Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention

In agreement with the overwhelming number of experts, I certainly share the view of Chevier and Hansen that the Biological Weapons Convention needs to be strengthened. Of course it is still a matter of discussion whether the military utility of biological and toxin weapons (hereafter, respectively, BW and TW) changed after the introduction of biotechnology. It is impossible, however, to ignore the 1986 statement of the U.S. Department of Defense (1988), that: ... perhaps the most significant event in the history of biological weapons development has been the advent of biotechnology. It enables the development of new microorganisms and products with new, unorthodox characteristics... Conceptually, then, a nation or terrorist group can design a biological weapon to meet a variety of contingencies or needs... The break through and the subsequent achievements make biological warfare much more feasible and effective for countries which either are not bound by the convention or which choose to violate it

Biological warfare · Convention · Environmental ethics · Political science · Statement (logic · Terrorism · Variety (cybernetics · Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research · Biotechnology and Related Fields · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Artificial Intelligence

• Epidemic Field Investigation as Applied to Allegations of Chemical, Biological, or Toxin Warfare

  Open Access•Peter Barss•Politics and the Life Sciences•1992

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