1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465015503321

Autore

Smith Frank L., III, <1978->

Titolo

American biodefense : how dangerous ideas about biological weapons shape national security / / Frank L. Smith III

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, New York : , : Cornell University Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-8014-5515-4

0-8014-5516-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (205 p.)

Collana

Cornell Studies in Security Affairs

Disciplina

358/.384

Soggetti

Biological warfare - United States - Safety measures

Biosecurity - United States

National security - United States

Civil defense - United States

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms -- American Biodefense, from Boston to Baghdad -- 1. Science and Technology for National Security -- 2. Stereotypical Neglect of Military Research, Development, and Acquisition for Biodefense -- 3. Fatal Assumptions -- 4. An Unlikely Sponsor? -- Biodefense and Beyond -- Notes -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Biological weapons have threatened U.S. national security since at least World War II. Historically, however, the U.S. military has neglected research, development, acquisition, and doctrine for biodefense. Following September 11 and the anthrax letters of 2001, the United States started spending billions of dollars per year on medical countermeasures and biological detection systems. But most of this funding now comes from the Department of Health and Human Services rather than the Department of Defense. Why has the U.S. military neglected biodefense and allowed civilian organizations to take the lead in defending the country against biological attacks? In American Biodefense, Frank L. Smith III addresses this puzzling and largely untold



story about science, technology, and national security. Smith argues that organizational frames and stereotypes have caused both military neglect and the rise of civilian biodefense. In the armed services, influential ideas about kinetic warfare have undermined defense against biological warfare. The influence of these ideas on science and technology challenges the conventional wisdom that national security policy is driven by threats or bureaucratic interests. Given the ideas at work inside the U.S. military, Smith explains how the lessons learned from biodefense can help solve other important problems that range from radiation weapons to cyber attacks.