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Unit 2Chemical Weapons
All chapters
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. The History of Chemical Warfare
  3. 3. Evolution of the Norm against Chemical Weapons
  4. 4. Current Challenges Posed by Chemical Weapons
  5. 5. The EU and Chemical Weapons
  6. 6. Summary and Further Reading
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Chemical Weapons

After completing this learning unit, the student will understand the nature of chemical weapons (CW) and their effects on humans, animals and the environment understand the technical foundations of CW. Be familiar with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and other relevant international treaties understand the current nature of the CW challenge, including dual-use issues relating to civilian research, development and production activities, legitimate and illegitimate uses of irritants (e.g., riot control agents, terrorism, chemical security and safety, have an overview of EU policies in support of the CWC and the norm against CW, have detailed background on CW use in Syria and the international response to a major violation of the norm against CW

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Chapters

  1. 1. Introduction

  2. 2. The History of Chemical Warfare

  3. 3. Evolution of the Norm against Chemical Weapons

    From the Hague Peace Conference to the Rome Statute

  4. 4. Current Challenges Posed by Chemical Weapons

  5. 5. The EU and Chemical Weapons

  6. 6. Summary and Further Reading

Credits

  • Jean Pascal Zanders profile image

    Jean Pascal Zanders

    The Trench

    Dr Jean Pascal Zanders (Belgium) is an independent researcher/consultant on disarmament and security questions. He heads The Trench, a research initiative dedicated to the future of disarmament. He is also a non-resident Senior Research Associate at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Paris).

    He holds Master’s Degrees in Germanic Philology-Linguistics (1980) and Political Sciences (1992) and a PhD Degree in Political Sciences (1996) from the Free University of Brussels. He was Project Leader of the Chemical and Biological Warfare Project at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1996–2003), Director of the Geneva-based BioWeapons Prevention Project (2003–08) and Senior Research Fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (2008–13).

    He has participated as an expert to the Belgian and EU Delegations in the BTWC and CWC meetings since 2009. From January 2016 until December 2019, he chaired the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach (ABEO) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and remained a member until December 2021.

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Disclosures

Content Warning

This learning unit may contain audio-visual material or texts, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Funding

This Learning Unit was produced with financial assistance from the European Union. The contents of this Learning Unit are however the sole responsibility of the author(s) and should under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

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Preferred Citation

Jean Pascal Zanders, "Chemical Weapons" in EUNPDC eLearning, ed. Niklas Schörnig, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Available at https://eunpdc-elearning.netlify.app/lu-02/, last modified 30 September 2024

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.