Biological Weapons: Effort to Reduce Former Soviet Threat Offers Benefits, Poses New Risks

摘要

Although it signed the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, the former Soviet Union covertly developed the world's largest offensive biological weapons program, which relied on a network of military and nonmilitary scientific institutes, according to a January 2000 Department of Defense report to Congress. Russia renounced the Soviet program in 1992 and subsequently cut funding for Biopreparat institutes; nonetheless, the United States remains concerned about the extent of Russia's compliance with the Convention. Reasons for concern include Biopreparat's retention of its Cold War leadership and existing ties to former Soviet nonmilitary biological weapons institutes in Russia, although Biopreparat no longer funds them. Although Russia has generally allowed the United States access to its nonmilitary institutes that receive U.S. nonproliferation assistance, Russia has consistently rebuffed U.S. efforts to inspect its military institutes currently managed by the Ministry of Defense.