The National Level

Abstract

Since the end of the cold war (1989), a series of events which occurred in the late eighties and early nineties have stressed the importance of information collection and analysis in assessing the level of the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to the international and national security; in particular, the threat posed by States of concern regarding non-compliance with their non-proliferation commitments in the context of regional instabilities and terrorist groups acquiring such weapons. Information collection, analysis and assessment have always played a major role in strategic planning by governments. They are essential elements for evaluating possible alternative paths along which international crises might evolve and on possible responses to resolve them as demonstrated the Cuban missiles crisis (1962), to mention just a major one. A number of incidents in the early nineties, such as those which occurred in the course of the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Iraq, North Korea, South Africa, exposed the weaknesses of the non-proliferation regime as a whole and, in particular, the nuclear non-proliferation regime. These events highlighted the urgent need to strengthen the NPT and similar treaties, and to give to the organisations in charge the capability to deal not only with known situations, such as the correctness of the declarations by the States, but also with the unknown factors such as the completeness of declarations [1]. To accomplish this and similar objectives information management, i.e. collection, analysis, assessment and knowledge building, has become an essential tool of international organisations such as the IAEA, the OPCW, future CTBTO, multilateral organisations such as the European Union, NATO or G8 and national governments. Through information management, the diverse