Cargos Of Doom: National Strategies Of The U.S. To Combat The Illicit Transport Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction By Sea

Chapter Summary

This chapter seeks to provide an overview of the national security strategies of the United States that are relevant to an analysis of the legal and policy issues surrounding efforts to prevent or disrupt the illicit transport of weapons of mass destruction by sea. National security can be defi ned as the absence of threat to the nation's principal values. Counter-proliferation measures include interdiction, deterrence, defense and mitigation. Those measures are carried out by both military and civilian arms of the United States. Two new regimes contribute to the maritime sector of the United States homeland security strategy. Th e United States launched its Container Security Initiative (CSI) in February 2002 to provide greater security at the overseas point-of-loading for shipping containers destined for the United States. Expert groups from Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) participating states have met on several occasions to identify and resolve issues raised by the initiative.

Keywords: container security initiative (CSI); illicit transport; mass destruction; national security strategies; proliferation security initiative (PSI); United States