Research Paper - Biological Warfare

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Biological weapons have always been a method of warfare since the beginning of history. However, the scale in which these weapons have been used, and the damage they have caused has been dramatically different. From the infection of a few soldiers to the massacre of an entire civilization, biological warfare has nonetheless wreaked havoc on the world. In modern society, it is still incredibly prominent and common. Biological Warfare consists of a biological agent, such as a disease, that is dispersed in a certain area, generally to kill or infect civilians. Common agents include Yersinia Pestis, or Bubonic Plague, Variola Major, or Smallpox, and Bacillus Anthracis, or Anthrax. These agents are very deadly in general, but they are generally altered or changed in some way to allow it to spread quicker, be more lethal, or have different effects on humans. Regardless of the potential risks that full-scale biological warfare could have on the world, very few restrictions are imposed, and even those that are imposed are very loose, ambiguous, and hard to verify. The treaties and restrictions governing biological warfare’s usage and development are flawed in that they are difficult if not impossible to verify, and thus are unable to prevent its development and usage because of how simple it is to create potent biological weapons and how unpredictable and deadly they can become in the hands of potential terrorist groups and in today’s fragile and vulnerable society. Several treaties in the 20th century have attempted to prevent biological weapon development programs. Conventions like the Biological Warfare Convention (BWC) in 1975 and the Geneva Conventions of the 1900s have been unable to be executed, verified, and followed by many of their signers. These treaties have thus been unable to keep a hold on the problems that biological weapons can pose. These treaties also

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