Reaching an International Consensus on Chemical Warfare and Beyond

The first report of a chemical weapon attack by the Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) was in December 2012. Since then, the SARG has exposed thousands of innocent civilians to deadly gases such as sarin and chlorine. These toxic chemicals can burn the lungs, cause body convulsions, foaming from the mouth, and suffocation leading to death.

In response to the SARG’s ruthless acts, in 2013, the international community came together to commit to the elimination of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons. Following this agreement, 98% of Syria’s chemical weapons were destroyed within a year. The joint work of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) led to one of the only breakthroughs related to the Syrian crisis.

The United States and Russia – two countries rarely able to agree on anything – came up with the framework for the program and played key roles in its implementation. Ruthless chemical warfare in Syria created conditions for international actors to unify, put aside differences, and find common ground.

Despite this success, chemical warfare is still a problem in Syria. Most recently, in March 2015, the SARG attacked Sarmin village in Idlib with chlorine gas. Chlorine is used for many legitimate purposes, such as to clean water, so it is hard to limit Syria’s access to this chemical without creating further humanitarian problems.

The problem is that parties using chemical warfare are not being held accountable. The international community needs to increase pressure on perpetrators to ensure they are held accountable;​ be more public in accusing responsible parties​;​ and create enforcement mechanisms and deterrents to end this inhumane practice.

We witnessed in the US-Russian agreement to rid Syria of its chemical arsenal that reaching a consensus is an attainable goal even in the midst of a deadly conflict. The international community needs to focus on common ground to make progress, but not make this common ground the lowest common denominator. These lessons should be used to put an end to the conflict in Syria and to prevent the growing threat of chemical terrorism.