2007

Frantz and Collins tag team Dr Khan

Conde Nast Portfolio writer Douglas Frantz and DC-based writer Catherine Collins, the authors of the new book The Nuclear Jihadist, mentioned previously here, were online November 12 at the Washington Post to discuss their Outlook article about AQ Khan and the Bush administration's refusal to force Pakistan to give him up.

Famous last words

Since I just quoted Dr Ben Ouagrham-Gormley in the last post, it seems only fair that I mention this past article she wrote, published in the July/August issue of Arms Control Today.

The bottom line of her article, 'An Unrealized Nexus? WMD-related Trafficking, Terrorism, and Organized Crime in the Former Soviet Union' is this:

Congressional oversight? Surely you jest

We've mentioned the unfortunate plight of former US intelligence analyst Richard Barlow before. But this October 19 Congressional Quarterly article highlights a different aspect of his story; namely, is Congress really interested in trying to prevent nuclear proliferation or does it just grandstand? No, no, really, that is a serious question.

The P[b(j)] of Proliferation

The September 2006 issue of The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science published, naturally, by The American Academy of Political and Social Science, had a special issue CONFRONTING THE SPECTER OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM (Oh dear, all caps; be afraid, be very afraid).

Anyway, one article, 'A Mathematical Model of the Risk of Nuclear Terrorism', by Matthew Bunn, ran the numbers, literally, for measuring the global risk of nuclear theft and terrorism. Warning, you may want to reach for your former algebra books before reading further.