THE FORUM Nonstate Actors, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction EDITED BY ANDREW BLUM Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland VICTOR ASAL Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York at Albany AND JONATHAN WILKENFELD Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland Editors’ Introduction While the term ‘‘weapons of mass destruction’’ (WMD) is a relatively new one, the effort to stop the spread of arms and weapons systems that can inflict mass harm is by no means new. Indeed, efforts to stop the production and possible use of these most fatal weapons have been successful by many accounts. From agreements following World War I to ban mustard gas to the es- tablishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the nearly universal acceptance of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to the inauguration of the Chemical Weapons Con- vention in 1997, the international community has made great strides in limiting states’ ability to pursue, and interest in pursuing, WMD. Libya’s recent decision to dismantle and allow international inspections of its own WMD program serves as evidence of the effectiveness of today’s nonproliferation regime. The agreements and institutions at the core of this nonproliferation regime, however, are designed to affect the decisions and policies of only one type of actor in the international community, that is, states. As such, current arrangements do not do enough to halt the spread of WMD to nonstate actors in the international system. And, yet, it is widely believed that WMD proliferation among nonstate actorsFsuch as terrorist groups, ethnic secessionist groups, and religious sectsFwill be the critical nonproliferation challenge of the next twenty years. With this challenge in mind, the Center for International Development and Conflict Man- agement of the University of Maryland convened a conference on nonstate actors, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction on October 15, 2004. The conference was made possible by a grant from the International Peace and Security Program of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 1 The goal of the conference was to gather a small group of leading social science experts on nonstate actors, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction in a setting conducive to the 1 The conference organizers would like to thank Amy Benavides, Bidisha Biswas, Derrick Franke, and especially Jane Schmitt for their help in organizing and working at the conference. r 2005 International Studies Review. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. International Studies Review (2005) 7, 133–170