Engaging in activities designed to broaden both public and academic understanding of chemical and biological weapons issues.

Updated: Aug 20, 2008

Overview

The Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program (CBWNP) researches the proliferation of chemical (including toxin) and biological weapons and develops strategies for halting and reversing their spread. CBWNP's main office is at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, and is represented at the CNS office in Washington, D.C. The CBWNP's research agenda includes monitoring and assessing biological cooperative threat reduction activities in Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus; assessing both the proliferation potential of the anti-plague systems of the former Soviet states and their probable benefits for international public health; appraising the bio-security implications of emerging technologies, such as synthetic biology and nanobiotechnology; monitoring developments related to international biological and chemical arms control; and researching and assessing potential toxin-related problem areas of interest to the State of California.

The Program's products include reports, journal articles, books, occasional papers, profiles of the CBW capabilities of select countries. In addition, CBWNP produces the "ChemBio and WMD Terrorism News" listserv. Along with this, CBWNP staff members also have developed a comprehensive limited access incident response database containing in depth case studies of sub-state actor incidents involving CBW and radiological/nuclear materials within the U.S. and the resulting responses. Further, the Program augments CNS community-building efforts by training Monterey Institute students and visiting scholars from the newly independent states and China in technical and policy issues related to CBW nonproliferation.

CBWNP is the lead unit within CNS for activities undertaken as part of the Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) program. This program, which is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administered by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), aims to train state and local health officials to improve preparedness for and response to natural and man-made catastrophic events. The four CPHPs in California are the Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness at UC Berkeley, Center for Public Health and Disasters at UCLA, School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, and CNS.

CBWNP is active in coordinating preparedness training for catastrophic events caused by human activities, particularly chemical and biological terrorism. As such, staff members are skilled in designing and executing tabletop exercises based on Department of Homeland Security guidelines and client needs. Two table-top exercises that modeled respectively a biological and a chemical terrorist event have been held in collaboration with the Monterey County Health Department.

CBWNP's director is Dr. Raymond A. Zilinskas. Full-time staff members include Senior Fellows Dr. Jonathan B. Tucker and Dr. Amy Smithson. CNS adjunct staff are comprised of Senior Fellows Dr. Ken Coleman and Dr. Burke Zimmerman.

Like other CNS programs, the CBWNP employs graduate student research assistants (GRAs) drawn from the Monterey Institute's student body, whose work for the program forms an integral part of their training. Working as a CBWNP GRA encompasses a wide range of activities greatly adding to the analytical and experiential repertoire of the students involved. The CBWNP GRAs during the Fall of 2008 are Elizabeth Lowe, Joshua Newman and Amy Van Dyke.