Chemical warfare is a broad term used by international strategists to classify certain types of weapons that use chemical reactions to cause harm. Chemical warfare was used sporadically throughout the years, but was first introduced on a widespread scale in World War I. The use of these chemical weapons resulted in 1.3 million casualties. World leaders agreed that this scale of chemical warfare was extremely dangerous and agreed to abide by the Geneva Protocol, which prohibits nations from using chemical and biological weapons. However, nations are still able to create these weapons in the event they would ever need them in retaliation. Later on in World War II, chemical weapons were used (contrary to some beliefs) in Nazi concentration camps, as well as by the Japanese army, but were not used during battle at all. Incidents of chemical weapons being used appear every now and then throughout history since, with the biggest use of chemical warfare occurring in 2013 during the Syrian Civil War. Syrian military forces used sarin gas to kill hundreds of innocent civilians, including over a hundred children. There have been even more incidences more recently that indicate Syrian government involvement.

Syria isn’t the only country to have recently used chemical weapons. Russia has also been accused of using chemical weapons, the most recent case on Sunday, March 4th when a Russian double agent and his daughter were attacked with a nerve agent that had been created in the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. While the Russian government denies their involvement and blames Great Britain, many countries including Great Britain and the United States, have accused Russia of using the nerve agent. Many experts say that the use of a nerve agent on a former Russian spy that turned spy for Britain is sending a message to others considering spreading Russian secrets to other countries. Others have been using chemical weapons even more recently, including North Korea, who used a nerve agent called VX to kill the half brother of Kim Jong-Un. ISIS has also been using chemical weapons, such as mustard gas, which was commonly used during World War I.

To get a better understanding of chemical weapons, they are separated into three main categories: nerve agents like sarin gas, blistering agents like mustard gas and VX, and choking agents like phosgene, which was an extremely deadly and dangerous gas used during World War I. Within those main categories are sub categories that can identify each agent based off of its chemical composition. The sub categories also have varying levels of severity, like with nerve agents. Nerve agents within the “G” agent sub category typically are not as dangerous as those in the “V” agent sub category because they do not persist without continuous exposure. That being said, each chemical weapon is extremely dangerous, which is why world leaders worked to stop the spread of a threat of chemical warfare by establishing various legislation and treaties.

The earliest (relatively) successful treaty signed to stop the spread of chemical warfare was the Geneva Protocol, signed June 1925. Having witnessed the horrendous deaths that plagued the battlefields of World War I, world leaders apart of the League of Nations agreed to prohibit the use of chemical and biological warfare. While the Geneva Protocol was successful in keeping chemical and biological weapons from the battlefield, some nations did get away with using those weapons without punishment, like Syria and Egypt. In 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was created, which continued on from the Geneva Protocol and added that countries were not able to produce and stockpile chemical and biological weapons, which the Geneva Protocol had previously not covered. The fault with the Biological Weapons Convention, however, was that there was no way to enforce that countries follow the agreement. Finally, in 1993 the Chemical Weapons Convention was created, which bans countries from creating, stockpiling, and using chemical weapons. This successful treaty is signed and followed by most countries, with North Korea, Egypt, and South Sudan being the only non-observers of the treaty.

As I learned more about the use of chemical weapons, I noticed an increase in the use of chemical weapons in recent years, even with the establishment of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The attacks using chemical weapons haven’t been as destructive as when they were used back in World War I and World War II, but have been more individualized, like the recent attacks on Kim Jong-Un’s half brother and the ex-Russian spy and his daughter. Meaning that while chemical weapon attacks haven’t done as much damage, the presence of chemical weapons is still lingering. Some experts believe the threat is growing, especially with the majority of chemical attacks having gone without major punishment. This increasing threat is extremely dangerous, simply based off of the severity of chemical weapons. It seems as if everyone forgot about the damage chemical warfare did in World War I and only want to focus on power and control. Having nations ignore the harmful effects chemical weapons can have on people is incredibly dangerous if the threat of chemical warfare continues to spread. If we aren’t careful, disregarding human life by using harmful chemical weapons will lead to larger-scale chemical warfare, which is the last thing the world needs.