Introduction

Abstract

A clear international norm has developed over the 90 years since World War I that two classes of weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons, are totally prohibited. The international agreements proscribing these weapons are the Geneva Protocol of 1925 prohibiting the use of chemical or biological weapons in war, the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) prohibiting the development, production and stockpiling of such weapons, which entered into force in 1975, and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of such weapons, which entered into force in 1997. Although there continues to be a clear political will by the majority of states to ensure that no state acquires such weapons, it has become apparent in the first years of the 21st century that a few states are still seeking such weapons of mass destruction. In addition to this, and especially since the anthrax letters in the United States in 2001, there is a growing concern that non-state actors and terrorists might seek to obtain and use biological or chemical weapons.