Pandemics and Bioterrorism: Transdisciplinary Information Sharing for Decision-Making against Biological Threats

VG- condition softcover, slightly rounded and curled corners, text appears unmarked, 240 pp.
This book is a collection of papers presented at the NATO ASI conference Transdisciplinary Information Sharing for Decision-Making against Biological Threats. Traditionally, it has been natural disasters and industrial accidents which have posed the greatest threat to society, but increasingly, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) emergencies present new challenges, with the potential to become global threats on an unprecedented scale. This has led to calls for the international community to implement a new way of thinking to enable better communication worldwide to counter the threat of global terrorism. A successful counter terrorism strategy requires cooperation between agencies traditionally reluctant to share information: governments, industry, the scientific community and civil society in general. The body of knowledge and experience being developed in this field is now so immense that a new information sharing paradigm is required for these various disciplines in different societies to properly understand each other. The key obstacle to any scientific, technical or social process is inefficient or non-existent information sharing. This work is of interest to anyone involved in the mitigation, preparedness, response to or recovery from disasters of any kind. Highlighting strategic enablers such as cross-disciplinary information sharing, international outreach and partner activities, public diplomacy and strategic communication, it is a robust step towards a new era of genuine cross-silo information sharing and cooperation in an atmosphere of trust.