Neurotechnologies and the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions

Dual use refers to the possibility that a technology can be used for malign as well as beneficent purposes. As the U.S. BRAIN Initiative and the European Human Brain Project publish their results, some of those results may present opportunities for dual use. An example is the use of “calmatives,” aerosolized drugs that may be used for crowd control but have been shown to be unmanageable and dangerous. This project will address the prospect that dual-use neurotechnologies may be developed and consider how they might be managed under international arms control regimes including the Biologic and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention.