The Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program (WMDTRP) at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) conducts in-depth research, assesses policy options, and engages in public education activities on issues stemming from the intersection of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The possibility of non-state actors acquiring or using weapons or materials capable of causing mass casualties remains one of the most important threats facing the world in the 21st century. WMDTRP focuses on the actual use, threatened use, or potential use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons and materials by non-state or covert state actors. Our experts examine the motivational factors that may lead terrorist groups to resort to using weapons of mass destruction in an effort to inform scholars and policymakers and enhance the level of public knowledge about how and why such actors could use CBRN weapons and materials. WMDTRP's overarching objective is to undertake projects that, while adhering to the highest scholarly standards, can have an "impact" by helping to "operationalize" research in ways that will allow the public sector and the private sector to collaborate synergistically and develop joint solutions to the multiplicity of threats associated with terrorism involving CBRN weapons and materials.

Since its inception, WMDTRP has supported the work of a wide range of public and private institutions, ranging from government agencies to international organizations to academic foundations. These include, among others, the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), General Dynamics' Advanced Information Systems (GD) division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (commonly known as the "Blix Commission"). WMDTRP is currently a major partner in the newly created Homeland Security National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism (NC-START). NC-START is a consortium of educational and research institutions that received a competitive award for establishing the fourth Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence (DHS-COE).

The threat assessments generated by WMDTRP combine historical and sociological research, social scientific analyses, regional expertise, technical assessments, and a wide array of language capabilities, and rely on both in-house and outside experts. Such an integrated approach, along with the variety of resources available at CNS, allows WMDTRP to conduct cutting-edge qualitative and quantitative studies concerning the present and future WMD threats posed by non-state or covert state actors. While many organizations are nowadays still struggling to develop or refine their thinking about these critical aspects of the terrorist threat, the WMD Terrorism Research Program at CNS has already spent several years analyzing these crucial issues and is therefore especially well-placed to make significant contributions to national and international security.

WMDTRP's activities can be grouped broadly into four categories:

• Sophisticated, Value-Added Analysis. In an effort to generate creative insights into issues related to terrorism and WMD, the program sponsors and engages in in-depth research and analysis. Its primary focus is on terrorist motivations and capabilities for employing WMD, in particular on the often ignored question of whether particular types of extremist ideologies and organizational dynamics serve to facilitate the employment of WMD and the carrying out of other types of mass casualty terrorist attacks. To accomplish this difficult but acutely important task, it employs a wide variety of disciplinary approaches in order to produce scholarly reports, including the preparation of detailed case studies of extremist and terrorist groups, based upon a combination of in-depth qualitative research, comprehensive reviews of the relevant literature, quantitative analyses of empirical data (in part culled from CNS' own extensive databases), and/or specific proprietary analytical tools and methodologies.
• Data Collection. The program actively monitors hundreds of open sources in several languages - including news services, academic and trade journals, government reports, books, conference proceedings, Internet sites, and unpublished reports - to track and catalog worldwide incidents and developments relating to the attempted acquisition, possession, threatened use, and use of unconventional weapons by non-state actors. Such incidents are compiled and maintained in a number of proprietary CNS databases that are available as subscription services.
• Education. In addition to developing educational materials designed to clarify and expand the public's understanding of WMD issues related to terrorism, the program organizes and conducts conferences, simulations, training sessions, and other interactive exercises designed to meet the unique needs of specific audiences.
• Community Outreach. The program seeks to broaden the scope of the public debate concerning WMD terrorism by interacting with public- and private-sector officials at the local, state, national, and international levels, both in connection with particular projects and in ongoing discussions on general but related matters.

Directed by Gary Ackerman, the Program is staffed by scholars with backgrounds in the social sciences, humanities, public policy, and physical sciences. Full-time staff members currently include senior research associate Dr. Jeffrey M. Bale and research associates Sammy Salama and Sundara Vadlamudi. WMDTRP also employs a dozen graduate student research assistants drawn from the Monterey Institute's student body, whose work for the program forms an integral part of their training in nonproliferation.