Guiding the United States Government Response to an Overseas Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear Disaster.

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question. What factors should senior United States government officials be familiar with, and take into consideration, when making time-constrained decisions regarding the type and extent of a United States government response to a Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) event overseas. In determining these factors, the author researched salient books, periodicals, published and unpublished papers, and credible Internet sites. The author also conducted telephonic interviews and electronic mail exchanges with government officials in the fields of Weapons of Mass Destruction terrorism and Consequence Management. The author argues that the United States has developed significant CBRN response forces, but is hamstrung in projecting a timely response to an event overseas by a fragmented decision-making process at the strategic level. The author also proposes that national interests drive the decision to respond to a foreign nation's request for assistance, and that interests are based predominantly on political and economic concerns.