Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat

Subject:

Social Sciences

Institution Name:

UC Berkeley

Collection:

Webcast UC Berkeley Events

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

Abstract:

BIOSECURITY FOR A NEW ERA Lecture Series

Biological weapons (BW) have been a significant national security preoccupation for nearly 15 years. The events of September 11 and the anthrax attacks that followed have magnified these concerns by orders of magnitude while shifting the context almost entirely to "bioterrorism." Over the past four years, the federal government has spent nearly $30 billion to counter the anticipated threat. Strangely, these responses took place in the absence of virtually any threat analysis. This talk will describe recent work to fill this gap by describing what is known about recent state and terrorist group efforts to obtain, develop, and use biological weapons (BW); reviewing how US agencies have portrayed the BW threat through exercises and planning scenarios; and examining how recent and projected expansions in the US biodefense program interact with the Biological Weapons Convention.

Milton Leitenberg, Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland (CISSM), trained as a scientist and moved into the field of arms control in 1966. In 1968, Leitenberg was the first American to work at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He also worked with the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the Center for International Studies' Peace Studies Program at Cornell University. His research is widely published. He has authored two major studies at CISSM, Biological Weapons Arms Control (1996) and Participation of Japanese Military Forces in UN Peacekeeping Operations (1996). His most recent books are "The Problem of Biological Weapons" and "Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat."

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Primary Source

Media Format:

Video

Conditions of Use:

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5

Copyright Holder:

2007 Regents of the University of California