Cold Cooperation: Biodevelopment and The Legal Landscape

Since the Bolshevik Revolution, Russian government has been involved in the development and weaponization of biological agents for offensive purposes. In 1972 the Soviet Union signed the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) banning the use, development, and possession of offensive biological weapons. But soon the world learned that the Soviets continued developing biological weapons in violation of the BWC. There are still many questions concerning whether Russia continues to dishonor its obligations under the BWC. This paper uses Russia as a case study to show that something needs to be done to ensure all BWC subscribing nations’ compliance with the BWC and then proposes a combination of measures aimed at improving international compliance.