By John Erath Since 1993, chemical weapons have killed thousands, with many times more affected, often suffering for years. This despite the Chemical Weapons Convention ban on such activity and a general view that such weapons have little military utility and too high a risk of harm to civilians. During that time, the Organization for […]
Biological and Chemical Weapons
Why Did the United States Lift Sanctions on Assad’s Chemical Weapons Scientists?
Greg Koblentz, member of the Center’s Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Security, co-authored a piece in War on the Rocks about the U.S. sanctions on Syrian chemical weapons scientists being lifted. On June 30, 2025, as part of the process of normalizing relations with Damascus following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, […]
Assad loyalists are regrouping. The world should help the new Syrian government destroy leftover chemical weapons—now
Greg Koblentz, member of the Center’s Scientists Working Group of Chemical and Biological Threats, wrote an op-ed in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists about the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal. The fate of chemical weapons that remain unaccounted for in Syria more than a year after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad can no longer be […]
Strengthening Biosecurity Efforts Without the Federal Government
by Farah Sonde Thousands of employees at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department were abruptly laid off on April Fool’s Day this year. These layoffs, coupled with funding cuts to programs intended to bolster biosecurity, will constitute a devastating blow to the United States’ ability to fight against biological threats, including the potential weaponization […]
The Long Shadow of Syria’s Chemical Weapons
Senior Science Fellow and Scientists Working Group member John Gilbert was quoted by Foreign Policy about Syrian chemical weapons. “The U.S. did provide a lot of people, equipment, and money primarily to destroy the sarin and its immediate precursors,” said John Gilbert, a senior science fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s Scientists Working […]
