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The large-scale use of lethal chemical weapons in the First World War followed on from the use of non-lethal irritant chemicals to force enemy soldiers out of cover. For that reason, the modern Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans the use of riot control agents as a method of warfare. Yet in 2024 the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) determined, at the request of Ukraine, that riot control agents had been used, presumably as a method of warfare, on the front line in Ukraine.
A century after the 1925 Geneva Protocol was signed, Professor Dando outlined the problem of preventing the use of chemical and biological weapons, in an era when our understanding of these agents and their modes of action is changing rapidly.
He went on to explain the basis of the original Protocol, and of further Conventions negotiated in the 1970s and 1990s.
This set the scene for considering the difficulties of dealing with control of chemical and biological substances today, including the complications that arise because of the overlap with benignly-intended life science research.
Will it be possible to maintain the 1925 Geneva Protocol and associated international agreements during coming decades? How can non-experts help to strengthen efforts to implement the spirit of the 1925 Geneva Protocol?
Malcolm R. Dando is an Emeritus Fellow in the Division of Peace Studies and International Development at the University of Bradford and a Visiting Professor in the School of Human Sciences at London Metropolitan University. He trained originally as a biologist (BSc and PhD at St. Andrews University, Scotland). After postdoctoral studies in the United States (University of Michigan and University of Oregon) he held fellowships funded by the UK Ministry of Defence in Operational Research at the University of Sussex during the 1970s. Since then, he has worked on arms control and disarmament, particularly on chemical and biological issues. In recent years, he has focused on awareness raising and education of life scientists in regard to dual use and biosecurity. His publications include:
Dando, M. R. (2023) The Chemical and Biological Non-proliferation Regime after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Dealing with the Scientific Revolution in the Life Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan/ Springer/Nature, Cham, Switzerland.
Crowley, M. and Dando, M. R. (2022) Toxin and Bioregulator Weapons: Preventing the Misuse of the Chemical and Life Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan/ Springer/Nature, Cham, Switzerland.
Dando, M. R. (2020) Neuroscience and the Problem of Dual Use: Neuro-ethics in the New Brain Research Projects. Springer/Nature, Cham, Switzerland.
