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8 April 2025 BWC confidence-building measures: Increasing BWC assurance through transparency and information sharing
Matthew P. Shearer, Christina M. Potter, Rachel A. Vahey, Nicholas Munves, Gigi Kwik Gronvall
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Abstract

In the absence of a treaty protocol or verification regime, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) instituted confidence-building measures (CBMs) as a mechanism to increase confidence in compliance by enhancing transparency and mitigating ambiguities regarding states parties' biological activities. While a promising tool to support treaty compliance, low participation, concerns regarding the completeness and accuracy of CBM submissions, a dearth of analysis, and restricted access to many submissions have limited CBMs' value. Through interviews with 53 international experts—38 from BWC delegations and 15 independent experts—we identified concrete opportunities to increase CBMs' value while mitigating the burden on states parties. This study supports states parties' efforts in the BWC Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention, as part of a series of research on BWC assurance that aims to characterize challenges around BWC verification and increase certainty in BWC compliance.

Matthew P. Shearer, Christina M. Potter, Rachel A. Vahey, Nicholas Munves, and Gigi Kwik Gronvall "BWC confidence-building measures: Increasing BWC assurance through transparency and information sharing," Politics and the Life Sciences 44(1), 5-27, (8 April 2025). https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2024.9
Published: 8 April 2025
JOURNAL ARTICLE
23 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
biological weapons
BTWC
BWC
CBMs
confidence-building measures
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