Author: Alexander Kelle
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804786151
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
Preventing a Biochemical Arms Race responds to a growing concern that changes in the life sciences and the nature of warfare could lead to a resurgent interest in chemical and biological weapons (CBW) capabilities. By bringing together a wide range of historical material and current literature in the field of CBW arms control, the book reveals how these two disparate fields might be integrated to precipitate a biochemical arms race among major powers, rogue states, or even non-state actors. It seeks to raise awareness among policy practitioners, the academic community, and the media that such an arms race may be looming if developments are left unattended, and to provide policy options on how it—and it's devastating consequences—could be avoided. After identifying weaknesses in the international regime structures revolving around the Biological Weapons and Chemical Weapons Conventions, it provides policy proposals to deal with gaps and shortcomings in each prohibition regime individually, and then addresses the widening gap between them.
Author: Susan Wright
Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
ISBN: 9780262231480
Category : Biological warfare (International law)
Languages : en
Pages : 446
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Book Description
This timely sourcebook presents the essential technical, political, legal, and historical background needed for informed judgments about the recent expansion of military interest in the life sciences particularly in the weapons potential of the new biotechnology. Beyond providing a history and analysis of trends in these areas, "Preventing a Biological Arms Race also develops the case for strengthening national and international commitments to biological disarmament and proposes courses of action to achieve this goal. "In theory, " Susan Wright observes, "the menace of biological warfare should no longer be with us." Developing, producing, and stockpiling biological weapons are unconditionally banned by international treaty. EastWest military rivalry and confrontations in the Middle East have eroded confidence in the treaty regime, however. The advent of genetic engineering and other new biotechnologies has revived military interest in biological weaponry, generating concern about the potential weapons applications of biological research. The 15 contributions by experts from a wide range of disciplines include a history of U.S. biological warfare policy, analysis of the ethical issues posed by defensive biological warfare research, case studies of alleged violations of the international legal regime prohibiting biological weapons, reviews of that regime, and proposals for strengthening the barriers to biological warfare. A series of 14 appendices collect important data and documents related to biological weapons. Susan Wright is a historian of science at the Residential College of the University of Michigan where she directs the Science and Society Program. This book was prepared underthe sponsorship of the Council for Responsible Genetics.
Author: Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801471923
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237
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Book Description
In both the popular imagination and among lawmakers and national security experts, there exists the belief that with sufficient motivation and material resources, states or terrorist groups can produce bioweapons easily, cheaply, and successfully. In Barriers to Bioweapons, Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley challenges this perception by showing that bioweapons development is a difficult, protracted, and expensive endeavor, rarely achieving the expected results whatever the magnitude of investment. Her findings are based on extensive interviews she conducted with former U.S. and Soviet-era bioweapons scientists and on careful analysis of archival data and other historical documents related to various state and terrorist bioweapons programs.Bioweapons development relies on living organisms that are sensitive to their environment and handling conditions, and therefore behave unpredictably. These features place a greater premium on specialized knowledge. Ben Ouagrham-Gormley posits that lack of access to such intellectual capital constitutes the greatest barrier to the making of bioweapons. She integrates theories drawn from economics, the sociology of science, organization, and management with her empirical research. The resulting theoretical framework rests on the idea that the pace and success of a bioweapons development program can be measured by its ability to ensure the creation and transfer of scientific and technical knowledge. The specific organizational, managerial, social, political, and economic conditions necessary for success are difficult to achieve, particularly in covert programs where the need to prevent detection imposes managerial and organizational conditions that conflict with knowledge production.
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309164753
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
Biomedical advances have made it possible to identify and manipulate features of living organisms in useful ways-leading to improvements in public health, agriculture, and other areas. The globalization of scientific and technical expertise also means that many scientists and other individuals around the world are generating breakthroughs in the life sciences and related technologies. The risks posed by bioterrorism and the proliferation of biological weapons capabilities have increased concern about how the rapid advances in genetic engineering and biotechnology could enable the production of biological weapons with unique and unpredictable characteristics. Globalization, Biosecurity, and the Future of Life Sciences examines current trends and future objectives of research in public health, life sciences, and biomedical science that contain applications relevant to developments in biological weapons 5 to 10 years into the future and ways to anticipate, identify, and mitigate these dangers.
Author: Amy Smithson
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804775532
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386
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Book Description
This book tells the tale of how international inspectors beat incredible odds to unveil Iraq's covert bioweapons program, draws lessons from this experience that should be applied to help arrest future bioweapons programs, places the Iraq bioweapons saga in the context of other manmade biological risks, and makes recommendations to reduce those perils.
Author: David Fidler
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804750297
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
"The renewed threat of biological weapons highlights the importance of crafting policy responses informed by the rule of law. This book explores patterns in recent governance initiatives and advocates building a "global biosecurity concert" as a way to address the threats presented by biological weapons and infectious diseases in the early 21st century."--BOOK JACKET.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48
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Book Description
Author: Susan Wright
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742524699
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472
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Book Description
This book proposes fresh approaches and concrete proposals to overcome one of the most intractable security problems of the twenty-first century. Visit our website for sample chapters!
Author: Brian Rappert
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134169019
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231
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Book Description
A fresh examination of the ethical and intellectual issues and dilemmas associated with attempts to establish formal humanitarian limits on weaponry. This new study considers how governments, non-governmental organizations, academics, political commentators and others have responded to the predicaments associated with imposing classifications about the relative acceptability of force and what is accomplished in their strategies for doing so. It develops these issues through combining thematic and conceptual analysis with the examination of varied cases of prohibitions on ‘conventional’ and ‘unconventional’ weapons through customary and statutory laws, multilateral treaties, UN resolutions, and national legislation. The book will appeal to students of security studies, military technology, peace studies, international relations and discourse theory.
Author: Eric Croddy
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 9780810832718
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 478
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Book Description
Covers the history of this form of warfare, information on chemical agents themselves, as well as regulation, controls, and disposal policies. Scientific research on CBW, extending as far back as 1940 is organized under categories of CBW agents and their corresponding subheadings.
