Julian Perry Robinson: Pioneer in the Prohibition of Chemical and Biological Warfare

Julian P. Perry Robinson (1941-2020) made a unique contribution to protecting the world from the misuse of chemistry and biology. A trained chemist and patent lawyer, he applied his specialist knowledge to better understand the nature of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) and how best to prevent this. He pioneered open source methods that enabled him to engage with, and inform, national and international policy making, working across the natural and social sciences, and with diverse sectors, including governments, international organizations, and non-governmental research, advocacy and trade groups. His influence can be seen in the achievement and implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention, and in his influence on CBW scholarship.

This book details his life and work through chapters by people that knew him best – his widow, a close colleague, his son, and a dear friend – alongside reprints of a selection of his publications chosen by his research partners, family and friends, and a bibliography of his CBW writings.

Henrietta Wilson conducts policy-relevant research on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules on politics and international relations at UK universities. Originally trained as a physicist, her career spans three decades of collaboration with major non-governmental organizations and universities in the UK and Germany. She is a PhD student at King’s College London, and Research Associate at SOAS University of London. She worked with Mary Kaldor and Julian at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex, 1994-1996.

Mary Kaldor (CBE) is Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at The London School of Economics and Political Science. She also teaches at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). Kaldor contributed to the development of cosmopolitan democracy. She writes about globalization, international relations and humanitarian intervention, global civil society and global governance. She has pioneered the concepts of new wars and global civil society. Her elaboration of the real-world implementation of human security has directly influenced European and national governments. She met Julian in 1968; they were life partners, and co-parents to Charlie, Josh and Olly.

Josh Kaldor-Robinson is one of Mary and Julian’s sons. He has been a human rights activist, a pub landlord and a researcher on identities and representations of diaspora communities on the Internet.

Peter Pringle is a journalist and author. For thirty years he was a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times, The Observer and The Independent, working in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and the United States. He has also written for several U.S. newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic and The Nation. He is the author and co-author of several books on science and current affairs. Peter was a close friend of Julian’s and was inspired by Julian’s passion for science in creating his mystery novel, Day of the Dandelion.

Alexander Ghionis is a Research Fellow in Chemical and Biological Security at the Harvard Sussex Program, based in the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex. His work explores emerging challenges, change and continuity in the chemical and biological weapons prohibition regimes. He is also a non-resident Fellow with UNIDIR’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program, a CBWNet Associate Researcher, and member of the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition.

Richard Guthrie is an international security policy researcher, primarily focused on technology control and innovation issues that relate to materials and technologies that can have hostile as well as peaceful uses. He runs CBW Events, a project that aims to create a record of events to enable and encourage understanding of how policies on issues relating to chemical and biological warfare (CBW) and its prevention are developed. He worked at the Harvard Sussex Program 1990-2003.