Arms Control & Nonproliferation
Doomsday thinking leads the Strategic Posture Commission astray
The Brookings Institution and the American Society for Microbiology held a conference open to the media and the public on growing concerns over the threat posed to the American people and U.S. national security by biological weapons.
The panels surveyed the basic military and biological nature of the threat, ongoing efforts to limit the threat (including a strengthened biological weapons convention), and ways the United States might respond to any use of biological weapons against its military forces or civilian population. The panelists possess a wide array of relevant experience and expertise.
Agenda
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April 27
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Introduction and Background
DRADr. Ronald Atlas American Society for Microbiology Task Force on Biological Weapons — Medical/biological character of the threat<BR> <A HREF="/fp/events/19980427_Atlas.htm">Medical/Biological Nature of the Threat of Biological Weapons to U.S. Security</A>, conference paper by Dr. Ronald Atlas.DSCDr. Seth Carus National Defense University — Global/international character of the threat.<BR><A HREF="/fp/events/19980427_Carus.htm">Biological Warfare Threats in Perspective</A>, conference paper by Dr. Seth Carus. -
Means to Address the Threat
DKGDr. Kay Goss Associate Director for Preparedness, Training and Exercises Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency — U.S. civil defense capabilities and efforts against biological attackDGSDr. Gary Samore National Security Council — Prospects and potential of a strengthened biological weapons conventionUACDFU.S. Army Colonel David Franz United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland — U.S. military preparations to cope with a biological weapons attack -
Moderator
Michael E. O’Hanlon Director of Research - Foreign Policy, Director - Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Co-Director - Africa Security Initiative, Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy @MichaelEOHanlon
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