Abstract
This research paper seeks to analyze this nightmarish threat. Among the questions that this paper will seek to answer are:

• From which states would a terrorist-controlled nuclear weapon be most likely to originate? Why are these states such unique threats?
• What has the US done to counter the proliferation threat posed by these countries?
• What international institutions are currently in place to prevent this kind of unauthorized nuclear proliferation?
• What additional steps can the US and the international community take to prevent nuclear materials from falling into terrorist hands?

It is sometimes tempting to dismiss the nuclear threat as a relic of the Cold War. That, after all, was the era of the A-Bomb and the H-Bomb, of “duck and cover” and MAD (mutually assured destruction). And yet, to adopt such a viewpoint is to ignore the reality that, in the post-Cold War world, the nuclear threat has, indeed, changed, but is far from disappearing entirely.
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