Deterrence Reset: Prospects for WMD Attribution and Accountability in a Post-CW Use World

Abstract

The Center for Strategic and International Studies proposes to deliver a 12-month study on the prospective use of legal and institutional mechanisms to identify and hold accountable the perpetrators ofWMD attacks - such as the chemical weapons attacks in Syria and the Middle East - and the implications of suchmechanisms for deterrence, nonproliferation, and stability. The studywill review the international community s response to the use of chemical weapons (CW) in the ongoing Syrian conflict and Iraq, to examine the capacity of international institutions to identify and hold any state and/or non-state actors perpetrating, organizing, or sponsoringWMDaccountable; explore the legal mechanisms by whichjustice can be pursued post-attribution; and capture the lessons ofrepeated use of chemicals asweapons in Syria and Iraq for the broader nonproliferation regime. Using interviews and two workshops, the project will produce and test a matrix of accountability frameworks and theWMD/WME and actors to which those frameworks might be applicable. Itwill result in a 30-40-page paper and a multimedia video. The study will serve a public purpose by convening senior humanitarian, legal, and nonproliferation experts not typically involved in WMD discussions, as well as raising the general public s awareness of the steps being taken at the international level to hold those responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in the Middle East accountable.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Oct 17, 2018
Source ID
FA70001710016

Entities

People

  • Rebecca Hersman

Organizations

  • Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • United States Air Force Academy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies