Review of The New Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementation and Prospects by Michael Bothe, Natalino Ronzitti, and Allan Rosas (1998).
This book, a fine-grained, expert-level analysis of several of the most intricate legal and policy issues arising in connection with the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), also serves as a vivid symbol of the  coming of age  of arms control. For all their strategic significance and political innovation, earlier generations of arms control treaties--bilateral or multilateral, concerning nuclear, chemical, biological, or other weapons--could not plausibly have spawned this type of 600-page exegesis or inspired the painstaking, inch-by-inch explorations presented in its twenty-three chapters. Only with the modem wave of treaty craftsmanship--embodying attempts to incorporate into the document itself reams of detail, scores of implementation procedures, and page after page of minutiae that had traditionally been left to subsequent phases--has the arms control community been able to generate a treaty of sufficient scope and detail to justify this level of dissection. It remains to be seen, however, whether this refinement of treaty-making mechanisms is salutary or detrimental. Will it improve the arms control process by helping to anticipate, and perhaps thereby to avoid, otherwise-latent controversies over verification procedures, dispute-resolution mechanisms, and other operational specifics? Or do the monumental demands of such a process represent a level of hypertrophy that threatens the sustainability of the entire enterprise by so burdening the treaty negotiators that they can only rarely surmount all the challenges thrown their way and bring such an instrument to fruition

Koplow, David A

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Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2000 Book Review: New Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementation and Prospects David A. Koplow Georgetown University Law Center, koplow@law.georgetown.edu   This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/910  94 Am. J. Int'l L. 221-224 (2000) (reviewing Michael Bothe, Natalino Ronzitti, and Allan Rosas, The New Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementation and Prospects (1998)) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub  Part of the International Law Commons, and the Military, War, and Peace Commons 2000] BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES 221 The New Chemical Weapons Convention: Implementa-tion and Prospects. Edited by Michael Bothe, Natalino Ronzitti, and Allan Rosas. The Hague, London, Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998. Pp.xv, 604. Index.FI 350,$189,£119. This book, a fine-grained, expert-level analysis of several of the most intricate legal and policy issues arising in connection with the 1993 Chemi-cal Weapons Convention (CWC) , also serves as a vivid symbol of the "coming of age" of arms control. For all their strategic significance and political innovation, earlier generations of arms control treaties-bilateral or multilateral, con-cerning nuclear, chemical, biological, or other weapons-could not plausibly have spawned this type of 600-page exegesis or inspired the pains-taking, inch-by-inch explorations presented in its twenty-three chapters. Only with the modem wave of treaty craftsmanship-embodying at-tempts to incorporate into the document itself reams of detail, scores of implementation proce-dures, and page after page of minutiae that had traditionally been left to subsequent phases-has the arms control community been able to gener-ate a treaty of sufficient scope and detail to justify this level of dissection. It remains to be seen, however, whether this refinement of treaty-mak-ing mechanisms is salutary or detrimental. Will it improve the arms control process by helping to anticipate, and perhaps thereby to avoid, otherwise-latent controversies over verification procedures, dispute-resolution mechanisms, and other operational specifics? Or do the monu-mental demands of such a process represent a level of hypertrophy that threatens the sustain-ability of the entire enterprise by so burdening the treaty negotiators that they can only rarely surmount all the challenges thrown their way and bring such an instrument to fruition? If the Chemical Weapons Convention repre-sents something of a high-water mark in detail-laden treaty drafting, then the editors of this text (Michael Bothe, a professor of law at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt; Natali-no Ronzitti of the Instituto di Affari Interna-zionali in Rome; and Allan Rosas, director of the Institute for Human Rights atAbo Akademi Uni-versity in Turku, Finland) have at least marked the occasion in a suitably rich, insightful-and encyclopedic-manner. The book arose from a series of workshops convened in Germany, Italy, and Finland in 1991-92. The contributors, most of whom are professors or researchers affiliated with various THE AMERICANJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAWuniversities or institutes in those countries, areexperts representing a diverse range of perspec-tives and disciplines within the field of chemicalweapons. The book is well-organized, and thechapters not only complement each other, butavoid most of the problems of overlap thatfrequently afflict such anthologies. It covers abroad range of topics, from "big picture" andbackground questions, to issues about the cre-ation and operation of the treaty's implementingorganization, to the mechanisms designed toensure verification of compliance with thetreaty's fundamental obligations.Three chapters will be of particular interest.First, Thomas Kurzidem has supplied a remark-ably insightful guide to the conflict-managementstandards and procedures of the CWC. Article IX(Consultations, Cooperation and Fact-Finding)andArticle XIV (SettlementofDisputes) providea state-of-the-art elaboration of the treaty provi-sions that the parties can employ to avoid dis-agreements in the first place, that channel par-ties into more cooperative and problem-solvingmodes when disagreements do arise, and thatprovide recourse to whatever "teeth" the interna-tional law system has to offer for the most intrac-table cases.Kurzidem's chapter admirably provides thereaderwith asubtle understanding of the contextwithin which the treaty-implementation problemsmay arise. He starts by analyzing the (mostly quiteprimitive) efforts of prior arms control instru-ments, such as the Antarctic Treaty, the Treaty ofTlatelolco, and even the Non-Proliferation Treaty,each of which, despite their myriad accomplish-ments and inventions, failed to establish reliable,expansive procedures to anticipate or addressemerging compliance problems. Building uponthis empirical survey, he then catalogues the ar-ray of dispute settlement mechanisms that havebeen grafted onto the existing inventory of armscontrol accords: bilateral or multilateral consulta-tions, institutional fact-finding, challenge inspec-tions, and so on, the sum of which, Kurzidemnotes laconically, "constitutes a very reluctant ap-proach to third party dispute settlement" (p. 294).In contrast, the Chemical Weapons Conven-tion offers a diverse range of viable options. Atthe foundation is a verification program so rigor-ous that potential disputes may be preemptedeven before they emerge. If problems do arise, a"ladder" of clarification, consultation, and dispute-resolution routes channel the controversies intoproductive forums. The aggrieved (or merely'concerned") party may select its options withconsiderable freedom; there is no establishedhierarchy or prescribed sequence in which thevarious mechanisms must be invoked. Thus,exchanges of information, requests for clarifica-tion, recourse to the institutional arrangementsand organs established by the treaty, and referralto the International Court of Justice are allavailable. Kurzidem not only describes thechoices, but critiques them. He notes, for exam-ple, the unfortunately truncated powers availableto the "experts group" that might be appointedto assist the parties in assessing the adequacy ofexchanged information.A second valuable chapter is that contributedby Ettore Greco on the CWC's novel "confidenti-ality" provisions. As Greco notes, modern armscontrol agreements have become so ambitious,and the subjects they address have become sodiverse, thatverification arrangements must nowencompass both government facilities and, withequal intrusiveness, the domain of private indus-try. The CWC's innovative mechanisms for "man-aged access" by the international inspectorate (aprocess of sufficient importance to be discussedin several chapters) might therefore threaten toexpose both classified information concerningnational security and confidential business infor-mation zealously protected by private industry.He provides a lucid and detailed explanation ofthe CWC's elaborate safeguards against compro-mising such information, and of the specific rem-edies provided when violations occur.Greco begins by sketching the comparablestructures available in other arms control regimes,especially those created by the InternationalAtomic EnergyAgency's safeguards system, whichhave been asignal success in providing the neces-sary insight into parties' treaty-related activitieswhile not compromising other data. Greco re-minds us, however, that the CWC will present thepotential dangers in much sharper relief. Thequantity of data to be exchanged is much greater;the degree of intrusion into private-sector indus-trial operations is much more intense; and themarket value of the confidential commercial in-formation at risk is immense.Greco argues that the CWC should be equal tothe task. The treaty's Confidentiality Annex spellsout in elaborate detail how the inspectors willoperate, what procedural protections will be inplace for the acquired information, and how thebalance will be struck between the internationalcommunity's "need to know" about suspicious orproblematic activities, and the facility's need toprotect itself against unwarranted snooping.[Vol. 94BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTESGreco is a most thoughtful commentator in ana-lyzing both the treaty's provisions and its negoti-ating history. He points out, for example, thatthe treaty permits only states parties-and notprivate facilities that are subject to inspection-to author proposals for protecting proprietarybusiness information.A third especially impressive chapter is thatcontributed byAllan Rosas, one of the co-editors,who discusses the array of possible responses tononcompliance with the Convention. The taskRosas sets for himself is to parse Article XII ofthe CWC, which outlines a range of "Measures toRedress a Situation and to Ensure Compliance,including Sanctions." He notes that the treaty'saims here embrace both punishment (to imposea penalty on the violator, thereby deterring sim-ilar deviations) and enforcement (to restore thestatus quo ante). The treaty draws upon a numberof substantive remedies, again selecting amongthe best and most promising types of enforcementactions that have been developed in prior genera-tions of arms control agreements. None of these,it must be admitted, is perfectly satisfactory; thenations of the world have not yet demonstrateda sincere willingness to turn fully to legal toolsfor resolving problems in this most sensitivearena, national security. Consequently, if Rosas'sexplication is not fully persuasive on the powersof the CWC to enforce its provisions (especiallywhen confronted with a determined violation bysome rogue state) and thereby guarantee each ofits parties the "benefit of the bargain," he canhardly be blamed. It is, instead, a reflection ofthe inherent inadequacy of the treaty, or even ofthe entire system of international law, which hasnotyet inspired fully effective legal enforcement.Other chapters of the book must also be noted,at least in passing. The contribution by JulianPerry Robinson is an excellent historical overviewof the negotiations that culminated in the CWC;it could almost stand alone as an entry in asuitable encyclopedia explaining how the instru-ment came to take its final shape. A chapter byMichael Bothe, another of the co-editors, de-scribes the national implementing legislationcrafted by several of the states parties. Of particu-lar interest is the chapter's topic-by-topic analysisof the domestic laws of several leading coun-tries-information that is otherwise very difficultto collect and synthesize. Finally, the chapters byRonald Sutherland and Thomas Stock are valu-able interdisciplinary examinations of the prob-lems of, and prospects for, destroying both theactive chemical weapons inventories of parties,and the old and abandoned chemical weaponsdetritus they may yet uncover.Despite its many virtues, the book has severalproblems. Most important is the unfortunatetiming of the book's publication. As noted, mostof the essays were based in workshops conductedin 1991 and 1992, at which time the ChemicalWeapons Convention was taking its final shape.Since it had not been completely drafted orsigned, the outcome, especially with regard toimplementation measures, was still uncertain.After the CWC was signed in Paris, many of theessays were updated in a modest way to take newdevelopments into account, such as the initialactivities of the Preparatory Commission thatpaved the way for the treaty to enter into force in1997. Nevertheless, there has been by now-nearly seven years after the book's chapters werecompleted in 1993-a wealth of developmentsconcerning the CWC and its implementation.The Preparatory Commission and the perma-nent institutions of the CWC have taken shapeand begun to find their way. Some of the au-thors' speculations about what the treaty organsmight or might not do have already been ren-dered obsolete and need to be supplemented.Although the experts contributing to this bookbring an admirable range of perspectives to it,still broader levels of diversity might have beenhelpful and illuminating. There are no voicesrepresenting the United States or Russia, the twocountries possessing the lion's share of the treaty-relevant chemical weapons, installations, andmaterials. There is also no contributor represent-ing the developing world, which played a leadingrole in the negotiation of many of the Conven-tion's provisions. Unfortunately, too, there are nogenuine skeptics among the authors, no one pre-pared to argue that the CWC is, for example,inadequate to the assigned tasks or doomed tofail in its ambitious undertakings.One comment about the text itself is also inorder. Most of the chapters are skillfully and wellwritten, but there are places where an additionalround of editing and proofreading would havesmoothed out the lingering roughness of expres-sion or idiom.Overall, this book is an excellent addition to theliterature and should be welcome in any collec-tion that seeks to encourage a careful, thoroughunderstanding ofwhat is now the discipline's mostsophisticated, highly developed arms controltreaty. The book is a most suitable vade mecumfor anyone who seeks a painstaking guide to theentrails of the Chemical Weapons Convention,20001224 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW who wants to compare its provisions to those of prior (or subsequent) arms control accords, or who undertakes to study the process by which arms control agreements of this sort are crafted. DAVIDA. KOPLOW Georgetown University Law Center [Vol. 94 

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