{
  "id": "RL31368",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31368",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101159,
      "date": "2002-04-19",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:11:42.016941",
      "title": "Preventing Proliferation of Biological Weapons: U.S. Assistance to the Former Soviet States",
      "summary": "The former Soviet and subsequently Russian biological weapons program possessed capabilities\nfar\nin excess of any such program known to have existed elsewhere. These capabilities included\ngenetically-altered, antibiotic-resistant pathogens and sophisticated delivery systems. Approximately\nfifty biological research and production centers (BRPCs) throughout the former Soviet Union\ndevoted either all or part of their work to the program. In the post-Soviet era, former Soviet states\ndrastically reduced and in some cases eliminated funding for these BRPCs. Thousands of BW\nscientists became unemployed or underemployed, and the facilities, weapons technology, and\nthousands of strains of pathogens at these BRPCs became vulnerable to theft, sale or misuse. \n  In the mid-1990s, the United States began engaging BRPCs throughout the former Soviet Union\nin four kinds of cooperative projects aimed at preventing proliferation of BW capabilities. \nCollaborative research projects involve former BW scientists in projects with American scientists and\nseek to deter former BW scientists from selling their expertise to terrorist groups or proliferating\nstates. Several U.S. government agencies are involved in collaborative research projects, most of\nwhich are funded through the international science centers. Biosafety enhancement projects are\nintended to make BRPCs safe places for collaborating scientists to work. In combination,\ncollaborative research and biosafety enhancement projects give U.S. officials routine access to\nlaboratories and facilities that were once used for BW research and production. BioSecurity projects\nconsolidate and restrict access to pathogens. Dismantlement projects target excess infrastructure and\nBW equipment at BRPC sites for permanent dismantlement. Biosafety, BioSecurity, and\nDismantlement projects are funded through and carried out by DOD's Cooperative Threat Reduction\nProgram.\n  U.S. participants in these projects identify several lessons learned in the past few years. First,\nit has become clear that the infrastructure of the Soviet/Russian BW complex was more extensive\nthan most analysts realized when the United States initiated its efforts to prevent proliferation of BW\ncapabilities from former Soviet states. Cooperative projects at some BRPCs have helped open doors\nto other BRPCs, and since 1995, more than forty BRPCs have been involved in cooperative projects\nwith the United States. Second, U.S. participants report that biosafety, biosecurity, and\ndismantlement projects require complex negotiations, complex engineering work, considerable project\nmanagement support, and innovative solutions for problems specific to each BRPC. Consequently,\nthey have learned that the United States may need to offer a long-term commitment if it wants to\ncomplete the effort. At the same time, the U.S. agencies with BW nonproliferation programs\nrecognize the need to maximize the nonproliferation benefits of U.S. assistance in an environment\nwith limited resources. Finally, U.S. participants have discovered that interpersonal and institutional\nrelationships resulting from these cooperative efforts may play a powerful role in preventing\nproliferation of BW capabilities from former Soviet states.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3667/",
      "id": "RL31368 2002-04-10",
      "date": "2002-04-10",
      "retrieved": "2005-06-12T17:24:48",
      "title": "Preventing Proliferation of Biological Weapons: U.S. Assistance to the Former Soviet States",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Weapons systems",
          "name": "Weapons systems"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign relations - Russia - U.S.",
          "name": "Foreign relations - Russia - U.S."
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Russia",
          "name": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Russia"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Biological weapons",
          "name": "Biological weapons"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign policy",
          "name": "Foreign policy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}