ZAP // AP Archive / Gazeta
A member of the Russian special forces removes a woman from the Dubrovka Theater, in Moscow, after the end of the kidnapping of Chechen militants, 10/26/2002. It was so far the only case of the use of chemical weapons that act on the Central Nervous System
Sophisticated and potentially lethal, capable of attacking or altering human consciousness, perception, memory or behavior, “brain weapons” no longer belong solely to the domain of science fiction, argue two British academics.
The human mind is the new frontier of warfare, they warn Michael Crowley e Malcolm Dandoresearchers at the University of Bradford, who call for urgent global action to stop the militarization of neuroscience.
“We are entering an era in which our own brain can become a battlefield”, says Crowley to . “The tools to manipulate the central nervous system – to sedate, confuse or even coerce – are becoming more accurate, more accessible and more attractive to States”.
“In fact, it sounds like science fiction. The danger is that it becomes scientific reality,” adds Crowley.
In one titled “Prevention of the use of chemical substances that act on the central nervous system“, the two British academics explore how advances in neuroscience, in pharmacology and Artificial Intelligence are converging to create a new threat.
The work, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and which will be on sale from this Monday, reconstitutes the history, as fascinating as it is unsettlingstate-sponsored research into chemical substances who work in the Central Nervous System (SNC).
During the Cold War and afterthe US, the Soviet Union and China “actively sought to develop weapons that act on the CNS,” says Crowley. The objective was cause prolonged incapacitation of people, including “loss of consciousness, sedation, hallucinations, incoherence, paralysis and disorientation”.
A only time that a weapon that acts on the CNS was used on a large scale in 2002, in Russia, to put an end to , in Moscow. At the time, Russian security forces used fentanyl derivatives to put an end to the kidnapping, during which armed Chechen militants had carried out 900 hostages among the spectators who were in the venue.
Most of the hostages were released, but more than 120 died due to the effects of chemical agents, and a large number suffered long-term damage or died prematurely.
Since then, the investigation has advanced significantly. Academics maintain that there is already “ability to create much more sophisticated weapons and targeted”, which would previously have been unimaginable.
“The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological diseases it can be used to disrupt cognition, induce obedience or even, in the future, transform people into involuntary agents”, warns Dando.
The threat is “real and growing”but there are gaps in international arms control treaties that prevent it from being addressed effectively, they argue.
In their book, the two researchers defend the creation of a new framework of “holistic weapons control”, rather than relying solely on existing arms control treaties, and point to a set of practical measures that could be adopted, including the creation of a working group on agents acting on the CNS and other incapacitating agents.
Crowley and Dando recognize that we are learning more and more about the brain and central nervous system, which is positive for humanityand assure that they do not want to halt scientific progress, but rather to prevent its use for evil purposes.
“This is an alarm signal“, concludes Crowley. “We must act now to protect the integrity of science and the sanctity of the human mind.”
