Description
Biological weapons, the threat of bioterrorism, and the best ways to meet this threat to global security are the issues addressed in this book. Included are case studies of possible bioweapons incidents, including an outbreak of the plague in India and the anthrax cases in the United States. The importance of giving credit to the serious threat biological weapons present and not overlooking them in concerns of nuclear weapons of mass destruction is argued.The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC) has no provisions for verification similar for those of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Recently state parties to the convention have been negotiating a Verification Protocol for the BTWC, but significant challenges remain, including the need to weigh the requirements of international security against national sovereignty and the need for transparency to be weighed against secrecy for commercial reasons (both issues that have been raised by the United States. Chari (director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, India) and Rajain (research fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies) present seven chapters that address these and other issues, largely from the perspective of India. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ยฉ2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
ISBN:9789812104045
