On Wednesday 2 May 2007, the IISS is publishing the latest in its series of Strategic Dossiers, entitled Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and the Rise of Proliferation Networks – A Net Assessment. The Dossier provides a compelling history of the most famous of these networks: the global enterprise run by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The technology that Khan and his associates sold to North Korea and Iran sparked crises that continue to threaten international security. Among other mysteries, the Dossier explores the question of whether A.Q. Khan sold North Korea and Iran the weapons designs that he sold to Libya and apparently offered to Iraq.
The Dossier details how Pakistan developed a nuclear weapons capability in ten years after Khan brought stolen technology for the enrichment of uranium from the Netherlands. Though the Pakistani government put Khan out of business and reformed its nuclear command and control mechanisms, many people consider that the case is not yet closed.
The Dossier collates what is known about other illicit procurement programmes, some of which continue today. It concludes with a menu of options for policies and actions that states and international organisations could adopt to prevent nuclear black markets in the future.
The Strategic Dossier is a reference text for governments, organisations, academics and media worldwide on the state of knowledge about illicit nuclear technology and material trafficking over the past four decades. Earlier IISS Strategic Dossiers on the strategic weapons programmes of North Korea and Iran are still available for sale.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies, an international think tank based in London, is the premier independent authority on politico-military conflict. It produces the annual publications The Military Balance and Strategic Survey, the quarterly Survival and the monthly Strategic Comments, as well as the Adelphi Papers series of monographs and the Armed Conflict Database.
The press launch will take place in the fifth floor conference room at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
All guests are requested to take their seats by 10:15hrs. If you are bringing a camera crew, please arrive in plenty of time to set up. Technical experts will be on hand to assist.
Please note that copies of the Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and the Rise of Proliferation Networks - A Net Assessment will only be issued at the launch.
If you would like to attend the launch, please reply by Tuesday 1 May 2007, to Kathleen James via Tel: 020 7395 9109 or E-mail:
james@iiss.org
