A Farewell to Germs: The U.S. Renunciation of Biological and Toxin Warfare, 1969-70

Overview

The discovery of mailed anthrax spores shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, rattled an already-shaken nation. Since then, public awareness of the dangers of biological weapons has increased tremendously. Jonathan Tucker of the Monterey Institute of International Studies examines the Nixon administration's decisionmaking process that in 1969–70 led to the U.S. declaration to renounce biological and toxin warfare. In addition to examining some of the unintended consequences of this decision, Tucker seeks to show how "understanding the factors that shaped those decisions can illuminate some of the key issues facing the United States as it confronts the growing threats of biological warfare and terrorism."