Russia’s high-profile opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s poisoning has led to intense speculation about not only the perpetrator but also its timing and motive. Widely conflicting diagnosis emerging from Russia, where Navalny was first treated, to Germany, where he was airlifted for further medical treatment, have further fanned this speculation. Unsurprisingly, the needle of suspicion has fallen on the Russian government.
Earlier this year, the Dutch Security services along with the help of British officials were able to thwart the plan of group of Russians to compromise and disrupt systems at the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). Russia's actions has brought to the forefront the grave reality of cyber threat that international organisations face today.
The joint OPCW-UN team mandated to assist Syria with the elimination of its chemical weapon programme by mid-2014 may not be realistic. As in the case of Russia and the US, the deadline for the destruction of stockpile of chemical weapons has shifted considerably.
In the last few years, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) originally designed to eliminate chemical weapons, has paid attention also towards economic and technological developments and assistance and protection against chemical weapons with the help of international cooperation and assistance.
The spectre of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) warfare has led to the formation of global disarmament architecture. The Chemical Weapons convention (CWC) forms an important part of this architecture. It is seen as an important part of the international law supporting disarmament and non-proliferation concerning weapons of mass destruction. It is the only international agreement that essitates complete and verifiable eradication of an entire category of WMD.
