Conclusion

Today, the threat of a global avian flu pandemic, widely publicized in the media, or that of nuclear terrorism, more discreetly apprehended, suggest, through the scale of mobilization they generate at state level, the extraordinary dimension, in the truest sense of the word, that a crisis can take on. "We are at the frontiers of the chaotic", says Patrick Lagadec. New types of threats, but also "new vulnerabilities", analyzes Claude Gilbert.

Against this backdrop, the Toulouse accident, as it is sometimes referred to, seems a modest one today. Except that, in retrospect, it's easy to forget that the explosion actually took place, bringing with it its share of destruction and distress, some of which continues to manifest itself today, and leaving the players with their backs to the wall of crisis. Later, new laws, new regulations and new structures reinforced the...