The unprecedented Interpol conference that brought together police, security, and other officials from around the world was unique in its size and stature, but the majority of the findings of the conference only reinforced the obvious in terms of the terror threat, although some ideas put forward are thought-provoking. The decision to name bio-terror as the greatest security threat is an interesting viewpoint from police oriented agencies, but their interest in cooperating with the public health and bio-tech industries is a compelling one. It is interesting that they chose bio-terrorism; one would think nuclear terrorism might be more urgent; however, bio-terrorism is the hot topic that worries many governments who are starting to make strides in preparedness. There is a feeling that too much focus and too many resources are being put into bio-terrorism preparedness and response to the detriment of other more common terrorist tactics. It has usually been considered a low-probability, high consequence threat.

However, with the events of September 11 and the ensuing anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, coupled with a growing interest from groups like al Qaeda in biological weaponry, the fear of biological weapons being used against civil society has become greater and more prescient. In addition, advances in biotechnology and, indeed, the dawn of a biological revolution has meant that biological knowledge is now very diffused and internationalized, and no single nation has a monopoly on the technology. It is also inherently dual-use, making it difficult to sift out what is used for nefarious purposes as opposed to scientific advancements. So, terrorists are more likely to gain access to methods and be able to potentially produce biological agents. Biological and chemical weapons have been seen as the poor man?s nuclear weapon; weaker states sought to acquire them because the former was too difficult. Now, it may be the asymmetrical weapon of choice. Once again, however, the Interpol findings are nothing new, and they have not released any specific information on why this threat may be more alarming now. Pointing out the international food chain and livestock may be at risk is also not new, and stating that little attention has been paid to this threat is perhaps misleading, as states are now taking this threat very seriously, although they still have a long way to go to protect themselves.

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