Hitting America's Soft Underbelly; The Potential Threat of Deliberate Biological Attacks Against the U.S. Agricultural and Food Industry
Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, National Defense Research Institute, 2004. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. xviii, 47, [1] pages. Includes Introduction, Preface, Tables, Summary, Acknowledgments, Acronyms. and Bibliography, and chapters on The Vulnerability of U.S. Agriculture to Bio-Attacks; Potential Impact of a Major Act of Agroterrorism, and Policy Recommendations. Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This book aims to expand the current debate on domestic homeland security by assessing the vulnerabilities of the agricultural sector and the food chain to a deliberate act of biological terrorism and exploring the likely outcomes of a successful attack. Peter Chalk is an adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He has analyzed such topics as unconventional security threats in Southeast and South Asia; new strategic challenges for the U.S. in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia; evolving trends in national and international terrorism; international organized crime; the transnational spread of disease; and U.S. military links in the Asia-Pacific region. He is a specialist correspondent for Jane's Intelligence Review and associate editor of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. Chalk has regularly testified before the U.S. Senate on issues pertaining to national and international terrorism and is author of numerous publications on various aspects of low-intensity conflict in the contemporary world. Chalk is also a senior instructor at the Postgraduate Naval School in Monterey, California. Before coming to RAND, Chalk was a professor of politics at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, and a fellow in the Strategic and Defense Studies Centre of the Australian National University, Canberra. Over the past decade, the United States has endeavored to increase its ability to detect, prevent, and respond to terrorist threats and incidents. The agriculture sector and the food industry in general, however, have received comparatively little attention with respect to protection against terrorist incidents. This study aims to expand the current debate on domestic homeland security by assessing the vulnerabilities of the agricultural sector and the food chain to a deliberate act of biological terrorism. The author presents the current state of research on threats to agricultural livestock and produce, outlines the sector's importance to the U.S. economy, examines the capabilities that are needed to exploit the vulnerabilities in the food industry, and explores the likely outcomes of a successful attack. The author addresses the question of why terrorists have yet to employ agricultural assaults as a method of operation and offers proposed recommendations for the U.S. policymaking community. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Biological Attacks, Agricultural Sector, Food Chain, Biological Terrorism, Vulnerability, Farming Practices, Surveillance, Veterinarian Training, Agroterrorism, Food Security, Animal Pathogens, Livestock Susceptibility
ISBN: 0833035223
[Book #80664]
Price: $45.00