Smuggling Armageddon: Nuclear Black Market in the Former Soviet Union and Europe - Hardcover

This text addresses an international concern of the 1990s and beyond: the illegal trade in nuclear materials that has erupted in the Newly Independent States (NIS) and Europe since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Rensselaer Lee raises the question of whether such traffic poses a threat of consequence to international security and stability. Lee reveals that although government versions of relevant events suggest that the significance of the trade is minor and receding, these governments cannot necessarily be trusted to share important details on proliferation sensitive issues. In this investigation, Lee unveils an overall picture, claiming that Russia is currently characterized by a variety of criminal proliferation channels, smuggling operations are becoming progressively more sophisticated, and Russian stockpiles already may have suffered serious leakages of weapons usable materials. The chapters address such topics as statistical trends in smuggling, configurations of criminal actors, diversion scenarios and pathways, and black market transactions. The study then concludes by assessing the implications of study findings for US policy and by offering insights on the future of the NIS smuggling industry. It is aimed at departments of politics, international relations, policy studies, post-Soviet and East European studies, strategic and security studies.