Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Hazards
Please answer the following:
1. Pick and describe, using course material (citing as appropriate), five (5) characteristics of our agricultural and food industries and the threat agents which could impact them and how do these characteristics increase our risk?
2. What radioactive material killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006? How has the investigation developed between 2007 and 2016? Do the British authorities have a theory who ordered Litvinenko killed?
3. In April 2010, President Obama said, "The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon." How does this statement impact current U.S. National Security Policy? If you were President, what changes would you make to U.S. National Security Policy to reduce the likelihood of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon?
4. The video "Iran Nuclear Deal: Triumph of Diplomacy or Dangerous Precedent?" provides several different perspectives on the Iranian Nuclear Deal. Detail one perspective from each side of the argument (Triumph of Diplomacy and Dangerous Precedent) then support it with applicable references explaining the rationale for each side of the debate.
5. Experts disagree as to the threat from rouge nations with nuclear weapons (North Korea, Pakistan, Iran in the future, etc.) providing those weapons to non-state actors. Do you think that this is a concern or are nation states not willing to cross this line?
Technical Requirements
---Your paper must be at a minimum of 4 pages (the Title and Reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).
---Scholarly and credible references should be used. A good rule of thumb is at least 2 scholarly sources per page of content.
---Type in Times New Roman, 12 point and double space.
---Students will follow the current APA Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework.
---Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize books, peer-reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc.
Progress Assignment
American Public University System
1 Pick and describe five characteristics of our agricultural and food industries and the threat agents which could impact them, and how do these characteristics increase our risk?
Agroterrorism
Agriculture and the food industries are some of the most critical sectors of the population. These industries ensure self-sufficiency and sustainability without needing to depend too much on others, thereby reducing risks related to food insecurity, poverty, and others. Accordingly, because these sectors are critical infrastructures, conducting terror attacks on them is highly likely. Thus, understanding the characteristics of our own food and agricultural sector should be an utmost priority, and threats against it should be focused more.
One of the main characteristics of the food sector in the United States is its size. The average size of farmlands in the United States is 444 acres, which leaves most of these farms without any security CITATION Sha21 \l 1033 (Shabandeh, 2021). Thus, because of the sheer size of the average farmland in America, the risks of agroterrorism increase since it is challenging to surveil and secure the whole area of each farm.
Another crucial characteristic of the agricultural and food sector of the United States is its method of producing livestock. Ever since, there have been a lot of documentaries that show that livestock is now massed-produced in cramped spaces to maximize productivity per square area CITATION ASP20 \l 1033 (ASPCA.Org, 2020). However, this also opens more risks against the food sector since any biologically created disease or illness could easily be transmitted within large groups of animals, thereby depleting our food supply.
Another characteristic of the American agricultural and food sector is that only a small percentage of the population is actually interested in farming. In line with the fact that most farmlands are very massive in size, this means that the agricultural production is held by a few CITATION Lep19 \l 1033 (Lepley, 2019). This means that any problems experienced (i.e., agroterrorism) by a single production unit could have a significant adverse effect on the whole American food system, or at least on its neighboring communities.
2 What radioactive material killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006? How has the investigation developed between 2007 and 2016? Do the British authorities have a theory who ordered Litvinenko killed?
Alexander Litvinenko
The radioactive material that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London was a rare nuclear isotope called Polonium-210 CITATION Big17 \l 1033 (Biggers, 2017). Reports said that a lethal dose of Polonium-210 was placed in his tea, causing severe radiation poisoning because of the release of Alpha particles after that.
Interestingly, the investigation of the incident also utilized the radiation released by the said substance. Since Po-210 releases Alpha particles, the investigators were able to trace its radiation trail from the Millenium Hotel to the hotel of their suspected perpetrators (Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun), and ultimately to the airplane seats of the two CITATION Ale \l 1033 (Harding, 2016). In the course of the case, the two perpetrators were officially convicted of the crime because of the presence of around 60+ witnesses together with the circumstantial evidence of the radiation trail. It was even stated that high-ranking officials in Russia (Nikolai Patrushev and Vladimir Putin) could have ordered the said attack, although the trial court could not provide sufficient evidence to the same CITATION Neu21 \l 1033 (Neuman, 2021).
3 In April 2010, President Obama said, "The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon." How does this statement impact current U.S. National Security Policy? If you were President, what changes would you make to U.S. National Security Policy to reduce the likelihood of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon?
"The single biggest threat to U.S. security"
Weapons of mass destruction are one of the reasons why countries tend not to use them in the first place. This is because of the belief in Mutually-assured destruction (MAD), which means that its sheer use would not bring any benefit but rather the high likelihood of annihilating one another, including oneself. Accordingly, President Obama's 2010 speech specifically stated that the "single biggest threat to U.S. Security" is the possibility of terrorist organizations laying their hands on these weapons. This statement is basically because compared to those held by legitimate states, those held by terrorist organizations are not bound by any treaty or agreement and are not in danger of MADs.
Nonetheless, this principle governs how the United States deals with nuclear weapons by placing utmost importance on its security. This may be exemplified with the United States entering into four international summits with other countries to provide effective and strict control over the handling of nuclear weapons. In each of these summits, the United States even ensured that states would take an active role in reducing nuclear-weapons production, minimizing stockpiling, and even disposal of unused nuclear materials CITATION Arm18 \l 1033 (Arms Control Association, 2018).
Aside from the international efforts that the United States took to ensure the safekeeping and usage of nuclear weapons, several amendments were made within the national setting. For example, during the Obama administration, stockpiling of nuclear weapons have significantly been reduced CITATION Kri17 \l 1033 (Kritensen, 2017). Additionally, there was also significant dismantlement of several warheads, especially those nearing the end of its life. These efforts are some of the positive ways that effectively reduce the risks of these nuclear warheads falling into the hands of terrorist groups.