Case 158 - Chemical Arms Control: The U.S. and the Geneva Protocol of 1925

by ISD - Georgetown University
$ 4.50

Harbour, Frances V.

This case study, created for the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, asks why the United States did not ratify the Geneva Protocol of 1925, after having been instrumental in placing it on the international agenda. The oldest multilateral arms control treaty still in effect, forbidding the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare, the Geneva Protocol remains largely successful to this day. The study discusses the importance of ethical arguments in policymaking and in the legislative process, paying particular attention to the salience of "just war" theory for these issues.