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Costs and Benefits of the Chemical Weapons Disarmament

by Bimal N. Patel

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List of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Overview
3. CW disarmament: Facts and Figures
4. Primary economic factors
   4.1. CW possessors and States Parties that have declared CW production capabilities
   4.1.1 Human resources
   4.1.2 Destruction of chemical weapons capabilities
   4.2. Economies of conversion of CWPF
   4.2.1 Option 1: Conversion for purposes not prohibited under the conversion
   4.2.2 Temporary conversion into a CWDF
   4.2.3 Destruction of CWPF
   4.2.4 CWPF conversion programmes in the Russian Federation
5. Secondary economic factors
   5.1. Introduction
   5.2. Other Economic Challenges and Prospects
   5.3. Military R&D for defensive purposes
   5.3.1 Defence industry
   5.4. Chemical trade
   5.4.1 CW import and exports
6. Peace, Security and Political considerations
7. Relations between CW disarmament and the realisation of the concept of Human Security
8. Technological Advancement
   8.1. Challenges
   8.1.1 Adverse impacts on country's competitiveness due to lack of CW offensive R&D
   8.1.2 Fallacy of an automatic transfer of potentially diversifiable funds to civilian purposes
   8.1.3 Blurred line between military and civilian R&D programs
   8.2. Prospects
   8.2.1 Civilian application of CW research and development
   8.2.2 In-built advantages of CW R&D programs for the facilitation of the CW destruction
   8.2.3 Significant adverse impacts on industries pursuing CW R&D discarded
   8.2.4 Alternative employment of knowledge and skills of CW R&D personnel
   8.2.5 Elimination of the sense of insecurity and military spending
   8.2.6 Use of the funds saved from military CW R&D for destruction technologies
   8.2.7 Transparency in permitted CW R&D programs
9. Peace Dividend Principles of the CW Disarmament
   9.1 Principles
10. Concluding Remarks

Annex: Challenges and Difficulties in the Chemical Weapons

Disarmament: An Overview