Recent Literature on Sanctions - Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, Anthony Arnove, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2000), 216 pp., $40 cloth, $16 paper. - “The Effect of Iraqi Sanctions: Statistical Pitfalls and Responsibility,” Amatzia Baram, Middle East Journal 54 (Spring2000), pp. 194–223. - United Nations Sanctions Management: A Case Study of the Iraq Sanctions Committee, 1990–1994, Paul Conlon (Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2000), 350 pp., $115 cloth. - Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Anthony H. Cordesman (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999), 712 pp., $75 cloth. - The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990s, David Cortright and George A. Lopez, eds. (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000), 274 pp., $17.95 paper. - The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations, Daniel W. Drezner (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 362 pp., $59.95 cloth, $24.95 paper. - Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq, Sarah Graham-Brown (London: I. B. Tauris, 1999), 400 pp., $35 cloth. - Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy, Richard N. Haass, ed. (New York: Council on Foreign Relations Books, 1998), 220 pp., $17.95 paper. - Honey and Vinegar: Incentives, Sanctions, and Foreign Policy, Richard N. Haass and Meghan L. O'Sullivan, eds. (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000), 168 pp., $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paper.

The hazard of biological, chemical and nuclear materials, regarded as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), intercalating the arsenal of terrorists is the biggest crime and challenge against humanity. Every such crime and challenge ought to be named appropriately; and state actors experiencing such owe it to their citizens to act speedily and with certainty against terrorists. Even with the on-going war on terrorism, there has been a surge in terrorist activities in some parts of the world. Terrorists in our contemporary age have also embraced startling trends in their operational mode since the 11 September 2001 fanatic attacks in New York and Washington D. C. The devastating effect of these twin attacks has raised global concern about the potential use of WMD by Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS), and their affiliate groups. One major issue of great concern in recent times, apart from the propensity of the terrorist organizations to acquire WMD, is the involvement of state actors that secretly acquire or claim to have acquired them for the purposes of electricity generation. Notably, too, is the trend in modern scientific and technological improvement which has increased the nature of, and access to, WMD. This research, therefore, attempts to access the implication and impact of WMD as terrorists put them to use. The study also examines the concept of terrorism and WMD. Also examined is the general implication of the use of WMD and the challenges this might pose to the international community, considering the current trends in their acquisition by some states and non-state actors. The investigation suggests appropriate counter-measures to thwart terrorists’ effort to acquire WMD. The study also adopted the qualitative approach of research to analyse the sophistication adopted by new terrorist groups particularly by the ISIS terrorist network; the al-Qaeda group and other splinter groups. Thus, historical research is most appropriate for this study, and secondary source of data was adopted as its methodology.

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