A series of recent media reports have refocused attention on chemical weapons and highlighted the threat presented by their possible use by terrorists. Stories about the so-called Islamic State (IS) seizing the remains of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons stockpile in Iraq; the large number of abandoned chemical weapons that U.S soldiers discovered during the post-Saddam occupation of Iraq; and the continued cases of chemicals being used as weapons of war in Syria have all generated concern and alarm. But they also highlight the ways in which the international chemical weapons regime must be updated to reflect the current nature of the threats posed by both chemical weapons and chemicals used as weapons.
Until now, nation states have been the main possessors and users of chemical weapons. They began employing them in battle during World War I and have used them intermittently since then, sometimes against each other, but most often against ethnic minorities and other substate actors. For countries that lack nuclear arsenals, they are “the poor man’s atomic bomb,” offering a potential strategic deterrent. ...