1. Can Scientific Codes of Conduct Deter Bioweapons?
- Author:
- Jeanne Guillemin
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- At least since the First World War, when the German army sabotaged the Allies’ pack animals with anthrax and glanders, worldwide concern about biological weapons has focused on how to improve legal restraints against biological weapons (BW). Over these same years, the major powers have vacillated in their willing- ness to promote international treaties and laws against BW programs. At the end of the Cold War, hopes were high for a global consensus to strengthen the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), making it a standing organization comparable to that of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention and an expanded man- date to ensure compliance. Instead, in the name of national security, the United States has recently promoted an emphasis on voluntary measures. One of these, the international adoption of biosecurity codes of conduct, puts the burden on elite scientists to solve a prob- lem of weapons proliferation that can be better addressed by effec- tive legal restraints.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Science and Technology, Military Strategy, and Biological Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus