The Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) strives to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by disseminating timely information and analysis and training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists. CNS at the Monterey Institute of International Studies is the largest nongovernmental organization in the United States devoted exclusively to research and training on nonproliferation issues.Dr. William Potter established the Center in 1989 with a handful of Institute students. Today, CNS has a fulltime staff of more than 65 specialists and over 75 graduate student research assistants located in offices in Monterey, California, Washington, DC and Almaty, Kazakhstan. CNS is organized into five research programs: the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program, the East Asia Nonproliferation Program, the International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program, the Newly Independent States Nonproliferation Program, and the WMD Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP). Each program supports the Centerʹs mission by training graduate students, building a worldwide community of nonproliferation experts, publishing both on-line and print resources on all aspects of WMD, providing background material to the media, and producing analysis for use by educational institutions, government, and the general public.The WMD Terrorism Research Program conducts work on the use or potential use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons by non-state actors. The Program focuses on the motivational aspects of terrorism in the WMD context, bringing together terrorism scholars from the social sciences (history and political science) and technical experts from the sciences (microbiology, medicine, chemistry, and physics) to approach the WMD terrorism problem in an interdisciplinary fashion. Project Research Staff Project OverviewCertain types of infrastructure -critical infrastructure (CI) -play vital roles in underpinning our economy, security and way of life. These complex and often interconnected systems have become so ubiquitous and essential to day-to-day life that they are easily taken for granted. Often it is only when the important services provided by such infrastructure are interrupted -when we lose easy access to electricity, health care, telecommunications, transportation or water, for example -that we are conscious of our great dependence on these networks and of the vulnerabilities that stem from such dependence.Unfortunately, it must be assumed that many terrorists are all too aware that CI facilities pose high-value targets that, if successfully attacked, have the potential to dramatically disrupt the normal rhythm of society, cause public fear and intimidation, and generate significant publicity. Indeed, revelations emerging at the time of this writing about al Qa'ida's efforts to prepare for possible attacks on major financial facilities in New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia remind us just how real and immediate such threats to CI may be. Simply b...

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is widely recognized as one of the world's most ferocious terrorist organizations. The group is especially notorious for its ability to strike at will and its advanced military and organizational adaptability. The LTTE has functioned as a guerrilla force, terrorist organization, conventional army, political body, and governing authority. It has conducted the highest number of suicide attacks in the world and has claimed the lives of two heads of states and countless others. The LTTE claims to be the sole representative of the Tamil people in their struggle for independence from the Sinhalese‐dominated government in Sri Lanka. Although there are a few documented cases of LTTE's usage and threats to use biological and chemical agents, the group's current claim to be a legitimate governing authority makes it unlikely that they will pursue such weapons in the future.

Building on the lessons of the first TOPOFF exercise held in May 2000, TOPOFF 2 was designed to test local, state and federal agency response capabilities to a combination of natural disasters and terrorism incidents while incorporating new management policies. The exercise was held in King County, Seattle and Pierce County in Washington, in Chicago, Illinois, and Ottawa Canada. It was the most comprehensive response simulation conducted in North America to‐date. Final data and evaluations have not yet been released. This article presents information on exercise participants, scenarios, and observations as inclusive as present information allows

Mandated by the U. S. Congress to evaluate the nation's crisis and consequence management under duress, the Department of Justice engaged key emergency management personnel to prepare senior government officials to respond to an actual terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction, gauge preparedness, and identify areas in need of improvement. The exercise, know as TOPOFF (top officials), was a national level, multiagency, multijurisdictional, no notice simulation addressing three fictional events in three major cities: a chemical event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; a radiological event in Washington, D. C.; and a biological weapons attack in Denver, Colorado. This article provides an overview of TOPOFF with specific attention paid to the biological weapons scenario. Key observations and lessons learned are noted.