The Ongoing Failure of Imagination

When the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, so too did America's confidence that it was secure from calamitous acts of terrorism. Mindful that terrorists might next seek to use nuclear weapons, the United States has undertaken concerted efforts to secure loose nukes and bombmaking materials. But, five years later, are we any safer? For an assessment, the Bulletin sought the views of GRAHAM ALLISON (P. 36), author of Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, and WILLIAM M. ARKIN (P. 42), a security analyst and online columnist for the Washington Post.