The Correlation Between Non-State Actors and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Abstract

The probability of non-state actors acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction against vulnerable non-combatants has remained a worrisome threat since the turn of the century. However, the watershed event of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on 11 September 2001 has signifi cantly raised concerns regarding the availability of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons and their probable usage. The reasons for increased concerns are varied. They include: • Widespread perceptions that the events of 9/11 marked the crossing of a threshold in terrorist constraint and lethality • Open source accounts of interest in WMD technology by non-state actors • Increased availability of WMD technology • Greater media attention • Persistent Western military presence in global affairs and an upsurge of anti-Western sentiments