Living Weapons

Gregory D. Koblentz provides a comprehensive analysis of the unique challenges that biological weapons pose for international security.

Gregory D. Koblentz is Deputy Director of the Biodefense Graduate Program and Assistant Professor of Government and Politics in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University. He is coauthor of Tracking Nuclear Proliferation: A Guide in Map and Charts.

Koblentz thoroughly addresses the wide range of challenges that biological weapons pose to countries in the 21st century.... He explores these issues by weaving together historical information on Iraqi, Russian, South African, and Soviet biological weapons programs with analysis of the scientific and security challenges biological weapons present... [and] he recommends several possible ways for countries to decrease, unilaterally and multilaterally, the threat posed by biological weapons.

Koblentz provides an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of biological weapons as a strategic problem that should become the standard text in the field.... The book draws lessons about intelligence, verification, and oversight, and also about what strategic value the offending countries sought to extract by pursuing such weapons.... Through a careful examination of actual cases, Koblentz has done his best to get the true measure of the bioterrorist threat.

A readable, succinct, yet through review of the myriad issues surrounding biodefense from a policy perspective.... More importantly, Living Weapons provides a disturbing yet refreshing look at the myriad obstacles confronting those who would play a role—whether political, diplomatic, or scientific—in attempting to rein in the use of biology in war and terror.

Living Weapons is a succinct, highly readable analysis of the unique challenges presented by biological weapons. Koblentz provides an excellent summary of the historic utilities and disutilities posed by biological weapons to international actors and the potential erosion of constraints on their future use. Highly recommended.

Jonathan B. Tucker, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies:

Gregory D. Koblentz's comprehensive and insightful study explores the unique dilemmas that biological weapons pose for defense, intelligence, arms control, and global governance. Filled with information and analysis, the book is a valuable resource for both scholars and policymakers.