Ending the scourge of chemical weapons
After more than 20 years of arduous negotiations, representatives from 131 countries gathered in Paris in January to sign a treaty banning the development, production, and transfer to other countries of chemical-warfare agents and their means of delivery. The treaty - called the Chemical Weapons Convention, or CWC - complements the more limited Geneva Protocol of 1925, which bans the use of toxic chemicals in warfare. When the CWC enters into force in about two years, it will prohibit the manufacture for military purposes of lethal chemicals such as sulfur mustard, which causes painful skin blistering and lung damage, and nerve agents, which cause rapid death by interfering with the transmission of nerve impulses. The goal is to eliminate from the earth this particularly inhumane form of warfare. The paper discusses facets of the treaty, especially the verification challenge with its inspection on demand features. Short accompanying pieces discuss classifying chemicals and the destruction of chemical weapons under the CWC.
- OSTI ID:
- 6349221
- Journal Information:
- Technology Review; (United States), Journal Name: Technology Review; (United States) Vol. 96:3; ISSN TEREAU; ISSN 0040-1692
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
Negotiations
& Legislation-- Treaties-- (1987-)
350300 -- Arms Control-- Verification-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS
CLASSIFICATION
DECOMMISSIONING
INTERNATIONAL LAWS
LAWS
ON-SITE INSPECTION
PRODUCTION
PROLIFERATION
TREATIES
VERIFICATION
WEAPONS