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Middle East Journal
The Use of Chemical Weapons by Arab States2017 •
The reasons for the use of chemical weapons remain an understudied concept in international relations despite their continual use in conflicts. By comparing chemical weapon use by the regimes of four Arab states-Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Syria-over the last 50 years, this article seeks to discern the scenarios in which chemical weapons use is likely, and it offers policies to dissuade or, at least, mitigate their use. As allegations continue to arise about the use of chemical weapons (CW) by the regime of Bashar al-Asad in Syria, as well as by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), an assessment of what drives governments to use chemical weapons is long overdue. Unfortunately, the Middle East provides ample historical precedent for this analysis. Over the last 50 years, the regimes of four Arab states-Egypt, Iraq, Lib-ya, and Syria-have all used chemical weapons in combat. 1 While these attacks are devastating to victims and damaging to the international nonproliferation regime, this trend presents an opportunity for comparative analysis of what drives states to cross the threshold of employing chemical weapons and what can possibly be done to prevent such use in the future. Although determining the actual reasons why a government would use CW is virtually impossible without access to the key decision-makers, this analysis endeavors to identify the situations in which resorting to CW is most likely. 2 This article briefly explores each of the four case studies-Egypt, from 1963 to 1967; Iraq, from 1983 to 1988; Libya, in 1987; and Syria, from 2013 to present-before presenting a comparative analysis. First, superficial commonalities between the cases are explored in order to eliminate these variables from the equation: including each country's religious and ethnic make-up, regime type, and rationale for acquisition. Next, similarities in the decisions to use CW, such as the length of the conflict and the lack of preparations by adversaries, are examined to explain such decisions. Finally, these factors are compared to instances of nonuse of CW by the same states to determine their utility. This analysis will demonstrate that military dictatorships that have failed to achieve their objectives through conventional means are more likely to employ chemical weapons when their adversary is not prepared to protect itself against CW and lacks the ability to retaliate in kind or escalate the conflict.
Center for International Strategic Studies
Syrian Conflict's Chemical Weapons DimensionShahab-ud-din The Syrian Civil War is arguably the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, with over a half million killed, wounded, or missing, and half of Syria's 22 million population displaced from their homes. Syria's largest uprising has devolved into a regionalized civil war that has ravaged the country. President Bashar ul Assad's actions would have remained obscured from the world had it not been for the use of chemical weapons during this conflict. The use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) has given the Western countries an incentive to jump into the conflict and especially the US, which already felt left out. The Syrian Government sought Russia's help in the crisis. The initial use of CWAs was reported in December 2013. Since then, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact Finding Missions that were sent by the UN sponsored resolutions have ascertained that the warring sections have blatantly used Chemical Weapons. The recent incident in the Syrian city of Douma has been confirmed by activists and medics in which dozens of people died when government aircraft dropped bombs filled with toxic chemicals on Douma on Saturday. The international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has sent monitors to Douma to gather evidence. The Western countries have confirmed through their sources that they have "proof" that the Syrian government had attacked Douma with chemical weapons. France, UK and US have agreed "on the need to take action" in Syria to "deter the further use of chemical weapons". On the other side, both Russia and Syria had denied the accusations of a chemical attack. Moscow's UN envoy said that the possibility of a war between Russia and the US cannot be excluded and hence the immediate priority is to avert the danger of war. Since Saturday's attack in Douma, there had been a sustained military buildup in the eastern Mediterranean. A French frigate, British Royal Navy submarines laden with cruise missiles and the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, have all moved into striking range. Syria today is the largest battlefield and generator of sectarianism the world has ever seen, with deep implications for the future boundaries of the Middle East and the spread of terrorism. The ongoing diplomatic conflict between Syria and the US allied with western powers will significantly increase the suffering of the Syrian masses, if the situation escalates resulting in US strike and Russian retaliation. It is a decisive moment in contemporary history which would test the peace keeping effectiveness of international organizations like UN. The trigger-happy US approach had not yielded any results in 2014 when the CWAs were used by both sides in the conflict. Without authentic and genuine confirmation by the OPCW, this type of tactics can result into backlash and further aggravating the situation. The UN must realize that quick and decisive action towards chemical disarmament is essential and it needs to further boost its mechanism for forestalling and controlling the spread of chemical threats.
2015 •
2009 •
On August 12, 2006, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, paving the way for the end of 34 days of warfare between Israel and Hizbollah, a campaign later named the Second Lebanon War. Apart from the immediate need to establish a ceasefire, the Security Council hoped to change the security reality in southern Lebanon while neutralizing the elements that were responsible for the escalation, and prevent the repetition of another round of fighting between the sides. Accordingly, certain security arrangements were put in place, among them the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon as well as an increase in the UNIFIL force from about 2,500 soldiers to a maximum of 15,000 to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hizbollah in the space between the international border and the Litani River. Likewise, the resolution forbade anyone other than the Lebanese army or UNIFIL forces to carry weapons or lay the foundations for a military infrastructure in the region, and the g...
2010 •
2018 •
On April 7, 2018, insurgents and civilians in a rebel enclave in Douma, east of Damascus, Syria, were subjected to a chemical weapons attack during an offensive conducted by Assad regime and allied Russian and Iranian-linked ground forces. At least 42 individuals were reported to have been killed in the attack due to suffocation—primarily in their homes—with more than 500 additional individuals seeking medical attention.1 Local reports from the encircled enclave suggest that during the late afternoon and evening hours, Assad regime helicopters dropped two barrel bombs containing a substance with signatures consistent with that of chlorine.2 Chlorine—an industrial hazardous material (HAZMAT) chemical with many commercial uses—can also be utilized in chemical warfare as a choking agent. Upon dispersal, this chemical—in its gaseous form—is greenish-yellow in color and heavier than air, which allows it to settle in spots such as basements and other low lying areas, slowly suffocating th...
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