Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Threats: An Introduction

Abstract

Although the use of poisons and lethal chemicals in warfare perhaps predates recorded history, the world has seen the use of industrialized chemical gases for over a century now. Since the advent of Chemical weapons, the world has added Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and, most recently, improvised Explosive (CBRNE) hazards to the list of threats expected by military forces on the battlefield as well as to civilians in the homeland. While many thought that era was over, the current civil war in Syria shows that chemical warfare is not passé but has adapted to the modern battlefield. The rising global trend for civil war and internal conflict, especially in large cities, increases the probability that industrialized chemicals will, either intentionally or accidentally, become a hazard to military and security forces or the localities’ residents. A twenty-first-century weapon, the internet, allows for greater proliferation of knowledge of these threats and, coupled with the trends of rapid innovation and improvisation, means that this threat will grow. This section of the Springer Handbook of Security Science provides unprecedented contributions from authors representing government, industry, and not-for-profit organizations to address a wide variety of CBRNE threats, issues, and technologies.