The recent BWC Review Conference faced various challenges emanating from a range of developments that took place during the last five years, alongside with lingering issues already existing for a long period of time. The related contents and interfaces are here presented and assessed briefly.

As countries were preparing for the 8th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in November 2016, the BTWC Implementation Support Unit organised four regional workshops, including one in New Delhi, as part of a European Union-sponsored programme supporting the convention. While the BTWC has seen little progress in terms of new legally binding commitments, verification or setting up an international implementation organisation, the workshops revealed that on the regional and local levels states parties are active in ensuring that the treaty commitments are being respected. This account discusses the main trends in treaty development and issues states parties face that emerged during the workshops.

Chemical and Biological weapons remain a subversive threat to civilizational stability. Biological weapons in particular are a tremendous cause for concern given the difficulty in predicting/preparing for an attack and the complexities of post-attack rehabilitation. Furthermore, the problems of attrition and lack of culpability make it an even more tempting form of warfare for Non State Actors and Extremists. It is important therefore, to examine the current climate of extremism and the potential threat posed by the usage of Chemical and Biological weapons. Having gained access to Iraqi chemical weapon stockpiles, the Islamic State has already engaged in Chemical warfare. This paper attempts to conjecture the possibility of their move towards Biological warfare and the aids/deterrents that could facilitate or block such a transition.

The recently concluded Eighth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) held in Geneva reached a disappointing outcome as the participant states failed to adopt any meaningful programme of work for the next inter-sessional period, 2017-2021. The failure of the conference is clearly a missed opportunity in terms of reinforcing the norm against the use and spread of bio-weapons.

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction usually referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of an entire category of weapons, entering into force in 1975. The Eighth BWC Review Conference was recently held at Geneva from November 7-25, 2016, Unfortunately, it appears to have flattened for the lack of consensus among the member-states until the next conference in 2021.