Weapons of Mass Destruction—Conceptual and Ethical Issues with Regard to terrorism

Book Chapter (2021)
Author(s)

J. Feltes (TU Delft - Ethics & Philosophy of Technology)

Research Group
Ethics & Philosophy of Technology
Copyright
© 2021 J. Feltes
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90221-6_4
More Info
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Publication Year
2021
Language
English
Copyright
© 2021 J. Feltes
Research Group
Ethics & Philosophy of Technology
Pages (from-to)
49-69
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

The concept of WMD is part of numerous national laws and is the core of one of the most important treaties of the United Nations (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction, 1992; United Nation Office of Disarmament Affairs in The convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons and on their destruction, 1975). Yet, the definition of what should be considered a WMD is far from established and subject to controversial debates. Academics, policymakers, and legislators have been introducing a variety of partly conflicting conceptualizations of WMD into scientific debates, public discourse, and legislations over the last eight decades.