The international community has been struggling with the problem of eliminating
the chemical weapons threat for decades, but the recent spread of these weapons
to countries that had not previously possessed them has added a new dimension.
The current effort to halt this spread involves: (1) political actions, (2) controls
on exports of key materials, and (3) negotiations on a worldwide chemical
weapons ban. In addition, all efforts to mitigate regional tensions or military
confrontations would, of course, be important contributions to controlling the
spread of weapons of mass destruction. While such efforts are obviously im-
portant to the elimination of the chemical threat, their discussion is beyond the
scope of this book.

The discussion that follows begins with an examination of the factors that
have impelled countries to consider adding chemical weapons to their military
arsenals. Next there is a brief account of past attempts by the international
community to deal with the chemical weapons threat, leading into a discussion
of current political and economic efforts to that end. Several proposals that have
not been translated into action are also treated briefly. Finally, the chemical
weapons convention being negotiated in the Conference on Disarmament (CD)
in Geneva is examined in terms of its utility as a nonproliferation instrument.

A national decision to acquire any type of new weapon is always based on
an amalgam of factors, of which many are not strictly military in nature. The
current world situation, in which regional confrontation seems to be replacing
East-West tensions as the immediate threat to peace, has spawned an upsurge
in the desire by Third World nations to acquire advanced weaponry of all kinds.
This urge is most apparent in the Middle East where the chronic mistrust between
Israel and its Arab neighbors and fresh memories of armed conflict have impelled

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