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241. The Syria Accountability Act Taking the Wrong Road to Damascus

Author:
Claude Salhani
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
On December 12, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, a law designed to pressure Syrian president Bashar Assad's government to work more aggressively in fighting terrorism at home and abroad. Implementation of the new measures, which combine punitive economic sanctions with diplomatic pressure, threatens to escalate into a new conflict in the Middle East. Some influential people in Washington welcomed such a confrontation, believing that it would lead to regime change in Damascus similar to the one that was effected in neighboring Iraq.
Topic:
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Washington, Middle East, Arabia, and Syria

242. Eliminating Adversary WMD: Lessons for Future Conflicts

Author:
Rebecca K.C. Hersman and Todd M. Koca
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
As tensions between Iraq and the United States worsened in mid-to-late 2002 and as preparations began for Operation Iraqi Freedom, policymakers and military planners began to wrestle with the challenges posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Indeed, Iraqi defiance and deception in the face of United Nations (UN) sanctions, coupled with growing fears of WMD transfer to terrorist organizations—most prominently al Qaeda—were two primary reasons for confronting Saddam Hussein. Just as in the first Gulf War in 1991, deterring and defending against possible Iraqi use of WMD against coalition forces were key concerns for planners. However, as the crisis escalated in 2002, Department of Defense (DOD) planners began to foresee another challenge: how to remove comprehensively and permanently the threat of Iraqi WMD, not just to U.S. troops but also to the Middle East region and the world.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

243. The Role of the EU in International Non-proliferation and Disarmament Assistance

Author:
Ian Anthony
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
While states are responsible for honouring any commitments to one another that they make, it has become obvious that they are not always capable of doing so. Where the failure to implement agreed undertakings reflects a lack of financial or technical capacity rather than a deliberate effort to undermine the terms of an agreement it is preferable for all parties to offer assistance rather than criticism and punishment. Since the end of the cold war a new type of international cooperation has taken place as states have rendered practical assistance to one another to reduce common threats arising from weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as well as weapons-related materials and expertise. In broad terms this assistance has been of three types: facilitating the dismantlement and destruction of weapons; the establishment of a safe and secure chain of custody over weapons or other items; and demilitarization and conversion projects.
Topic:
International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Europe

244. Switzerland and Cooperative Threat Reduction

Author:
Derek Lutterbeck
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
An increasingly prominent item or concept on the international security and arms control agenda of the post-Cold War world is the one of 'Cooperative Threat Reduction' or CTR. CTR programmes have their origins in the immediate aftermath of the cold war, when the so-called Nunn-Lugar threat reduction programme was launched to safeguard weapons of mass destruction on the territory of the collapsing Soviet Union. Recently, however, such threat reduction efforts have gained much in salience with the emergence of international terrorism as a prime security concern among 'western' countries, subsequent to the terrorists attacks on the US on 11 September 2001. One core objective in the fight against terror, at least from the perspective of western countries, is to prevent terrorist and similar organisations from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

245. The Proliferation Security Initiative

Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global initiative aimed at stopping shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials worldwide, announced by President Bush, May 31, 2003. It stems from the National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction issued in December 2002. That strategy recognizes the need for more robust tools to defeat the proliferation of WMD around the world, and specifically identifies interdiction as an area where greater focus will be placed.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

246. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Contributions of Space Based Radar to Missile Defense

Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2004, the Defense Science Board (DSB) was asked to assess the potential contributions of a Space Based Radar (SBR) to missile defense. In response, the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD (AT), and the Director, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) directed that the DSB Task Force on the Contribution of a Space Based Radar to Missile Defense perform the following tasks: Assess the impact of adding a missile defense mission on the ability of SBR satellites to conduct their primary missions; Assess how different SBR architectures and technical approaches might affect the ability of the satellites to achieve their primary missions and to contribute to missile defense; Assess the value of potential SBR capabilities in the context of the family of sensors being developed by the Missile Defense Agency; and Recommend any future actions that might be desirable related to SBR contributions to missile defense.
Topic:
Defense Policy, National Security, Science and Technology, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

247. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Missile Defense Phase III: Modeling and Simulation

Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This report covers Phase III of the work of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Missile Defense. Phase I examined mid-course discrimination. Phase II, a 2002 DSB Summer Study, examined the four issues shown in the chart above. Following completion of the Phase II report, the Director, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) asked the Task Force to examine modeling and simulation (M). The Under Secretary Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD [AT]) concurred. The request was further refined to the five areas shown. After a brief introduction, this report will cover each of the five issues in turn.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Science and Technology, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

248. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles

Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Lessons from recent combat experiences in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that UAVs can provide vastly improved acquisition and more rapid dissemination of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) data. They are one of the principal contributors to successful outcomes for the United States. in these campaigns. The benefits and promise offered by UAVs in surveillance, targeting and attack have captured the attention of senior military and civilian officials in the Defense Department (DoD), members of Congress, and the public alike. Indeed, these recent combat operations appear to indicate that unmanned air systems have at last come of age.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Science and Technology, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Kosovo

249. The Proliferation Security Initiative in Perspective

Author:
Andrew Prosser
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Participant countries of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a U.S.-led effort to stem the illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and delivery systems, met on the first anniversary of the initiative, from May 31 to June 1 in Krakow, Poland. Russia announced on the first day of the meeting its decision to participate in the PSI, a move that U.S. officials had supported as an important step in augmenting the effectiveness of the initiative. However, Russia's participation will only occur, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as long as PSI activities do not violate national or international law. Russian officials have similarly expressed concerns that the PSI's land, sea, and air-based WMD interdiction activities could endanger international commerce, and give unwarranted powers to the U.S. Navy to act as a global police force.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia and United States

250. Missile Defence in the United States

Author:
Bertel Heurlin
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The basic arguments of this paper are, first, that the current US-missile defense, being operative from fall 2004, is based upon the former experiences with missile defense, second, that missile defense closely associated with weapons of mass destruction has gained the highest priority in American national security policy due to the 9.11 attacks, and third, that the superior argument for establishing an American missile defense is to maintain global, long term political-strategic superiority.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States and Asia