If the global focus of the new millennium could be characterized by four words, these words would likely be weapons of mass destruction. The millennium was barely a few months old when four hijacked jet fuel-laden passenger airlines became weapons of mass destruction on September 11, 2001. Within a period of minutes, the U.S. government shifted priorities to make elimination of the threat of weapons of mass destruction its primary focus. From a war that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and claimed thousands of lives in the Middle East, to the revamping of seemingly domestic activities to make them less vulnerable to terrorist deployment of lethal weapons, the U.S. economy is being dramatically impacted by the perceived threats of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and the need to prevent their development and deployment.

Chapter 1Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction -- 3 -- Chapter 2 Law and Weapons of Mass Destruction -- 85 -- Chapter 3 Chronological Survey -- 113 -- Chapter 4 Biographical Listing -- 133 -- Part II Guide to Further Research -- Chapter 6 How to Research Weapons of Mass Destruction -- 157 -- Chapter 8 Organizations and Agencies -- 226 -- Appendix A Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (1963) -- 241 -- Appendix B Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1970) -- 244 -- Appendix C Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (1975) -- 250 -- Appendix D Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (1996): A Summary -- 256 -- Appendix E Chemical Weapons Convention (1997): A Synopsis of the Text -- 261 -- Appendix F A List of Biological Agents/Diseases -- 266 -- Appendix G Chemical Agents -- 268 -- Appendix H State of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction -- 271 -- Appendix I Maps and Graphs -- 273.