A key role for scientists in strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention

Lijun  Shang; Lincoln Sheff; Malcom  Dando

doi:10.3389/fpos.2023.1265008

A key role for scientists in strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention

Lijun Shang, Lincoln Sheff, Malcom Dando

Politics, Languages & International Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It is not easy to be optimistic about international security at the present time, but 9th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention in December 2022 agreed a renewed effort to strengthen the Convention after decades of stagnation. In March 2023 an agreement was also reached on an agenda and timetable for this effort over the next 2 years. Scientists have a long history of providing valuable input to such meetings, in this paper, we discuss how such input might best be provided with complicated challenges now facing the BWC and concluded that there is much that could be done, but greater coordination amongst scientists is needed.

Original language	English
Number of pages	3
Journal	Frontiers in Political Science
Volume	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2023.1265008
Publication status	Published - 7 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding: This work was funded by a grant to LS from Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (No. 5469).

Funding

Finally, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have a $77 million budget in comparison to the BWC which has only $686.69 thousand (OPCW, ; United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, ), meaning that the BWC cannot afford to be interacting outside of this financial framework, in order to learn institutional aspects of the CWC that could be applicable to the BWC. This problem is also felt within the opportunities provided by the BWC for biosecurity and safety. For example, the BWC offers a fellowship program but out of the 800 applications, only 20 places where available for funding (pers. comm. 28/04/2023 & Shang et al., ). Overall, there are many institutional barriers worth considering within the BWC that are not immediately obvious.

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Cite this

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A key role for scientists in strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

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