Challenges to the Viability of International Agreements on Chemical and Biological Weapons

John and Franz will report on the findings of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC) task force established by DoD to assess the continuing viability of both the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Numerous occurrences of chemical use in the past decade have raised concerns about the future viability of the CWC. The rapid advances in the biological sciences have done the same with respect to the BWC. The task force affirmed the importance of the treaties for the foreseeable future as the basis for international norms and for taking action against those who violate the treaties. But there is also no question that the U.S. government writ large, and the DoD in particular, should be adapting to the new directions in which both the chemical and biological threats appear to be going. The current overriding principle of "protect the warfighter," on which DoD's strategy has historically been based, must be expanded from its literal interpretation to one that integrates numerous actions and activities further upstream and downstream of an attack. The task force developed a straw man of what such a strategy might look like, what actions are needed to address the strategy comprehensively, and which of those actions could constitute a set of steps for getting started.

Mim John is serving in various consulting and board roles since her retirement as vice president of Sandia National Laboratories, California. During her Sandia career, she worked on a wide variety of programs, including nuclear weapons, chemical and biological defense, missile defense, and solar energy, along with providing leadership for a number of the laboratory's energy, national security, and homeland security programs. John is vice chair of DoD's Threat Reduction Advisory Committee and a member of the Department's Defense Science Board

David Franz served in the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for 23 of 27 years on active duty and retired as Colonel. He served as Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and as Deputy Commander of the Medical Research and Materiel Command. Prior to joining the Command, he served as group veterinarian for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). The current focus of his activities relates to the role of international engagement in public health and the life sciences as a component of global security policy.