Jan. 22, 2020

Redefining Neuroweapons: Emerging Capabilities in Neuroscience and Neurotechnology

As global conflicts assume increasingly asymmetric and “gray zone” forms, the ability to employ current and newly developing techniques and tools of neurocognitive science to manipulate human thought and behavior must be viewed as a present and increasing challenge. DeFranco, DiEuliis, and Giordano examine how developments in neuroscience and technology (neuroS/T) make the brain sciences of growing value for operational use in warfare, intelligence, and national security…

Aug. 22, 2019

Biospecimens and the Information Landscape for Biodefense

As genomic sequencing and synthesis tools continue to grow, the genomic information associated with biospecimens is expanding rapidly; the convergence of the physical and digital worlds has yet unexamined impacts to our traditional biodefense frameworks.

June 25, 2018

Roadmap for Implementing Biosecurity and Biodefense Policy in the United States

This past year, Dr. Diane DiEuliis, in partnership with Gryphon Scientific and Parsons, undertook an ambitious, systems-based analysis of biosecurity and biodefense policy in the United States. Here you can find the full report, an executive summary of the report, and the resultant Roadmap for U.S biodefense policy.

May 22, 2018

Book Review: The Darkest Sides of Politics, II: State Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Religious Extremism, and Organized Crime

Fort McNair — In this companion to his first volume on Postwar Facism, Covert Operations, and Terrorism, Jeffrey Bale explores the influence of some of the world’s most pressing security concerns through a review of global case studies on weapons of mass destruction (WMD), violent extremism, and organized crime.

May 16, 2018

Book Review: The Politics of Weapons Inspections: Assessing WMD Monitoring and Verification Regimes

Fort McNair — Nathan E. Busch and Joseph F. Pilat in their book The Politics of Weapons Inspections: Assessing WMD Monitoring and Verification Regimes draw attention to the important role that politics can play within weapons of mass destruction (WMD) verification, but the title promises more than the authors deliver.

May 15, 2018

Book Review: Dirty War: Rhodesia and Chemical Biological Warfare 1975-1980

Fort McNair — In this book review, Dr. Seth Carus writes that Glenn Cross’s Dirty War: Rhodesia and Chemical Biological Warfare 1975–1980 is a welcome addition to the small, but growing scholarly literature on the history of chemical and biological warfare.

Nov. 17, 2017

Nuclear Terrorism - Imminent Threat?

Terrorism experts and analysts have debated this for years, and no consensus exists as to why the world has not seen terrorists succeed at perpetrating a nuclear attack. Despite the seeming inevitability of a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon, terrorists may be substantially less likely to conduct such an attack than most analysts and policymakers expect.

Nov. 3, 2017

Biosecurity Implications for the Synthesis of Horsepox, an Orthopoxvirus

This article examines the biosecurity and biodefense implications resulting from the recent creation of horsepox virus, a noncirculating (extinct) species of orthopoxvirus. Here we examine the technical aspects of the horsepox virus synthesis and conclude that orthopox synthesis experiments currently remain technically challenging—and will continue to be so, even once this work is published in the scientific literature.

Oct. 19, 2017

Competitive Symposium 2017

Washington, DC — The Competitive Symposium held on 2-3 March 2017 is a new initiative of the WMD Center designed to leverage the three components of the Center’s mandate together with our WMD expertise on staff and growing cadre of next-generation military and civilian leaders with knowledge of the WMD threat—the Program for Emerging Leaders (PEL) and the Countering WMD Graduate Fellows Program.

Aug. 30, 2017

North Korean Collapse: Weapons of Mass Destruction Use and Proliferation Challenges

38 North — Among all the challenges associated with a North Korean collapse, the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or movement of WMD out of the country will have the largest strategic implications.