Chemical weapons and toxins are still being used in current wars. Without action, ecosystems and people are at risk.
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Articles on Chemical weapons
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Claims Russia has used chemical weapons in Ukraine will be difficult if not impossible to verify.
There are unconfirmed reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Syria’s recent chemical weapons use offers context for understanding this tactic. Chemical weapons terrify civilians.
The laws of war and what is considered acceptable and unacceptable weaponry suggest there’s a right and wrong way to kill. It’s unlikely any of the victims of war would appreciate the distinction.
While chemical weapons are likely a greater threat than nuclear weapons, use of the latter is also not impossible.
While it hasn’t admitted it, the world is sure that Russia has used the banned weapons in recent years.
It goes against the basic principles of humanity and common sense to prohibit weapons in international conflict, but allow them to be used against civilian protesters.
Pepper spray uses a chemical called capsaicin. It’s the same compound that makes chillies hot, but in a more intense, weaponised form.
The paradox of the stockpile is that it’s meant to protect against future threats, but is limited by today’s imagination about what those threats might be.
Some of the major events in US-Iran relations highlight the differences between the nations’ views, but others presented real opportunities for reconciliation.
For decades, international law did not allow one country to attack another that was using chemical weapons on its own people without UN approval. That’s changed, which means trouble for Syria.
The use of chemical weapons has shifted from the battlefield to attacks on civilian targets. Time to rethink the convention that prohibits their use.
Novichok are a set of molecules that are some of the most deadly nerve agents ever developed. They are almost impossible to detect and clean up.
The same deadly nerve agent used against a former Russian spy and his daughter could be linked to a second poisoning that killed a 44 year old woman in the UK.
The spectacle of thousands of soldiers gassed to death in France announced to the world that a new class of weapons had arrived.
A decades-long policy of ambiguity means that Israel’s chemical arsenal remains the subject of speculation.
Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May all have something to prove at home by bombing Syria.
Are air strikes really a way to hold the Syrian regime responsible for its alleged atrocities against humanity? History says no.
The United Nations Charter doesn’t allow the use of military force to prevent chemical weapons attacks — no matter how evil — without UN Security Council approval. That needs to change.
Nothing the world has done has stopped Bashar al-Assad’s regime from using chemical weapons – but it’s imperative to keep trying.
Top contributors
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Reader in International Relations, Royal Holloway University of London
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CBRN defence scientist, Charles Darwin University
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Lecturer in Security and Public Policy, University of Bath
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Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Birmingham
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Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull
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Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology, University of Leeds
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Lecturer in International Relations and International Security, University of Bath
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Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of St Andrews
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Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne
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Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies, The University of Queensland
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Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide
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Professor in The Division of Global Affairs and The Department of Political Science, Rutgers University - Newark
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Professor of Politics & Co-Director, Aston Centre for Europe, Aston University
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Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney
