of a large urban area.

This is a collection of papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop of the same name, which examined the role of independent scientists inassessing WMD threat. Such threat assessment has a profound impact on the policies of governments and international organizations. With papers coveringtopics ranging from policy making to chemical and biological weapons, nuclear threats and breaking the threat or counter threat cycle, this book illuminates an area of vital importance to the security and stability of relations between states, and the maintenance of internationally agreed norms.

Evolving threats of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attack make it imperative to find ways to support global efforts against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and terrorism. This book contains papers presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on CBRN security culture, held in Yerevan, Armenia, in June 2014. The conference was timely in bringing together the various aspects of security culture in the different substantive areas from a CBRN perspective, focusing efforts to advance CBRN security culture in the everyday work of those who must deal with these ever present threats. The primary aim of the conference was to promote the concept of a CBRN security culture which recognizes synergy across the individual disciplines. As a first step in the practical application of this synergistic view, the conference introduced assessment methodologies that could be refined and customized to enhance the role of the human factor in CBRN security. This, we hope, will enable countries to fulfill their international obligations and implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540. The book reflects the presentations and deliberations of workshop participants and will be of interest to governments, international organizations, researchers and practitioners whose work involves the human dimension of the security of CBRN materials.

Examining the accuracy of predictions and perceptions about a possible military threat from the Southern Mediterranean world, this book assesses the impact of such a threat on NATO's political and military posture and the Alliance's key options for dealing with the problem.

As counter-profileration is expected to become the central element in the new national security policy of the US, such actions will constitute a central element of every major international conflict in the first decades of the 21st century. One of the most important geostrategic phenomena of the past decade has been the extraordinary diffusion of war-making capabilities from the developed North to the developing South. In the eyes of some proliferant states, possessing nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons would not only add to their regional stature, but would also offer an asymmetrical counter to the West’s massive superiority in conventional forces. In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, a number of countries are assumed to possess varying levels of NBC-weapons capabilities. Reasons for concern include the fact that such weapons have been used in the past; the region’s geographic proximity to Europe and the vital interests of the West (which is prepared, under certain circumstances, to use force to protect them); the multiplicity of conflicts and other security problems; and the general instability in the region (including the spread of religious extremism). This important and timely book assesses, in detail, the accuracy of predictions, and perceptions, about a possible military threat from the Southern Mediterranean (Muslim) world; and their impact on NATO’s political and military posture. Thanos P. Doxos presents an assessment of the Alliance’s options for dealing with the problem. This book represents an invaluable, topical resource for researchers and policy makers.