The Biological Weapons Convention Turns 40—Are we any safer?
This year, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) celebrated its 40th
birthday in Geneva, at the Palais Nacions. Amidst speeches and
backslapping within the coterie of the BWC crowd, the question that
hangs in the air is—Are we really any safer?
The Biological
Weapons Convention was signed by the three depositary countries—Russia,
Great Britain and the United States—in 1972 and entered into force in
1975. The announcement by the Nixon administration in 1969 that the US
would unilaterally renounce the use of biological weapons and
discontinue its biological weapons program provided an impetus towards
the establishment of the treaty.
This year, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) celebrated its 40th
birthday in Geneva, at the Palais Nacions. Amidst speeches and
backslapping within the coterie of the BWC crowd, the question that
hangs in the air is—Are we really any safer?
The Biological
Weapons Convention was signed by the three depositary countries—Russia,
Great Britain and the United States—in 1972 and entered into force in
1975. The announcement by the Nixon administration in 1969 that the US
would unilaterally renounce the use of biological weapons and
discontinue its biological weapons program provided an impetus towards
the establishment of the treaty.
