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In this episode, Dr. Natasha Bajema, Director of the Converging Risks Lab, hosts Colonel (ret) Ron Fizer and the Honorable Andy Weber in a discussion about the need to reboot the 2002 strategy to combat Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). This is the first in a series of discussions we’ll be having on this topic.
Ron Fizer is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and fellow at LMI. He served in the force for 30 years in various command, staff and leadership positions across the Army, Joint Staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Andy Weber is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks. He is the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense programs and has spent decades working to reduce the risk of WMD.
For further reading, please check out a three-part briefer written by Dr. Bajema exploring whether we should move beyond the WMD paradigm:
BRIEFER: Beyond Weapons of Mass Destruction: Time for a New Paradigm?
BRIEFER – Definitions Matter: The Role of WMD in Shaping U.S. National Security Strategy
I believe this was a great and necessary discussion. However, in my years of experience in this field, I do not see the understanding of WMD beyond some knoedgeable experts. My point is that rebooting these strategies is important, but taking all of us down the path of what to do specifically (categories) in these strategies is just as important as developing a new strategy. In fact, in the long run, it will be more important because most people will have an idea of what WMD means in terms of input and output of solving the problem or the right deterence for each category for our Nation and our Military.
Again, great discussion.
V/R,
Doug