Richard Guthrie

Richard Guthrie is the Co-ordinating Editor of the CBW Events website. He created this website as part of a long-term project to attempt to record the significant events in the history of the development of chemical and biological warfare.

His recent work with the highest profile has been the publication of daily reports from intergovernmental meetings. Reports from the Biological Weapons Convention meetings are done in association with the BioWeapons Prevention Project and can be found on the BWPP website as well as the BWC reports page of this site. Reports from the second Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention can be found on the CWC reports page of this site.

Richard has worked in and with the non-governmental, governmental and inter-governmental sectors; mostly looking at technology control and innovation issues that relate to materials and technologies that can have hostile as well as peaceful uses. His work in this field is much broader than that which would normally come under the rubric of arms control. He has side interests in the issues of interactions between governments and societies, in policies of access to official information, in emergency response and planning issues, and in international legal frameworks.

Richard was previously Project Leader of the Chemical and Biological Warfare Project of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Before Sweden, Richard was an independent consultant working with inter-governmental bodies, governments, NGOs and academic units. He was involved in a long-term collaboration with the Harvard Sussex Program (1988-2003), where he was responsible for production of The CBW Conventions Bulletin and for managing certain data resources. He also edited or co-edited seven volumes of the VERTIC yearbook (1991–97) and the VERTIC newsletter Trust and Verify (1992–97). He was responsible for production of the PPNN Newsbrief (1989–2001). He also worked part-time in the House of Commons for sixteen years.

Richard's recent publications other than CBW Events chronology materials are listed on the Contemporary Activities page.

He is currently taking some time away from his normal work in order to undertake a PhD at the University of Bath (which has meant this site gets updated less frequently in the meantime!) Other outside activities include membership of the Pugwash Study Group on the Implementation of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, chairmanship of the Bath branch of the United Nations Association and being an elected Trustee, and Chair of the Finance Committee, for the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.