Description
Book SynopsisIn both the popular imagination and among lawmakers and national security experts, there exists the belief that with sufficient motivation and material resources, states or terrorist groups can produce bioweapons easily, cheaply, and successfully. In Barriers to Bioweapons, Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley challenges this perception by showing that bioweapons development is a difficult, protracted, and expensive endeavor, rarely achieving the expected results whatever the magnitude of investment. Her findings are based on extensive interviews she conducted with former U.S. and Soviet-era bioweapons scientists and on careful analysis of archival data and other historical documents related to various state and terrorist bioweapons programs.Bioweapons development relies on living organisms that are sensitive to their environment and handling conditions, and therefore behave unpredictably. These features place a greater premium on specialized knowledge. Ben Ouagrham-Gormley posits that
Trade Review
[T]his is an overall excellent book that makes a significant contribution to the study of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. To date, existing research has overwhelmingly focused on the causes of nuclear weapons proliferation, while we know substantially less about the causes of chemical and biological weapons proliferation. This book represents an important and welcome step toward addressing that gap.
-- Neil Narang * Political Science Quarterly *
Barriers to Bioweapons provides a clear and insightful examination of what is a highly technical and complex subject matter.... The book provides a useful template for analyzing and explaining the relative successes or failures of a number of potential large-scale scientific endeavors beyond the realm of Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is a must-read for nonproliferation experts and should be a standard text for understanding biological weapons development for some time to come.
-- David W. Kearn * Perspectives on Politics *
Ben Ouagrham-Gormley's book is a fascinating study of the phenomenology of scientific knowledge, providing a compelling analysis of how knowledge is acquired, developed, transmitted, and, at the same time, diluted or lost as a result of organizational, social, economic, political, and ultimately very human factors that vary widely within countries and over time.
-- Janne Nolan * Nonproliferation Review *
In Barriers to Bioweapons, Ben Ouagrham-Gormley similarly and persuasively argues that the challenges to producing biological weapons—whether by state or non-state actors—are considerable.... The book is an attempt to demonstrate in a rigorous manner that there are significant barriers to producing bioweapons. Given the recent controversy over the publication of several papers on H5N1 influenza research, this is a timely and welcome book that challenges prevailing notions about the ease of bioweapons development. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
* Choice *
Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Bio-proliferation PuzzleChapter 2: The Acquisition and Use of Specialized KnowledgeChapter 3: Impediments and Facilitators of Bioweapons Developments: Organization, Management, and Exogenous FactorsChapter 4: The American Bioweapons Program: Scientific Progress, Operational FailureChapter 5: The Soviet Bioweapons Program: Failed IntegrationChapter 6: Small Bioweapons Programs and the Constraints of CovertnessChapter 7: Preventing Bioweapons Developments: Policy ImplicationsAppendix 1: American Bioweapons Program: Contractors
Appendix 2: American Bioweapons Program: Approximate Budget FiguresNotes
Index
