Non-State Actors and Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Study of the Correlation

Reshmi Kazi

The probability of non-state actors acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction against vulnerable non-combatants have remained a worrisome threat since the turn of the century. It is just not enough to have heightened concerns about the threat of a probable CBRN attack by violent non-state actors. A sound policy would include concerted efforts to substantially dwell on an important question: What factors drive violent terrorist groups like the Al Qaida to seek the most fearsome weapons?

Reshmi Kazi Dr Reshmi Kazi is Associate Fellow in the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, specializing in nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism and radiological terrorism and nuclear disarmament issues. She has published and made presentations including a paper—Nuclear Terrorism and UN Resolution 1540: A South Asian Perspective—at the Conference on “Resolution 1540: At a Crossroads” held in the UN Headquarters in New York in October 2009. She has been part of the IDSA Working Group on the Seventh Review Conference on Biological Weapons Convention.