Charles W. Schmidt

Abstract

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In 1972, nearly half a century after the 1925 Geneva Protocol banned the use of biological weapons, international delegates began signing the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) , an international treaty that also bans their possession under most conditions. The BTWC has since been ratified by 143 countries and signed by an additional 18. But even as the BTWC established an international norm prohibiting biological weapons, it did not contain the threat, which has persisted through the years. In response, the international community spent six years creating a verification protocol to the BTWC, which was designed to increase the convention1s effectiveness, in part by creating a legally binding framework for facility inspections. In July 2001, the United States stunned the world when it rejected the protocol to the BTWC---the only nation to do so. It remains to be seen whether the 11 September 2001 attacks will change the stance of the United States when delegates convene in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 2001 for the Fifth Review Conference of the State Parties to the BTWC.