Stephen Engelberg
Autor de Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War
Obras de Stephen Engelberg
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Broad and Miller look at the bioweapons programs of the US, Russia, and Iraq, and how bioweapons featured prominently in geopolitical posturing from the end of WW2 on. Along the way, they scare the bejeezus out of the reader, though with good reason.
We all know the stories about how close the world came to nuclear annihilation, and how many times we came that close. Well, we came much much MUCH closer to a biological apocalypse, and came that close many many more times. And since bioweapons don't have the cachet of nuclear weapons, the stories are relatively hidden. Up until this book, that is.
Nuclear weapons require a certain amount of expertise and equipment, and every intelligence agency in the world is on the lookout for suspicious transactions that could lead to nuclear weapons. But bioweapons are so easily concealable as agricultural or medical research that it is much harder to see whether the intentions of people doing that research are good or not. And bioweapons are no less deadly than nuclear weapons--in fact, they may be more so, especially with the advent of recombinant organisms that are resistant to conventional antibiotics or vaccines.
Adding to this problem is the fact that, ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, scientists who have expertise in making bioweapons and distributing them have been unemployed and their facilities have lost state protection. This has led to a black market where rogue states and organizations can essentially buy talent and expertise to make bioweapons, and I fear this will lead to something very bad happening in the future.
But there is hope. The book also details the efforts of both the US and Russia to curb the spread of bioweapons. While there is still research going on, it seems to be better monitored, and I hope this trend continues through the rest of the century.
Overall a very good read about something I didn't know much about before.… (más)