Upcoming Talks on Society, Technology, Peace and Security (March 16 and March 23)

The School of Peace and Conflict Studies at 91�ֿ� is sponsoring a series of talks on Society, Technology, Peace and Security. The first two presentations are scheduled for March 2021 as follows:

On Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 2:15 pm, Jürgen Altmann will discuss "Potential Military Uses of Nanotechnology, Dangers and Preventive Arms Control"
On Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 2:15 pm, Professor Malcolm Dando will present "Preventing Chemical and Biological Weapons: Where are we now and where are we going?"

For details and zoom links see below:

Tuesday March 16 at 2:15 pm: Jürgen Altmann: "Potential Military Uses of Nanotechnology, Dangers and Preventive Arms Control"

Abstract: Nanotechnology (NT), comprising various scientific/technical fields, is seen as revolutionizing many aspects of how we work, interact and live. NT could also be used in all areas of waging war and preparing for it, e.g. in computers, sensors, materials, engines. Military planners foresee big increases in combat strength. However, if viewed in the context of international security and military stability, several dangers come into sight. Arms-control treaties and international humanitarian law could be undermined, pressure to strike fast could increase, new possibilities for terrorism could arise. My analysis has found that several potential military NT uses would be particularly problematic, among them: new biological-chemical agents, autonomous combat systems, small robots and body manipulation. Such uses should be prohibited or limited by international preventive arms control.

Bio: Jürgen Altmann, PhD, is a physicist and peace researcher at TU Dortmund University, Germany. Since 1985 he has studied scientific-technical problems of disarmament. An experimental focus is automatic sensor systems for co-operative verification of disarmament and peace agreements and for IAEA safeguards for an underground final repository. The second focus is assessment of new military technologies and preventive arms control. Major studies have dealt with “non-lethal” weapons, the interactions between civilian and military technologies in aviation, military uses of microsystems technology and of nanotechnology, and armed uninhabited/autonomous vehicles.

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Tuesday March 23 at 2:15 pm: Professor Malcolm Dando: "Preventing Chemical and Biological Weapons: Where are we now and where are we going?"

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the unexpected use of lethal chemical agents in Syria, Malaysia, the UK and Russia has focused concerns on the possible use of novel chemical and biological agents in an age of hybrid warfare and rapid scientific and technological change. This presentation gives a brief overview of the chemical and biological disarmament and non-proliferation regimes and their current weaknesses before turning to examine current efforts to strengthen these regimes. Particular attention will be given to two issues where progress does seem to be possible in the next few years: closing the loophole that could allow use of chemical agents that attack the human central nervous system, and agreeing an international biological security code of conduct for life scientists.

Bio: Professor Malcolm R. Dando, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

Professor Malcolm Dando is a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellow at the University of Bradford in the UK. He trained originally as a biologist (BSc and PhD at St. Andrews University, Scotland). After post-doctoral studies in the United States (University of Michigan and University of Oregon) he held UK Ministry of Defence-funded fellowships in Operational Research at the University of Sussex during the 1970s. Since then he has worked on arms control and disarmament, particularly on chemical and biological issues (DSc University of Bradford). In recent years this work has been focused on awareness-raising and education of life scientists in regard to dual use and biosecurity.

Some Relevant Books on CBW:

Dando, M. R. (1994) Biological Warfare in the 21st Century: Biotechnology and the Proliferation of Biological Weapons. Brassey’s, London.

Dando, M. R. (1996) A New Form of Warfare: The Rise of Non-Lethal Weapons. Brassey’s, London.

Dando, M. R. (2001) The New Biological Weapons: Threat, Proliferation and Control. Lynne Rienner, Boulder.

Wheelis, M., Rozsa, L. and Dando, M. R. (Eds.) (2006) Deadly Cultures: Bioweapons from 1945 to the Present. Harvard University Press, Harvard.

Kelle, A., Nixdorff, K. and Dando, M. R. (2012) Preventing a Biochemical Arms Race. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Dando, M. R. (2015) Neuroscience and the Future of Chemical-Biological Weapons. Palgrave, Basingstoke.

Crowley, M., Dando, M. R. and Shang, L. (Eds.) (2018) Preventing Chemical Weapons: Arms Control and Disarmament as the Sciences Converge. Royal Society of Chemistry, London.

Dando, M. R. (2020) Neuroscience and the Problem of Dual Use: Neuroethics in the New Brain Projects. Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland.

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