Preventing Catastrophe is written by two authors who are experienced "Washington hands" and who understand the interplay between intelligence and policymaking. Both have been personally involved, in the United States and overseas, in pursuing national and international measures to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Their extensive experience is evident in this book, which puts the Iraqi WMD issue in proper perspective, explains the challenge of monitoring small clandestine programs, and explains how the effort to prevent terrorist acquisition and use of WMD differs from preventing their acquisition and use by nation states. At the same time, the authors are able to make a complex subject understandable to non-technical experts, making this book a useful teaching tool, especially for those who have little or no knowledge or experience in US national security decision making.
"The authors both have extensive experience in the arms control community, and it shows in a book that is very basic in its approach to intelligence but assumes the reader has some knowledge of the WMD, especially nuclear weapons technology."
J. Fields, Choice
"In this excellent presentation, the authors establish that the threat posed by terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction is not a cohesive problem calling for a single defensive strategy, but a series of discrete challenges requiring diverse responses."
Robert Huffstutler, Executive Director (Retired), Central Intelligence Agency
"National intelligence and international inspections are necessary to create confidence that violations of non-proliferation commitments are detected in time to permit appropriate action. ... The issues studied thoroughly and with good judgment in this welcome volume ... were intensely controversial in the case of Iraq but remain central to international counter-proliferation efforts."
Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission
