Arms Control & Non Proliferation

Documents & Texts from America.gov

12 June 2008
Weapons Proliferation Poses Serious Threat, Official Says

By MacKenzie Babb
Staff Writer

Washington -- A broad partnership of nations must be prepared to act against weapons proliferation and the illicit arms trade to successfully fight international terrorism, a senior U.S. diplomat says. And the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction represents a major security threat of the 21st century and requires a new, comprehensive strategy.

Patricia McNerney, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, added that the challenge is in “managing the … excess nuclear stockpiles and ensuring that dangerous materials do not leak into the black market.”

Sometimes, she said in a speech at the Naval Postgraduate School June 10, the threat comes from nation-states, like North Korea, Iran and Syria, which are pursuing the development and deployment of a full range of weapons of mass destruction. This activity has put pressure on neighboring states to protect themselves by building up their own weapons programs. McNerney said this cycle could lead to an unintended nuclear arms race and undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to prevent it.

However, governments are not the only proliferation risk, McNerney said. Non-state entities like terrorist groups and extremist groups are “active on both ends of the supply chain” and pose “increased threats,” she said.

To fight both effectively, McNerney said, the United States has focused on three long-term counterproliferation objectives. The first is the use of strengthened nonproliferation initiatives to prevent rogue states and terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The second is to use counterproliferation efforts to deter threats before they are unleashed. And the final goal is to respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction, whether by terrorists or other nations, through “effective consequence management.”

Through outreach efforts, the United States has incorporated more countries than ever before into nonproliferation and export-control regimes that make it more difficult for proliferators to advance their programs. Only by strengthening our partnerships, McNerney said, to “ensure that we share a common vision of the threats we must address … will we be capable of succeeding in our fight against weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century.”

back to top ^