This lecture presented a framework for biological threat
reduction that is comprehensive in terms of policy,
international in scope, multisectoral in approach, and
robust in terms of widely varying perceptions of the
threat. The lecture confirmed that such a framework
is essential for exploring, and ultimately for mitigating,
potential conflicts between the objectives of the many
different professional communities and regional/
national actors involved in countering biological threats.
This approach will bring together various institutions,
organizations and professional communities that have
some – not exclusive – threat reduction responsibilities,
fostering the interdisciplinary and international dialogue
and linkages that will be necessary to promote effective
action. More generally, the lecture offered an approach
to international governance that is appropriate for a
decentralized problem such as this, in which the actions
of non-state actors are at least as important as those of
state actors in bringing about solutions, and in which
there is little consensus regarding the magnitude or the
likelihood of the problem.