Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention in an Era of Emerging Biotechnologies

This monograph advances an original analytical framework—the Four Pillars Governance Framework—for understanding the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) as an evolving international governance regime rather than solely as a classical arms-control treaty. The framework identifies four core provisions of the Convention as the principal pillars of contemporary biological governance: Article I (the enduring norm of prohibition), Article V (consultation, confidence-building, and institutional resilience), Article IX (historical and conceptual complementarity with the chemical weapons regime and broader security governance), and Article X (peaceful uses, scientific cooperation, and responsible innovation). Taken together, these pillars constitute a dynamic architecture capable of adapting to rapid advances in biotechnology, synthetic biology, gene editing, and related dual-use research while preserving the Convention's foundational objectives. The analysis situates the BWC within the longer trajectory of biological disarmament from the 1925 Geneva Protocol through successive Review Conferences, the establishment of the Implementation Support Unit in 2006, the development of Confidence-Building Measures, and recent intersessional processes. Policy recommendations focus on strengthening institutional capacity, enhancing transparency practices, deepening Article X cooperation, maintaining structured review of scientific and technological developments, and preparing the Convention for future challenges without compromising its normative core.