Entitled, Al Qaeda Still Wants a Dirty Bomb, the article states that, "Denying terrorists access to radiological materials that can be used in a dirty bomb attack -- one that could bring our economy to a standstill and render areas uninhabitable for decades -- is a major security challenge" ( Al Qaeda Still Wants a Dirty Bomb). In order to deal with this threat there have been a number of international treaties put in place. These fall under the general heading of the reduction of the proliferation of nuclear materials for weapons of mass destruction. These include the following:

The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. This was adopted in 1987 and was intended to set international standards for securing nuclear material in trade and commerce. It is important to note that in 2005 the "…Parties extended the scope of the Convention to include nuclear material in domestic use, storage, and transport, as well as the protection of nuclear material and facilities from sabotage" (Nikitin, 2010).

The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) was initiated by President Bush in 2003. This initiative was intended to "…increase international cooperation in interdicting shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials" (Nikitin, 2010). At present a total of 95 counties have committed themselves to...

As Nikitin (2010) states, although there are a number of international trestles on this issue, "… none are universal, and together they make up a patchwork approach to the problem to date" (Nikitin, 2010). This is a matter for grave concern in a world which is becoming more diverse and complex, and where the possibly of the use of a "dirty nuke" becomes a real possibility.