Combating Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Appendix H: Technology AcquisitionA key finding of the Commission concerns the lack of tools appropriate for managing thediverse proliferation-related technology acquisition efforts of the federal government. Inorder to illustrate one such tool, consider the following taxonomy, intended to show theinformation parameters and conceptual organization necessary for effective interagencytechnology management and oversight. The specific items provided in the taxonomy areintended to be illustrative rather than a comprehensive list. 30The many federal departments involved with WMD technology acquisition have different,and often inconsistent, accounting systems. Indeed, the Department of Defense (DoD) atone time had over 100 different accounting systems. The goal of this managementtaxonomy is not to overrule or replace a given accounting system in any federaldepartment or agency. Rather, the goal is to outline a coherent means to integrate thefunctional elements common to all these accounting systems to achieve the neededmanagement comparisons. The following management taxonomy is inherentlyindependent of any existing accounting system, even though it is more like someaccounting systems than others.Much work is needed to translate existing systems into any overarching managementtaxonomy, no matter how well conceived that taxonomy is, and diligence is required ineach individual department to maintain coherence with it.Stating the National GoalsBuilding the management taxonomy begins with a clear statement of the national goals forcombating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Many different ways toarticulate these national goals may be found in various statements, publications, andstrategy documents produced by the federal government. These statements need to beintegrated. For illustration, all U.S. government responses to the WMD proliferation threatcan be classified according to one or more of the following four national goals:Proliferation Prevention/DenialThis class of responses includes all efforts designed either to prevent state or sub-stateactor from starting development of a WMD operational capability or to inhibit suchdevelopment, by means other than military force, once it has begun. Prevention/denialtools may include diplomacy, treaties, international and domestic law-enforcement efforts,and export controls.30A list of abbreviations used in this appendix appears at the end of it.155