The Threat from Biological Weapons

Today, interest in the development of biological weapons is the mark of a desperate pariah state or terrorist group. International efforts have led to the de-legitimation of these weapons, improvements in defences, as well as improved processes of detection, attribution, and prosecution. Such efforts have also fostered the emergence of domestic legal frameworks worldwide. The centrepiece of this control regime is the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) which is over 40 years old. However, while this system stands as a testament to diplomacy and humanitarianism, it is worth remembering that the emergence of this regime and the norm it embodies was never guaranteed, and nor is its survival.

In particular, developments in science and technology, as well as changes in the character of conflict could undermine existing global prohibition systems. These two types of development make it very hard to predict if, how, and why biological weapons will be developed in the future; yet these very same changes appear to create problems that go far beyond the capacities of our existing disarmament and counter-terrorism approaches. These developments may open up new niches for biological weapon use for states as well as terrorists groups, and are already associated with calls for new ways in thinking about how to maintain the prohibition against biological weapons.