Terrorist Organizations and Weapons of Mass Destruction is a useful primer for students fascinated by or dedicated to American policies in light of such perils. Cook (East Carolina Univ.) intermingles defense-related consulting work with a vigorous publications regimen spanning an array of topics including pandemic diseases, civil conflict, and broadly all things “security.” Cook’s approach to WMDs is fraught with threat scenarios of weaponized lethal materials in the hands of non-state actors and is focused on the American governmental response. Those are appropriate foci for the series of books in which this volume appears.… Although more provocative books have appeared in the past two decades with similar titles, Cook may have outperformed them all on the number of tables listing weapons or agents—in order of her chapters chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclears—that could be weaponized. Foremost a text, not a research tool, the volume includes a summary of acronyms, a brief index, and a list of figures/tables. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

This is a comprehensive and well-organized examination of the likelihood of terrorist groups (and lone wolves) to acquire and employ weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in their warfare and the U.S. Government’s programs to address this threat. . . .With numerous books published over the years about this threat, this book is highly recommended for updating our understanding on these issues in a systematic and well-reasoned manner.

Perspectives on Terrorism