Biological Warfare Against Crops (Global Issue)

Key Chapter Title List

1. Introduction
2. Iraq and the United Nations Special Commission
3. Plant Disease Research
4. The Legal Development Process of Prohibiting Biological Weapons
5. Background of U.S. Biological Warfare Research and Development
6. Anti-Crop Biological Warfare Activities of France, Germany, and Japan
7. Post-World War II U.S. Anti-Crop Biological Warfare Research and Planning
8. Anglo-American Anti-Crop Warfare Collaboration from 1943 to 1958
9. Anti-Crop Biological Warfare Agent Munitions
10. Target Analysis
11. Conclusion
12. International Regulations and Controls Related to Plant Diseases

Document Introduction

Biological warfare is often associated with highly lethal pathogens targeting humans. However, biological warfare against crops—namely, the deliberate spread of plant pathogens to cause crop disease pandemics—has long received insufficient attention as a potential and highly destructive form of warfare. This book, based on extensive materials collected between 1994 and 1999, fills this research gap. Author Simon M. Whitby systematically argues that in all known, scientifically-based offensive biological warfare programs, research on biological warfare against crops has been a significant component. The book's core thesis is that any nation intending to acquire biological warfare capabilities is likely to include activities aimed at developing offensive capabilities against crops.

This book employs a historical analysis method, tracing the anti-crop biological warfare activities of multiple countries from before World War II to the end of the Cold War. The research reveals the complex history of this field: as early as World War I, Germany engaged in sabotage against grain shipments; during and after World War II, the United States established a mature anti-crop biological warfare program encompassing research, development, and weaponization; France, Germany, and Japan also conducted related research before and during the war; and more recent cases stem from the findings of United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq in the 1990s, confirming that Iraq researched and tested wheat smut as a potential economic warfare weapon.

Through the analysis of a large number of declassified documents, intelligence reports, and secondary sources, this book details the development trajectory of the U.S. anti-crop biological warfare program. This includes the establishment of its domestic institutions, collaboration with allies such as the United Kingdom, the screening and production of specific pathogens (e.g., wheat rust, rice blast fungus), the development of specialized munitions (e.g., the M73R1 bomb, E77 munitions), and detailed operational scenario analyses targeting entities like the former Soviet Union and China. These contents reveal the technical steps, logistical considerations, and the profound socio-economic impacts potentially caused by the weaponization of plant diseases.

Finally, the book examines the threat of anti-crop biological warfare within the contemporary international security framework. The author discusses the role of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and subsequent negotiations for a strengthening protocol in managing such threats, and emphasizes the importance of including plant pathogens in international non-proliferation and verification mechanisms. The study points out that, considering the significant losses already caused by plant diseases globally, especially in developing countries, and the future pressure on food security from population growth, deliberately induced crop epidemics could have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, effectively strengthening relevant international prohibitions and control systems is crucial for preventing the proliferation of this form of warfare.