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Example research essay topic: Radical Islamic Revivalism And Nuclear Terrorism - 1,513 words

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... on the amount of damage these groups will cause will be the power of the weapons they are able to obtain. This train of though will eventually force us to contemplate the feasibility of these terrorists obtaining control of mans most deadly weapon: the nuclear bomb. Access to nuclear weapons technology is widespread among countries.

Today, the worlds arsenal of nuclear warheads numbers more than 40, 000 (Wilkinson 60). On top of this, Barry Schneider, Director of the US Air Force Counterproliferation Center, estimates that there are perhaps thirty to forty other states that possess the technical capability to go nuclear in a few years (199). While many of these states will most likely decide not to go down the path towards actually building weapons, the fact that about a quarter of the worlds countries could create them within a few years is chilling enough. In regard to the Middle East specifically, James Wirtz comments that Israel and Pakistan already have nuclear weapons and Iran and Iraq most likely possess the technology to build them (Paul 141). So not only has the technology for these weapons permeated the world and multiple Middle East nations, but also nations that are predominantly Muslim. The existence of the technology and terrorist factions obtaining it are two entirely separate matters.

However, it would seem that the more prevalent the technology is, the more likely it is to fall into the wrong hands. If terrorists wanted to obtain a nuclear weapon, the most important and difficult component to obtain would be the fissile material, i. e. whatever substance would fuel the nuclear reaction. As Loehmer explains, terrorists would most likely obtain fissile material one of four ways, Separation of plutonium from irradiated light or heavy water reactor fuel in own facilities; theft of fissile material during transport; obtaining the needed material from a black market; material through state-sponsoring. (Wilkinson 51) While Loehmer dismisses fairly quickly the possibility of terrorists separating plutonium from spent fuel and also says that a nuclear black market has not materialized, each of the remaining methods he at least labels as possible. Theft of the fissile material while it is being transported is perhaps one of the most likely sources for terrorists to obtain the material.

An outright operation to steal fissionable material might not be too farfetched. Jessica Stern, a Senior Fellow at the Belfour Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University detailed the outcome of a mock terrorist infiltration attempt at Rocky Flats, a nuclear materials production facility near Denver, Colorado. Not only did the team determine that terrorists could have infiltrated the facility, but the security director of the plant had quit in disgust a month earlier, claiming that he could no longer ensure the safety of Denver's citizens (58). If America cannot even safeguard its own nuclear material, how can countries like Russia, whose economy has been in collapse since the break-up of the USSR, be expected to?

Also while discussing theft, Loehmer states that terrorists could try to acquire the needed material covertly with the assistance of an inside confederate (52). Indeed it seems possible that an influential controller might be swayed by the radical Islamic cause, especially in a Middle Eastern country. There is also evidence that radicals have already begun developing connections inside the military in some countries. In Egypt, for example, Jeffrey Bartholet, Carol Berger, and Melinda Liu state, A growing body of evidence suggests that terrorist groups have infiltrated the army, an alarming development given the regimes reliance on the military establishment (41).

Terrorists may already have the connections they need to launch an operation to obtain usable fission material. More worrisome than terrorists using confederates inside governments is the governments themselves sponsoring the terrorists. In 2000, four Middle East states (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan) were labeled as both sponsoring terrorism and possessing weapons of mass destruction (Cordesman 33). While none of these states currently have nuclear weapons, Iran and Iraq were labeled above by Wirtz as being on the brink of their development. Even without the weapons themselves, these states may soon have the capacity to create the fissionable material, which terrorists might also gain access to.

There are several ways in which terrorists might gain access to materials for nuclear weapons. Still, the construction of the actual bomb from the fissionable material would still remain. However, some nuclear experts say obtaining the fissionable material is the difficult part, building a working bomb is easy. Luis Alvarez, a Manhattan Project scientist, states, Most people seem unaware that if separated U- 235 is at hand, its a trivial job to set off a nuclear explosion.

Even a High school kid could make a bomb in short order (q. in Leifer, 29). Obviously a crude bomb of this type of construction would not have the power of modern nuclear warheads, but even a small fission reaction would be enough to cause massive damage and radiation. If a terrorist group were to somehow obtain materials and build a nuclear bomb, the US would be in little better position to prevent its detonation than a conventional bomb. Furthermore, we would have no significant retaliatory measures. We might be able to discover the individuals or group responsible and bring them to justice, but we would have no way of instituting a large-scale retaliation of a magnitude similar to the attack.

It is possible that some blame could be placed on a foreign government, as in the case of the Taliban and September 11 th, but in any case, any sort of nuclear retaliation would likely be virtually out of the question. This issue of retaliation highlights an important gap in the US defense against nuclear weapons. The US relies on a philosophy of deterrence, i. e. any nuclear strike against us would trigger massive nuclear retaliation.

This philosophy, however, requires there to be a definitive target to retaliate against, which in the case of terrorists, there rarely is. Even a national missile defense system would likely prove ineffective as any detonation would probably occur from the ground. If we were to catch a terrorist group attempting a plan involving nuclear weapons at virtually any stage of their operation, the terrorists would still partially succeed in their mission. This is because, as Loehmer points out, even the word nuclear induces terror (Wilkinson 50).

Even just a plan to try to obtain a nuclear weapon would attract massive attention from the media, and inspire wide-spread fear in the general public. Publicity and attention are the true goals of terrorists, and violence is usually simply a means to attract these same things, so in this case, even failure means success. This is simply provides more of an incentive for the attempt. Terrorists do not commit acts of violence and destruction for the joy or the challenge. Terrorist groups are organizations with specific goals they want to achieve and specific ways they plan to achieve them. Like most organizations which fight for a cause, getting the attention of people is many times the most important step.

Unfortunately the quote If it bleeds, it leads often times proves all too true in the world of mass media and terrorists have quickly learned this fact. The more shocking, the more violent, the more destructive the act the more attention it seems to get. In todays society, Islamic radicalism provides the most brutally efficient machinery to orchestrate this violence. It turns idealistic youths into savage tools of a dogmatic crusade. To these selfish, soulless warriors no price of human life is too high for their cause. With each new plan more destructive than the last, someone will eventually attempt the unthinkable.

Some group will attempt to use mans most destructive weapon to aid their own destructive ends. The cruel irony is that even if they fail, it will only inspire others to try the same thing. Our only true hope is that somehow this madness is put to an end before the human race is. Works Cited Bartholet, Jersey, Carol Berger, and Melinda Liu. A Wave of Terror All Their Own. Newsweek 30 August 1993: 41.

Cordesman, Anthony H. Homeland Defense: The Current and Future Terrorist Threat. Westport: Praeger, 2000. Emerson, Steven.

A Terrorist Network in America? New York Times 7 April 1993: A 23. Fast, Mahmud A. The Future of Islam in the Middle East: fundamentalism in Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. Westport: Praeger, 1997. Leifer, John.

Weapons of Mass Destruction. Washington Monthly 99: 28 - 32. Mc Guinn, Bradford R. Should we fear Islamic fundamentalists? USA Today Magazine November 1993: 34. EBSCO Paul, T.

V. , Richard J. Harknett, James J. Wirtz, eds. The Absolute Weapon Revisited: Nuclear Arms and the Emerging International Order.

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998. Rajashekar, J. Paul. Islamic Fundamentalism. Ecumenical Review January 1989: 64 - 72. Schneider, Barry R.

Future War and Counterproliferation: U. S. Military Responses to NBC Proliferation Threats. Westport: Praeger, 1999. Stern, Jessica.

The Ultimate Terrorists. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1999. Wilkinson, Paul, ed. Technology and Terrorism. Portland: Frank Cass, 1993.


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Research essay sample on Radical Islamic Revivalism And Nuclear Terrorism

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