Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Challenges to US National Security

Title:
Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMD) proliferation challenges to US national security.

Key elements of WMD Proliferation:
Definition of WMD`s: Chemical, Biological and Nuclear weapons. Chemical weapons have  chemical elements and can have explosive elements. Biological weapons contain a biological element combined with an explosive element, but can also be found in aerosol form. Nuclear can be used in explosive form and can be used as small, or dirty, bombs, and/or can be launched via missile.

Key elements of WMD non-proliferation:
Treaties, forms of politics, sanctions, inspections, and International Organizations (IO`s) such as the UN can be used to prevent the proliferation of WMD`s.

*Treaties, such as the Iran non-proliferation treaty (NPT), can be used to induce or relax sanctions, restrict or allow the enrichment of uranium for proposed power and public use, and to ensure that regular inspections can be made.

*Politics can be used to prevent WMD proliferation through meetings among leaders to stablish the foundations of agreement, the use of governmental decisions such as passing laws or agreeing on treaties or to enforce sanctions.

*Sanctions can be used to limit a state`s ability to prosper and flourish. In this regard, through politics, IO`s and through other means, sanctions can limit trade thereby making it even more difficult for a state to peruse WMD`s.

*Inspections performed through the UN via the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can also be used to prevent WMD proliferation.

Primary US security concerns:
Countries that have nuclear weapons: US, France, Russia, Pakistan, Israel, United Kingdom, China, India and North Korea.

Reasons why countries have nuclear weapons:

*Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
*The potential for terrorists to gain control of WMD`s
*The impact of WMD`s on human beings and the environment.

Russia has them, China has them, north Korea has them, Pakistan has them, India has them which means the US must have them. And because China has them, India has them, because all of those countries have them, North Korea has them, and because of our relationship with Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the US needs them to protect our assets and interests in the area.

International Organizations that proved key assistance in preventing WMD proliferation:

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), United Nations (UN), Governmental ( Congress, President, CIA, etc.).