Publication

This paper looks at international norm on the non-use of chemical weapons, the impact of the use of chemical warfare in the civil war in Syria, and the current state of play for the OPCW and chemical weapons disarmament. Key insights include 1) international law bans chemical weapons, but there have been numerous alleged and proven chemical attacks in Syria; 2) the international community has responded to these developments, but it has not ensured that further chemical attacks will not happen; 3) the establishment in 2018 of the Investigation and Identification Team within the OPCW was also a step in the right direction, but came at the cost of increased polarization among the organization’s members, and more.