DoD Responses to Transnational Threats - The Black Vault

Technical Challenges
An important part of improving DoD’s capability to respond to the transnational threat
includes drawing on and incorporating technological advances into the Department’s response
arsenal. In the case of this unique threat, this may mean taking on problems that have long been
viewed as too difficult – either bureaucratically or technically.
A Global Information Infrastructure
The United States must get smarter about the transnational threat. The task force sees a need
for an interactive, two-way global information system that would expand the available sources of
information. This information system would support gathering more data from the bottom up,
exploit international information sources, and facilitate the sharing and analysis of information
collected by different organizations. This would mean global distributed data bases, held at
numerous security levels, and accessible by a global information sharing community focused on
deterring and dealing with the wide spectrum of potential transnational threats.
The United States can exploit the information technology available today to develop a global
information system that would permit real-time, collaborative analysis and correlation of
information. Such a system – which the task force termed the Secure, Transnational Threat
Information Infrastructure – can be developed based on the technology and infrastructure
available today from the World Wide Web, and into which many agencies and organizations are
already connected.
Addressing the “Too Hard” Problems
There are a number of challenges that have historically been regarded as “too hard” to solve:
the nuclear terrorism challenge, defense against the biological and chemical warfare threat, and
defense against the information warfare threat. This task force believes that these challenges
should be addressed and that doing so will make a substantive difference in the nation’s ability to
respond to these distinctly different and serious threats.
In addressing these challenges, the United States must avoid being trapped into inaction
because the problems are difficult. Measuring the effectiveness of actions against only the most
stressful threat or embracing only the “perfect” solution can stand in the way of important
progress. An incremental approach for improving America’s capabilities to deal with the nuclear,
chemical, and biological transnational threats is prudent and is ardently needed to reduce the
enormous potential consequences from such attacks.
The Nuclear Challenge. If the required fissile material is available, it is not difficult to
design and build a primitive nuclear explosive device. Knowledge about the design and use of
nuclear weapons is available in the public domain to an ever-widening clientele. Insuring the
security of nuclear weapons and materials in Russia and the states of the Former Soviet Union is
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