Individual project - Research Paper Example

The Threat of Biological Weapons Background Over the last 50 years, the world has lived in great fear of another world war. While many people acrossthe world fear that aggressive nations may use nuclear weapons against their enemies, there is growing concern that the potential of biological weapons is equally great. Biological weapons are a practical outcome of the revolutions that have been witnessed in the field of molecular biology. If biologists and other experts do not take the kind of stand that most of the world has taken on nuclear weapons, the threat of biological weapons will continue to rise as noted by Block (par. 1). The U.S. has been attacked a number of times by terrorists.

Appreciating the potential damage that biological weapons may do to the country if they landed on the hands of terrorists, the U.S. recently called for closer international cooperation to keep terrorists and biological weapons apart. The U.S. government believes that the threat of biological weapons against its citizens is growing as noted by Nebehay & Mohammed (par. 2). This is especially the case given that the ability of non-state actors and terrorists to develop biological weapons is increasing.

Set against this background, a study was conducted featuring 52 respondents on the threat of biological weapons. The respondents included eight current senior policy makers (CSP), 19 former senior policy makers (FSP), and 25 experts (EXP). The data set was downloaded from the Carnegie Endowment for Peace Website. The study on the threat of biological weapons is significant considering that the development and use of biological weapons against the U.S. would possibly lead to numerous deaths and would greatly impact on the country’s healthcare system.

By extension, such a threat would probably shake the country’s economy. Research QuestionIn this paper, the research question that will be dealt with is:How severe is the threat of biological weapons?ResultsTable 1: Severity of the threat of BioweaponsSeverity of the threat of BioweaponsLevel of severity of Biological WeaponsPosition of RespondentNo OpinionNo ThreatMinor ThreatMajor ThreatTo what level are biological weapons a threat to the U.S. CSP:0026FSP00415EXP00817Table 2: Is the threat of biological weapons increasing or decreasing?

Is threat of biological weapons increasing or decreasing?Option of Response ExpertsFormer Senior Policy MakerCurrent Senior Policy MakerSignificantly Decreasing 000Somewhat reducing000Threat remaining the same351Somewhat rising16104significantly Increasing643No opinion000Findings and ConclusionsFrom the statistics, it is clear that all the respondents felt that biological weapons pose at least some threat to the country. Roughly 73% of the respondents felt that biological weapons is a major threat to the country.

The statistics also reveal that most of the respondents believe that the threat of biological weapons is increasing, as opposed to reducing. While no respondent felt that the threat is reducing in any way, only 17% of them felt that the threat of the weapons is neither increasing nor reducing. Given that the threat of biological weapons is real and seems to be growing according to the majority of respondents, it would be advisable for the U.S. to take active measures to prevent other countries and non-state actors from developing biological weapons.

Works CitedNebehay, Stephanie & Mohammed, Arshad. Biological weapons threat is growing, U.S. warns. Wed Dec 7, 2011. Web. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/07/us-arms-biological-idUSTRE7B60RV20111207 Rae Survey Data: Survey Questions on the Biological Weapons Threat. 2014. Web. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEgQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarnegieendowment.org%2Ffiles%2FSurvey-Raw-Data-tables.pdf&ei=AhN-VPGJNI3WPLfNgcAN&usg=AFQjCNGam362YoPsI9YEljnGHizu9PO1aw&sig2=xL7gFblIPCuaeHo-ZQ4Zyw&bvm=bv.

80642063,d.ZWU Steven Block. The Growing Threat of Biological Weapons. 2001. Web. www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/the-growing-threat-of-biological-weapons