Beyond Germs Reframing Biological Warfare through the Lens of Strategic Culture and International Security

This paper advances a novel theoretical framework integrating strategic culture theory with biological warfare studies. While existing scholarship emphasizes technical, epidemiological, and regime-compliance paradigms, this study demonstrates how states’ strategic cultures—their shared beliefs, historical memories, and normative framings—systematically shape biological weapons conceptualization, development, and taboo strength. Through comparative analysis of the United States, Russia, and China, the paper reveals how cultural variables mediate material capabilities and international norms, producing distinct approaches to dual-use biotechnology and BWC compliance. The findings offer refined policy prescriptions for arms control verification and norm diffusion, arguing that effective biosecurity governance must engage with national strategic cultures rather than assume universal rationality