Protecting against the global spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons: vol 1: agenda for action

The biggest current risk to global security is said to be the possibility of terrorists obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction, particularly those left over from the collapse of the former Soviet Union. These included tens of thousands of nuclear warheads, over 40,000 tons of chemical weapons, a huge biologial weapons complex, and the expertise of thousands of people involved in these programmes. Extensive efforts have been made to redue these threats but much remained to be done. In June 2002 the G-8 group of the world's leading economies announced a global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction. This report is the result of a project to reinforce and expand the G-8 objectives by building support in Europe, Asia, and North America for assitance programmes aimed at reducing the threat posed by such weapons. In addition to the reports themselves further information can be found at www.csis.org/isp/sgp/index.htm