As bad as they are, why aren't terrorists worse? With biological, chemical, & nuclear weapons at hand, they easily could be. And, as this chilling book suggests, they soon may well be. A former member of the National Security Council staff, Jessica Stern guides us expertly through a post-Cold War world in which the threat of all-out nuclear war, devastating but highly unlikely, is being replaced by the less costly but much more imminent threat of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction. According to Stern, several factors increase the probability of a major incident. Most important is the emergence of a new breed of terrorists-violent right-wing extremists, apocalyptic groups, & millenarian cults, all less constrained than their predecessors by traditional ethics or political pressures & more capable of recruiting scientists. Such scientists, including unemployed Soviet weapons experts, & the dissemination of know-how about nuclear, biological, & chemical weapons in books & on the Internet heighten the risk. Stern also warns us of the risks posed by the weak states & atomized societies left in the Cold War's wake, including the dangers of theft & smuggling of nuclear & chemical materials from former Soviet facilities. Written from an insider's perspective, The Ultimate Terrorists depicts a not-very-distant future in which both independent & state-sponsored terrorism using weapons of mass destruction could actually occur.

But Stern also holds out hope for new technologies that might combat this trend, & for legal & political remedies that would improve public safety without compromising basic constitutional rights.