Skip to main content
  • Sections
  • Search

Center for Strategic & International Studies

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Cybersecurity and Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Governance
    • Intellectual Property
    • Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy
    • Military Technology
    • Space
    • Technology and Innovation
  • Defense and Security
    • Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
    • Defense Budget
    • Defense Industry, Acquisition, and Innovation
    • Defense Strategy and Capabilities
    • Geopolitics and International Security
    • Long-Term Futures
    • Missile Defense
    • Space
    • Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation
  • Economics
    • Asian Economics
    • Global Economic Governance
    • Trade and International Business
  • Energy and Sustainability
    • Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Impacts
    • Energy and Geopolitics
    • Energy Innovation
    • Energy Markets, Trends, and Outlooks
  • Global Health
    • Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Immunizations
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Health and Security
    • Infectious Disease
  • Human Rights
    • Building Sustainable and Inclusive Democracy
    • Business and Human Rights
    • Responding to Egregious Human Rights Abuses
    • Civil Society
    • Transitional Justice
    • Human Security
  • International Development
    • Food and Agriculture
    • Governance and Rule of Law
    • Humanitarian Assistance
    • Human Mobility
    • Private Sector Development
    • U.S. Development Policy

Regions

  • Africa
    • North Africa
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Americas
    • Caribbean
    • North America
    • South America
  • Arctic
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia, New Zealand & Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Southeast Asia
  • Europe
    • European Union
    • NATO
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Turkey
  • Middle East
    • The Gulf
    • Egypt and the Levant
    • North Africa
  • Russia and Eurasia
    • The South Caucasus
    • Central Asia
    • Post-Soviet Europe
    • Russia

Sections menu

  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
    • Blogs
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Critical Questions
    • Interactive Reports
    • Journals
    • Newsletter
    • Reports
    • Transcript
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • Web Projects

Main menu

  • About Us
  • Support CSIS
    • Securing Our Future
Report
Share
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Printfriendly.com

The Biological Weapons Threat and Nonproliferation Options

A Survey of U.S. Decision Makers and Policy Shapers

November 29, 2006

Following Aum Shinrikyo’s 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo subway commuters, revelations about the USSR’s massive biological weapons program and Iraq’s germ warfare program in the 1990s, and the sending of anthrax-laced letters to prominent U.S. politicians and reporters in the fall of 2001, a considerable amount has been said and written about the threat of biological weapons proliferation and what should be done about it.  

Those who make and influence U.S. foreign and defense policy have been exposed to and at times participated in this discussion, but this survey constitutes the first systematic attempt to poll senior U.S. decision makers and policy shapers about the nature of the biological weapons threat and the policy options to address it. 

The first part of the survey described in this report poses several questions about the biological weapons threat, while the other segments of the survey ask the same individuals to stipulate whether governments should require the implementation of several nonproliferation tools, to rate the U.S. government’s performance on the bioweapons nonproliferation agenda, to prioritize biological weapons nonproliferation policy options, and to state a preference for a unilateral or multilateral approach to biological weapons nonproliferation.

Three groups of individuals received invitations to participate in the survey.  The first group consisted of senior members of the Executive Branch, from the deputy assistant level up to cabinet level in the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce and within the intelligence community, military services, and National Security Council.  The category of current senior officials also included senators and members of Congress serving in leadership posts and on committees that have jurisdiction on matters related to biological weapons proliferation, foreign policy, defense, and homeland security.   Former senior executive branch officials and legislators were the second group asked to participate in the survey.  Nongovernmental experts in nonproliferation, national and international security, and terrorism comprised the third survey group.   The survey period ran from 25 October to 15 November 2006.

The raw data from the survey is also available - 2006 Biological Weapons Threat and Nonproliferation Options Survey: Raw Data.
Downloads
The Biological Weapons Threat and Nonproliferation Options
Amy E. Smithson
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173
Related
Defense and Security, International Security Program
Footer menu
  • Topics
  • Regions
  • Programs
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Analysis
  • Web Projects
  • Podcasts
  • iDeas Lab
  • Transcripts
  • About Us
  • Support Us
Contact CSIS
Email CSIS
Tel: 202.887.0200
Fax: 202.775.3199
Visit CSIS Headquarters
1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Media Queries
Contact H. Andrew Schwartz
Chief Communications Officer
Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173

Daily Updates

Sign up to receive The Evening, a daily brief on the news, events, and people shaping the world of international affairs.

Subscribe to CSIS Newsletters

Follow CSIS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

All content © 2022. All rights reserved.

Legal menu
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Reprint Permissions