Down with the Sickness: Biological Weapons in the Past, Present, and Future

Executive Summary

In this paper I perform a survey of biological weapons. I begin with an overview of the subtypes of biological weapons and investigate the technical considerations associated with their production and deployment. I trace the history of their usage from the 14th century B.C.E. to the present, with particular emphasis on the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 and biological weapon production since then. Consideration is given to the motivations of states that have chosen to pursue biological weapons. I examine, too, the United States’ biodefense program. In the final section I discuss possible future usage of biological weapons and propose several policy stances to reduce that threat.