State Actors and Germ Warfare: Historical Perspective

The old arguments against the effectiveness of biological warfare still apply. The effects of novel organisms would still be delayed, unpredictable, and difficult to control. In military terms, any advance is almost certainly not a matter of the routine use of bio-technology. Whatever the fact, this double edged weapon still acts like a deterrent against any kind of conventional attack. Empirical evidence suggests that the likelihood of such a war between technologically advanced states is remote as since 1945, the biological weapons have been used only in situations where the victims were unprotected and unable to retaliate.