The best defense

Counterproliferation and U.S. national security

Bibliographic Data

ID11271459
AuthorsJason D Ellis (0000-0001-9171-4815, a Senior research professor at the Center for Counterproliferation Research , National Defense University , Washington, D.C., corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume26
Issue2
Pages115-133
Publication date2003-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Washington Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-660X • E-ISSN: 1530-9177
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1162/01636600360569739
OpenAlexW2139818553
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited9

Neither terrorism nor the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are new phenomena; states in key regions of U.S. security concern have for several years aggressively pursued nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons and missile capabilities or have engaged in or sponsored terrorism. What is new is the prospective conjuncture of these twin scourges that constitutes a combined threat greater than the sum of its parts. The Bush administration's new national security strategy, aimed at refocusing U.S. efforts to deal with proliferant states and nonstate actors, essentially replaces the traditional state-centered U.S. nonproliferation approach with one that-for the first time-privileges counterproliferation and explicitly acknowledges prospective requirements for preemption. Rather than a recipe for further proliferation or a license to hunt those who would harm the United States, the national security strategy is the product of the existing post-proliferated and terror-prone security environment. It is precisely because nonproliferation efforts have failed to prevent WMD proliferation effectively in the past-and there is no convincing reason to believe that nonproliferation will exclusively be able to address these increasingly linked threats in the future-that a comprehensive national counterproliferation strategy is needed. In this context, the best defense against proliferation and terrorism is a good offense-backed up by effective deterrent, operational, and mitigative plans and capabilities

Biological warfare · Business · Computer security · Environmental ethics · International trade · Law and economics · National security · Nuclear weapon · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Nuclear Issues and Defense · Philosophy

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