South Africa's Weapons of Mass Destruction offers an in-depth view of thesecret development and voluntary disarmament of South Africa's nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons program, Project Coast. Helen E. Purkitt and Stephen F. Burgessexplore how systems used for nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in SouthAfrica were acquired and established beyond the gaze of international and domesticpolitical actors. On the basis of archival evidence from Project Coast and their ownextensive interviews with military and political officials, Purkitt and Burgessconsider what motivates countries to acquire and build such powerful weaponry andexamine when and how decisions are made to dismantle a military arsenal voluntarily.Questions such as how to destroy weapons safely and keep them from reappearing oninternational markets are considered along with comparative strategies forsuccessful disarmament in other nation-states.