Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

× Clear Filters
11 Articles
Syrians gather near vehicles of the United Nations (UN) arms experts

Ten Years on From the Ghouta Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria: What Lessons Have Been Learned?

The Syrian government still has not been held accountable for its brutal chemical weapons attack on Ghouta ten years ago.
Members of the Civil defence removing the remnants of a rocket reportedly fired by regime forces on the outskirts of the rebel-held besieged Syrian town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region. They wear gas masks as they work. February 1, 2018

The Eroding Norms Against Chemical Weapons Use Will Need More Than Another Syria Censure to Survive

A challenge inspection and an expanded mandate for a new investigations team are among options to halt the global backsliding.
A U.S. soldier mans a gun at the back gate aboard the helicopter carrying U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis as he arrives via helicopter at Resolute Support headquarters on April 24, 2017 in in Kabul, Afghanistan.

National Security This Week at the United Nations (April 9-16)

US and NATO Plan to Withdraw Troops from Afghanistan; Taliban Withdraws from Planned Peace Talks in Istanbul President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he plans to begin withdrawing…
Security Council members hold a videoconference in connection with the Middle East (Syria).

National Security This Week at the United Nations (Dec 11 – Dec 18)

Equitable Distribution of Vaccines an “Acid Test”  On Dec. 16, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Munir Akram said the equitable distribution…
Syrians sell vegetables next to buildings heavily damaged and collapsing from Syria's civil war, in the central city of Homs, on April 28, 2020 as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramadan.

Accountability in the Time of COVID-19: Syria & Iraq

The coronavirus crisis has dominated the global news coverage, but the war in Syria has not gone away. The ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia in March 2020 remains fragile,…
United Nations Security Council meeting on January 25, 2019 at the United Nations in New York.

National Security at the United Nations This Week

Responding to repression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China, censuring Saudi Arabia at the Human Rights Council, stalled progress in de-escalating Yemen's civil war, OPCW findings…

A View from a Syrian International Lawyer: Were the April 14 Strikes Legal?

On April 14, the United States, the United Kingdom and France conducted air strikes in Syria in response to the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma.…
Just Security

The International Criminal Court, the Islamic State, and Chemical Weapons

Ralf Trapp recently wrote here about an investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Northern Iraq…
Just Security

The Investigation Into the Islamic State and Chemical Weapons

Reports of the presumed use of chemical weapons — chlorine and more recently mustard gas — by Daesh (also know as the Islamic State) in Northern Iraq and Syria have appeared…
Just Security

Chemical Weapons and Secrecy: a Terrible Combination

Last week’s New York Times article detailing the fact that, between 2004 and 2011, American troops in Iraq “secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells…
Just Security

The U.S.-Russia Agreement on Syrian Chemical Weapons: More Questions Than Answers

The Framework Agreement negotiated by the United States and the Russian Federation to bring Syria’s chemical weapons under international control seems like an elegant way out…
1-11 of 11 items

DON'T MISS A THING. Stay up to date with Just Security curated newsletters: