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Author : A. Balaov
Third Secretary, Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation
BIOLOGICAL (bacteriological) weapons were the first category of
weapons of mass destruction to come under a universal international
legal ban. The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) came into
force back in 1975.
However, the BWC contains so many moot points that no one would
call it an effective and comprehensive accord. Some countries insist
on keeping the BWC in its current form. They conduct numerous
tests of biological weapons in seeking to create their own guarantees
of protection from this category of arms. The main problem is that
these clumsy attempts pose a permanent threat to the life and health
of people nearly all over the world.
Russia has proposed ways of carrying out comprehensive strengthening of the BWC. Moscow
presses for a complete ban on the use of biological weapons and seeks to promote international
cooperation in the civilian use of microbiology. Some countries have seen a hidden agenda be-
hind this policy and tried to accuse Moscow of opportunism. However, no such attempts have
cut any ice, and the Russian proposals have been receiving steadily increasing support.
Remarkably, the BWC, just as the Geneva Protocol, does not contain any direct definition of bi-
ological weapons.
The main problem is that the BWC does not impose a direct ban on biological weapons, although
the convention's initial draft did propose such a ban.
THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS suggest themselves:
1. The BWC is a unique, breakthrough document that for many years has been a guarantee of
non-use of biological weapons. It was made possible by meticulous work to find compromises
and non-trivial solutions and political will to put them into practice.
2. The international community is nearly unanimous in believing that it still needs the BWC, but
the convention needs updating.
3. There remain serious disagreements about ways of updating the BWC since different states
have different views on the role of the convention for their own and global security.
4. Since the BWC came into force, nations have been changing their assessments of it and their
views on how it should be strengthened. This means that attitudes may change again, and that
they could move toward concurrence.
Joint well-considered action is essential to prevent biological wars. Russia has proposed concrete
and carefully verified solutions. Maximum use should be made of political and diplomatic re-
sources to rule out the use of biological weapons.
Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention: A Need Obvi-
ous to the Naked Eye