cover image Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World

Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World

Williams Burrows. Simon & Schuster, $24.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-671-74895-1

In a culture in which superweapons are replacing superpowers as arbiters of order, we face a new arms race that is driven by ethnic and religious hatred, warn the authors of this impressive study. Burrows and Windrem contend that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, along with the means to deliver them over long distances, is more ominous than the specters of overpopulation, disease epidemics or ecological disaster. As the moderating influence of the superpowers diminishes (they are turning their attention increasingly to internal affairs), Third World countries are seeking true independence based on military self-sufficiency, which translates to the stockpiling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The authors provide a deeply researched survey of the methods by which these weapons are distributed, who has them and how they are likely to be employed unless sanctions can be imposed. The U.S. should take the lead in forging an international antiproliferation resolve, stress Burrows ( Deep Black ) and Windrem, who is a producer for NBC News. Photos. (Feb.)