St Petersburg University experts assess the impact of biotechnology and space exploration on international security

Against the backdrop of significant anniversaries, i.e. the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in 2025 and the 50th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty in 2027, experts stressed the critical importance of revising the approaches to ensuring international security. The methods and tools developed in the last century are lagging behind the pace of development of modern technologies and require new solutions.

According to Ivan Danilin, Deputy Director for Research at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Head of the Department of Science and Innovation, we need to develop an interdisciplinary approach combining biology, space, economics and international relations to adequately tackle security issues. We should follow a holistic approach to get a complete picture of the risks and develop optimal strategies for their neutralisation, he said.

Strengthening interstate cooperation and creating an atmosphere of trust between countries can become a key element in making progress in solving complex issues of disarmament and non-proliferation. Among the main tools to ensure the sustainability of multilateral efforts aimed at maintaining peace is high-quality education that meets today’s realities, said Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University.

Russian academic programmes, including those developed at St Petersburg University, are recognised as authoritative both in Russia and abroad. We prepare specialists who are able to competently cover issues in the media, collect analytical materials for political decision-makers, and understand complex issues of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University

St Petersburg University is actively developing academic programmes in the field of sustainable development and global stability, said Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University. The master’s programme ‘Strategic and Arms Control Studies’, founded in 2010, is now being updated. Since 2023, a new course for bachelors has been introduced, dedicated to the issues in arms control in the context of international relations. Additionally, St Petersburg University has opened the master’s programme ‘Artificial Intelligence and International Security’.

Another important step in this direction was the opening of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Global Biosafety Studies at St Petersburg University in 2021, which has an advisory council that brings together specialists in the field of life sciences and representatives of social and humanitarian disciplines.

St Petersburg University is a platform to ensure international dialogue in the field of global security, including on the problems of using biological technologies and strengthening the BTWC regime. For the first time, international political issues in biological safety and security were considered at St Petersburg University during the round table ‘Prospects for Strengthening the BTWC and Russian-European Cooperation in the Field of Biosecurity and Biosafety’ in 2018.

‘Maintaining international peace has been and remains the fundamental goal of the UN. Over the past 80 years, the effectiveness of the UN’s efforts in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation has repeatedly declined due to geopolitical realities. Expanding interaction between Russian and international experts is vital, yet due to the specifics of technological development we can discuss biological threats only in a narrow circle of experts,’ said Sergey Andryushin, emphasising that the University is ready to develop a platform in the academic environment to discuss current biosecurity and biosafety issues, where students can actively participate and ask questions.

The first section of the seminar, devoted to the analysis of the current situation in the field of space and biological technologies, highlighted key trends in the modern development of countries, including the growing influence of commercial structures. Experts noted the challenges of orbital congestion, space pollution, and increasing complexity of the tasks facing national supervisory and control bodies in the context of the privatisation of both space and biological developments.

The reports were made by Liudmila Pankova, Head of the Department of Military and Economic Security Research at the Centre for International Security at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Dmitry Stefanovich, Research Fellow in the Department of Military and Economic Security Research at the Centre for International Security at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Dmitrii Poklonskii, Head of the Research Centre (expert, chemical and biological threats) of the 48th Scientific Research Institute of Medicine of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

The second section focused on the concepts of responsible behaviour, analysed their potential and limitations in the context of strengthening the BTWC regime and in the context of preventing an arms race in outer space. Anastasiia Malygina, Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Global Biosafety Studies at St Petersburg University, emphasised the need to adopt legally binding provisions describing clear and unbiased procedures for verifying compliance with the BTWC.

The seminar also focused on the impact of the rapid spread of artificial intelligence technologies on space and biological safety and security. Using 3D printing technologies, objects originally intended for civilian purposes can be transformed into weapons or integrated into armed systems in space, air and land. Experts emphasised that AI can significantly simplify and accelerate research and development, including the creation of new means of conducting biological warfare. In connection with new challenges, the participants recognised the need to develop an international multidisciplinary instrument aimed at combating acts of biological and chemical terrorism.

In order to more effectively manage the risks associated with the development of advanced technologies, the participants in the seminar proposed developing an expert dialogue platform for reviewing technical and economic shifts that are significant for international security. Such an interdisciplinary platform will ensure a comprehensive assessment of the challenges arising in connection with the active exploration of outer space and the rapid introduction of biological and other technologies. The platform is also believed to ensure a better understanding of the reasons that complicate the regulation of scientific and technical activities both at the national and international levels.

The seminar is a starting point for discussing ways to regulate advanced technologies in order to ensure sustainable development of society. The participants discussed acute problems, challenges and threats to the security of the Russian Federation. The experts emphasised that in order to further improve approaches to assessing scientific and technical achievements in the context of international security, it is essential to support interaction between research structures of various departmental affiliations.

The discussion brought together experts from Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk, and representatives of the Russian Pugwash Committee under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The event also brought together students in ‘Strategic and Arms Control Studies’ at St Petersburg University, doctoral students of the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and other early-career specialists interested in issues related to the development of biological and space technologies.