3.00 Credits
Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) such as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive weapons and the access to and proliferation of such weapons are the focus of this course. The vulnerability of the infrastructure and populace of the United States in the event of a threat or the use of such weapons is addressed and exploration of strategies to prevent, limit, detect, defend, and deter the use of these weapons as an act of terrorism or political violence is studied. Students will also assess the spread of weapons through black market resources and the problems relating to security and access to such weapons due to the breakup of the former Soviet Union. (3 lect.)