The Biological Weapons Threat Posed by Violent Non-State Actors

Abstract

The United States must recognize the credible and viable threat of biological weapon employment by a Violent Non-State Actor(VNSA). Compared to its traditional Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) counterparts, the biological weapon is more financially affordable than the nuclear or radiological weapon and is more lethal than the chemical weapon when compared by mass. The documented history of biological weapon procurement or employment by non-state actors is robust and supports the credibility of the threat. Modern advances in the field of biology have resulted in a greater availability of biological agents than at any previous point in history and have increased the viability of the VNSA threat. The biological weapon offers significant incentives and disincentives for use, however despite its legal classification as a WMD the use of a biological weapon will not necessarily result in a mass casualty event. This potential to scale the size and impact of the weapon results inflexibility for the user and the broadly expanded potential to obtain a weapon.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2015
Accession Number
AD1175895

Entities

People

  • Phillip R. Karg

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biological Factors
  • Biological Weapons
  • Biology
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Human Population
  • Medical Personnel
  • Motivation
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • Public Policy
  • Security
  • Synthetic Biology
  • Terrorism
  • United States
  • Viruses
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Marine Ecotoxicology
  • Strategic Security Studies