Announcement: BWC Advanced Education Course
[Applications open until 29 September] State Parties, particularly from the Global South, often lack the resources, knowledge, and expertise to participate in the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) diplomatic process more meaningfully. To address this challenge, UNIDIR, Diplo Foundation and FRS are organizing the BWC Advanced Education Course (BWCedu). The course will equip key stakeholders – government officials in capital with responsibilities in BWC implementation, aspiring and active diplomats and life scientists working on BWC issues and biological threats – with the essential knowledge, skills and expertise to actively participate in the BWC diplomatic process and thus contribute to a stronger …
Education for disarmament and non-proliferation
Building a culture of responsibility: education for disarmament and non-proliferation Journal of Strategic Trade Control, Special Issue, Vol. 2 (September 2024) I am honoured to have been invited to contribute to the Special Issue of the Journal of Strategic Trade Control (JoSTC) focussed on Training programs to counter current and emerging biological and chemical proliferation risks: themes, practices, and lessons learnt. Between January 2018 and December 2023, I was involved in the design, development and implementation of a master’s course on dual-use technology transfer control, which was implemented in Central Asia through the International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC) and …
Chloropicrin and its alleged use in the Ukrainian war (part 3)
The first instalment of this four-part blog series reviewed the allegations of Russian chemical weapon (CW) use in the Ukrainian war from its start in 2014 until the present. At the meeting of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in March 2024, the Ukrainian delegate reported 1,060 incidents since the Russian invasion in February 2022. More recently, Ukraine claimed in a note verbale to the OPCW dated 13 June that it had recorded a total of 2,968 cases of Russian use of riot control agents (RCAs) between 15 February 2023 and 25 April …
Chloropicrin and its alleged use in the Ukrainian war (part 2)
The first of four parts in this blog series reviewed the allegations of Russian chemical weapon (CW) use in the Ukrainian war from its start in 2014 until today. The Ukrainian delegate reported 1,060 incidents since the Russian invasion in February 2022 at the meeting of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in March 2024. On 23 May, the Wall Street Journal quoted Ukrainian sources that the number of CW incidents was quickly approaching the 2,000 mark: As of May 3, the Support Forces have confirmed 1,891 such attacks since they began tracking …