The Proliferation of Chemical Weapons: Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle

Abstract

Following the introduction of gas warfare in World War I, there developed a set of restraints which were effective in preventing the use of toxic chemical agents in World War II. The prolonged Korean and Vietnam conflicts were fought, again without resort to toxic chemical weapons. Recently, however, there has been a breakdown of the traditional restraints which were effective for fifty years in preventing chemical warfare. This study examines the traditional restraint system which evolved after World War I and extrapolates that framework into the modern era to determine what has changed to render the traditional restraints ineffective today. From this analysis, a model is derived for an effective chemical weapons protocol and a strategy is proposed for worldwide chemical disarmament.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 24, 1989
Accession Number
ADA207339

Entities

People

  • Terry M. Weekly

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Casualties
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Civil War
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Nuclear Warfare
  • Second World War
  • Treaties
  • War
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design