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Verifying the Chemical Weapons Convention: the case for a United Nations verification agency. Master's thesis

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5550824

To successfully conclude a Chemical Weapons Convention, it is essential to establish a permanent United Nations verification agency. While the United States currently opposes a United Nations role in multilateral arms control verification, successes by the International Atomic Energy Agency in controlling nuclear weapons and the UN Special Commission in the disarmament of Iraq demonstrate a need for the United States to revise its position on this vital matter. Potential benefits of a permanent verification agency presented in this thesis center on the need for sharing heavy CWC verification costs, the unique challenges in monitoring multinational treaties, and the advantages of an in-place body to address difficult verification concerns prior to treaty implementation. Verifying a Chemical Weapons Convention will require tremendous financial resources and enhance the need for organizational efficiency and economy. A permanent UN verification agency could provide the forum for coordinating verification resources and advancing new proposals in arms control verification.

Research Organization:
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
5550824
Report Number(s):
AD-A-245279/5/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English