Vol. V, No.2 No consensus has yet developed regarding the meaning or impact of new high-technology tactical weapons systems, either with respect to the military balance in Europe or in the larger context of East-West relations and detente. Some writers believe that a radical shift in the tactical military balance may be underway, possibly approaching a point of departure from traditional relian...

The United States and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003 with the declared intention of removing Saddam Hussein’s regime. Although it was determined after the war that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD), removing a regime believed to be in possession of WMD raises the possibility that the post-9/11 US security policy is more willing than previously believed to tolerate the risk...

Throughout the 1990s, the United States national security establishment gradually espoused the idea of a growing threat posed by the proliferation of a variety weapons and weapons technologies that could cause mass casualties to combatants and noncombatants alike. Nuclear weapons had long occupied the rhetorical space used by policy makers to describe weapons that could kill on a mass scale, bu...

The past century experienced a marked increase in armed conflict from Europe to the farthest parts of Southeastern Asia. At the heart of modern conflict is a particular class of weaponry—small arms and light weapons. Commentators have noted that small arms and light weapons have become widely used by groups involved in conflict; particularly, groups utilizing asymmetric warfare tactics. For exa...

Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs), such as those manufactured by TASER International Inc., are seeing increased use by law enforcement agencies as a less lethal force option; but, at the same time, these weapons are also seeing an increased level of concern in terms of their safety of use. In order to enable consistent evaluation of CEW performance, a systematic protocol for testing the electrica...

INTRODUCTION 7 Throughout history, people engaged in armed conflict have employed many tools of violence, from rocks and sticks to rifles and guided missiles. These armaments have been used to kill, wound, and destroy physical infrastructure, but not with equal effect. What factors affect people's choice of weaponry and targets? Many variables have a bearing on how small arms and light weapons ...

Introduction: Biological attacks are a phenomenon that started on a serious note in the twentieth century and such weapons are being developed every day.The agent of plague is one of those listed as biological weapons by the Weapons Convention. So, the danger of its biological or bioterrorist applications by the enemy is possible and poses a serious threat. The purpose of compiling this article...

An inter-comparison of cases of multiple myeloma among UK participants in the UK's atmospheric atomic and nuclear weapons tests ascertained by direct follow up methods detected at least a third more cases than a strategy relying solely on data linkage between the Office of National Statistics and the Service Records Offices. These finding have implications for the conduct and robustness of foll...

This article presents an overview of the nature and scope of the challenges posed by biological weapons, and offers ways by which the infectious diseases professional community might address the challenges of biological weapons and bioterrorism.