Overview

Nuclear Insecurity is an insider's account of official American efforts to prevent the theft or diversion of nuclear and radiological weapons that could be used by rogue nations or terrorist groups. This perspective draws heavily from the author's work on the White House National Security Council Staff (1996-2000), where he was directly responsible to President Clinton for the development of U.S. nuclear material security policies and, subsequently, at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he directed the department's largest international nuclear security program, focused primarily on Russia. In Caravelli's assessment, despite exceptional bipartisan political support and very high funding levels that have reached over $9 billion, a series of policy mistakes and programmatic bureaucratic missteps have badly compromised the United States government's efforts to protect against the spread of nuclear weapons and materials. The most striking example of the current situation is that the U.S. government, some 12 years after the start of these programs, still has failed to enhance the security of more than 300 metric tons of nuclear materials in Russia alone, enough to make hundreds of nuclear devices. The book concludes with recommendations and policy prescriptions for addressing some of these problems.

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9780275997465

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Reviews

"""Caravelli addresses the US's nuclear nonproliferation efforts from a government insider's point of view, highlighting bureaucratic obstacles and programmatic difficulties encountered despite bipartisan support for policy objectives....Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate and graduate students."" - Choice ""Caravelli critiques US efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and materials. He makes recommendations to address the many problems his analysis identifies."" - Survival"

With the end of the Cold War there was a tendency in some quarters to believe that a great shadow had been lifted and that Western security could no longer be challenged. But such optimism was never wholly realistic. The downfall of the Soviet Union and the consequent removal of the discipline it exerted over its client states created new dangers and this book is a timely reminder that complacency is never acceptable. Materials once controlled and secured by the Soviet military are becoming a traded commodity for those who seek to threaten and injure the West. Where once only nations could wage war, now relatively small groups, with access to the right components, might wreak destruction on a scale we could not have imagined only a decade or so ago. Yes, we have had some successes, but more are needed if we are to remain safe. Jack Caravelli offers us much to ponder and some pressing options for the future. -Margaret Thatcher

Caravelli addresses the US's nuclear nonproliferation efforts from a government insider's point of view, highlighting bureaucratic obstacles and programmatic difficulties encountered despite bipartisan support for policy objectives...Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate and graduate students. - Choice Caravelli critiques US efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and materials. He makes recommendations to address the many problems his analysis identifies. - Survival

Author Information

Jack Caravelli is one of America's leading experts on nonproliferation and nuclear terrorism. He is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the U.K. Defence Academy and Visiting Professor at Cranfield University. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy (2000-2003), and he served on the White House National Security Council (1996-2000), where he was the president's principal advisor for nonproliferation policies and programs involving Russia and the Middle East. He began his governmental career in 1982 at the Central Intelligence Agency. Caravelli is a Chatham House Fellow and member of the advisory board of Oxford University's Pluscarden Program on Intelligence and Terrorism.

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