From Offence to Defence? Russia's Reform of its Biological Weapons Complex and the Implications for Western Security

摘要

The Russian Federation's military microbiological complex is of global significance and represents one of the world's major reservoirs of biological weapons (BW) expertise, embracing several thousand weapons scientists, extensive stocks of highly pathogenic (and potentially, genetically modified) strains, dedicated research and production facilities and delivery systems. These are a legacy of the vast offensive biological weapons programme aggressively pursued throughout the 1970s and the 1980s by the Soviet Union. This article looks beyond public statements reaffirming Russia's commitment to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) and seeks to determine, where possible, the degree of progress which has been made, over the past decade and more, towards the dismantlement of the Soviet infrastructure supporting an offensive biological warfare programme. It seeks to provide a balanced analysis of legitimate concerns regarding the management and direction of Russian BW programmes and places these within the context of recent US and European reservations regarding Russia's full compliance with the 1972 BWC.