Terrorism, war, or disease? : unraveling the use of biological weapons / edited by Anne L. Clunan, Peter R. Lavoy, Susan B. Martin.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clunan, Anne L., 1968-

Lavoy, Peter R. (Peter René), 1961-

Martin, Susan B., 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biological weapons--Case studies.

Biological weapons.

Biological weapons--Government policy.

Biological arms control.

National security.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 350 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2008.

Summary:

The use of biological warfare (BW) agents by states or terrorists is one of the world's most frightening security threats. Terrorism, War, or Disease? is the first book to examine the complex political, military, legal, and scientific challenges involved in determining when BW have been used and who has used them. The common understanding is that the difficulty in accurately attributing BW use impedes the deterrence of BW attacks and the development of effective public health responses, but thus far little attention has been devoted to understanding how to improve policies and procedures to identify and attribute BW events. This book fills this vital gap. Through detailed analysis of the most significant and controversial allegations of BW use from the Second World War to the present, internationally recognized experts assess pas attempts at attribution of unusual biological events and draw lessons to improve our ability to counter these deadly silent killers. This volume presents the most comprehensive analysis of actual and alleged BW use, and provides an up-to-date evaluation of law enforcement, forensic epidemiology, and arms control measures available to policymakers to investigate and attribute suspected attacks.

Contents:

Introduction: identifying biological agents, characterizing events, attributing blame / Anne L. Clunan

Pt. 1. Case studies. The U.S. anthrax letters: a confirmed case of BW agent use / Leonard A. Cole

The 1994 plague in western India: human ecology and the risks of misattribution / Ron Barrett

The yellow rain affair: lessons from a discredited allegation / Matthew S. Meselson and Julian Perry Robinson

"Yellow rain" biological warfare agent use: evidence and remaining questions / Rebecca Katz

False allegations of U.S. biological weapons use during the Korean War / Milton Leitenberg

Cuban allegations of U.S. biological warfare: false allegations and their impact on attribution / Raymond A. Zilinskas

Imperial Japan's germ warfare: the suppression of evidence at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, 1946-1948 / Jeanne Guillemin

A quantitative overview of biological weapons: identification, characterization, and attribution / Gary Ackerman and Victor Asal. Pt. 2. Policy and scholarly implications. U.S. efforts to investigate and attribute the use of biological weapons / Elisa D. Harris

A UK view on biological weapons attribution policies: the importance of strengthening norms against biological weapons / Graham S. Pearson

Multilateral approaches to the investigation and attribution of biological weapons use / Jonathan B. Tucker

Building information networks for biosecurity / Anne L. Clunan

Conclusion: the role of attribution in biosecurity policy / Susan B. Martin, Anne L. Clunan.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804759762

0804759766

9780804759779

0804759774

OCLC:

192134330