Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack
Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2004
Genre:
ISBN: 1428980245

The DSB addressed this threat in previous studies conducted in 1997 (also chaired by Richard Wagner) and 1999/2000 (chaired by Roger Hagengruber). Much has changed since then. The 11 Sept. 2001 attacks demonstrated the intent of terrorists to inflict massive damage. Nuclear proliferation has proceeded apace, with North Korea and Iran achieving nuclear weapon capability or coming closer to it, and it could spread further. The United States is engaged in a war against terrorism, and DoD is beginning to devote significant effort to combating WMD. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been established. Thinking about the threat of clandestine nuclear attack has changed, and some efforts to explore defenses have begun. However, one thing has not changed: little has actually been done against the threat of clandestine nuclear attack. The DSB Summer Study on Transnational Threats (1997) first developed the ambitious idea of a very large, multi-element, global, layered civil/military system of systems of scope sufficient to have some prospect of effectively thwarting this threat. There was little resonance with this vision (outside of the Task Forces in 1997 and 2000), but since then, and especially since the attacks of 11 Sept. 2001, it has begun to be discussed more widely. This report will revisit such a national/global system, largely as context for the main focus of the Task Force: DoD's roles and capabilities. Following briefings from many government agencies and subject matter experts, the Task Force arrived at its basic findings and recommendations in early 2003. Since then, those results have been discussed in over 40 meetings within DoD and elsewhere, leading to certain refinements. This report reflects the outcomes of that process and weaves together viewgraphs used in the discussions with elaborating text.

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack
Author: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
Publisher:
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2013-01-18
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9781482018257

The DSB addressed this threat in previous studies conducted in 1997 (also chaired by Richard Wagner) and 1999/2000 (chaired by Roger Hagengruber). Much has changed since then. The 11 Sept. 2001 attacks demonstrated the intent of terrorists to inflict massive damage. Nuclear proliferation has proceeded apace, with North Korea and Iran achieving nuclear weapon capability or coming closer to it, and it could spread further. The United States is engaged in a war against terrorism, and DoD is beginning to devote significant effort to combating WMD. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been established. Thinking about the threat of clandestine nuclear attack has changed, and some efforts to explore defenses have begun. However, one thing has not changed: little has actually been done against the threat of clandestine nuclear attack. The DSB Summer Study on Transnational Threats (1997) first developed the ambitious idea of a very large, multi-element, global, layered civil/military system of systems of scope sufficient to have some prospect of effectively thwarting this threat. There was little resonance with this vision (outside of the Task Forces in 1997 and 2000), but since then, and especially since the attacks of 11 Sept. 2001, it has begun to be discussed more widely. This report will revisit such a national/global system, largely as context for the main focus of the Task Force: DoD's roles and capabilities. Following briefings from many government agencies and subject matter experts, the Task Force arrived at its basic findings and recommendations in early 2003. Since then, those results have been discussed in over 40 meetings within DoD and elsewhere, leading to certain refinements. This report reflects the outcomes of that process and weaves together viewgraphs used in the discussions with elaborating text.

Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack

Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack
Author: William Schneider, Jr.
Publisher:
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2005-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9780756748173

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force, which was established in March 2002 as part of the ongoing examination of DoD capabilities to deal with strategic terrorism, WMD proliferation, & asymmetric threats. Addresses the threat of nuclear or radiological attack, by anyone for any purpose in any scenario, against the U.S. or U.S. military operations, delivered by any means other than missiles or aircraft. In effect, this means hidden/smuggled nuclear weapons, devices, or materials. This threat is serious enough, & that there are sufficient indications that effective means of preventing successful attack might be developed over the long term, to warrant starting a DoD effort to develop comprehensive capabilities. Illustrations.

The Virtual Weapon and International Order

The Virtual Weapon and International Order
Author: Lucas Kello
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2017-01-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0300220235

An urgently needed examination of the current cyber revolution that draws on case studies to develop conceptual frameworks for understanding its effects on international order The cyber revolution is the revolution of our time. The rapid expansion of cyberspace in society brings both promise and peril. It promotes new modes of political cooperation, but it also disrupts interstate dealings and empowers subversive actors who may instigate diplomatic and military crises. Despite significant experience with cyber incidents, the conceptual apparatus to analyze, understand, and address their effects on international order remains primitive. Here, Lucas Kello adapts and applies international relations theory to create new ways of thinking about cyber strategy. Kello draws on a broad range of case studies - including the Stuxnet operation against Iran, the cyberattacks against Sony Pictures, and the disruption of the 2016 U.S. presidential election - to make sense of the contemporary technological revolution. Synthesizing data from government documents, forensic reports of major events, and interviews with senior decision-makers, this important work establishes new theoretical benchmarks to help security experts revise strategy and policy for the unprecedented challenges of our era.

Freedom and Information

Freedom and Information
Author: Eric Landree
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2007-08-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0833042858

Describes a framework to guide assessments of the availability of data regarding U.S. anti- and counterterrorism systems, countermeasures, and defenses for planning attacks on the U.S. air, rail, and sea transportation infrastructure. Overall, the framework is useful for assessing what kind of information would be easy or hard for potential attackers to find.

Understanding the Role of Deterrence in Counterterrorism Security

Understanding the Role of Deterrence in Counterterrorism Security
Author: Andrew R. Morral
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2014-05-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0833052918

Deterrence--a central feature of counterterrorism security systems and a major factor in the cost-effectiveness of many security programs--is not well understood or measured. This paper offers a framework for understanding how security systems may deter or displace attacks and how to measure the relative deterrent value of alternative systems. This framework may aid in attempts to achieve increased security benefits with limited resources.

Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States

Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States
Author: United States. Congress. House
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1516
Release: 2007
Genre: CD-ROMs
ISBN:

Some vols. include supplemental journals of "such proceedings of the sessions, as, during the time they were depending, were ordered to be kept secret, and respecting which the injunction of secrecy was afterwards taken off by the order of the House".

Annihilation from Within

Annihilation from Within
Author: Fred Charles Iklé
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2006-10-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 023151140X

In this eloquent and impassioned book, defense expert Fred Iklé predicts a revolution in national security that few strategists have grasped; fewer still are mindful of its historic roots. We are preoccupied with suicide bombers, jihadist terrorists, and rogue nations producing nuclear weapons, but these menaces are merely distant thunder that foretells the gathering storm. It is the dark side of technological progress that explains this emerging crisis. Globalization guarantees the spread of new technologies, whether beneficial or destructive, and this proliferation reaches beyond North Korea, Iran, and other rogue states. Our greatest threat is a cunning tyrant gaining possession of a few weapons of mass destruction. His purpose would not be to destroy landmarks, highjack airplanes, or attack railroad stations. He would annihilate a nation's government from within and assume dictatorial power. The twentieth century offers vivid examples of tyrants who have exploited major national disasters by rallying violent followers and intimidating an entire nation. To explain how we have become so vulnerable, Iklé turns to history. Some 250 years ago, science was freed from political and religious constraints, causing a cultural split in which one part of our culture remained animated by religion and politics while the other became guided by science. Since then, technological progress and the evolving political order march to different drummers. Science advances at an accelerating pace while religion and politics move along a zigzag course. This divergence will widen and endanger the survival of all nations. Drawing on his experience as a Washington insider, Iklé outlines practical measures that could readily be implemented to help us avert the worst disaster.