Nuclear security

Russian Military Doctrine Recognizes Threat of Nuclear Terrorism

The snow is melting in Boston and it is hard not to feel the optimism this brings.  But if you are someone who worries about nuclear issues and need more good news, you can find it in an unlikely place – the new Russian Military Doctrine published this past December.  Sandwiched in between statements about the need to improve Russia’s military to thwart the dangers posed by NATO expansion is a new danger which was not recognized in any previous military doctrine – the danger from terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.  Finding such a statement would only bring a smile to that crazy subset of people who think about this problem, but there it is.  Among the “fundamental external military dangers” is:

“The growing threat of global extremism (terrorism) and its new manifestations in an environment of insufficiently effective international anti-terrorist cooperation, the real threat of terrorist acts using radioactive and toxic chemical materials, the increase in the level of transnational organized crime, first and foremost the unlawful trafficking in weapons and narcotics.” [parentheses as in original]...