Book Release: “Thirty Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Histories, Achievements, Challenges”
Published open access by Springer Nature in February, this volume - co-edited and co-authored by Bretislav Friedrich, emeritus research group leader in the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute - features papers from the Berlin conference “Thirty Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Histories, Achievements, Challenges” (5–6 October 2023), along with additional contributions.
On September 30, 2023, the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) finalized the destruction of their declared chemical arsenals. This was a culmination of a process begun 30 years earlier with the signing of the CWC in Paris in 1993.
Just a week later, on 5–6 October, 2023, a conference “30 Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Reflecting on History, Celebrating Achievements, and Addressing Challenges” was held at Harnack House in Berlin to mark this unique achievement in disarmament. The conference provided a comprehensive overview of CWC’s history and achievements as well as of its challenges in today’s evolving political environment.
Recently, a book eponymous with the 2023 conference was published, edited by the three conference organizers: Prof. Dr. Bretislav Friedrich from the Fritz Haber Institute, Prof. Dr. Ulf Schmidt from the University of Hamburg, and Dr. Paul Walker, vice-chair of the Arms Control Association, Washington, DC.
The open-access book is comprised of papers presented at the conference in Berlin by, among others, government officials, renowned scholars, and esteemed members of civil society, as well as of additional contributions. Its twenty-two chapters review the three decades of the treaty's impact. Key achievements include the destruction of almost all declared stockpiles and the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the CWC's implementing body. Highlights of the book include a keynote address by the former Director General of the OPCW providing insights into the workings of the treaty and a section examining the potential of the CWC as a model for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Looking ahead, the volume sheds light on present and future challenges of chemical disarmament in a world that, amid ongoing conflicts in unstable regions such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East, is realigning itself to a new geopolitical and security landscape.
The Fritz Haber Institute is providing special support for efforts to reappraise the subject of chemical weapons and, more broadly, to confront a dark chapter in the institute’s history: the research and deployment of chemical weapons in World War I led by the institute’s founding director and later name giver, Fritz Haber (1868-1934).
About the editors
Bretislav Friedrich, born 1953 in Prague, Czech Republic, is a Research Group Leader (Emeritus) in the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute and an Honorary Professor at the Technische Universität Berlin. Beyond his scientific work, he has a longstanding interest in the history of science. He is engaged in efforts to eliminate chemical and other weapons of mass destruction. With a keen interest in scientific publishing, he has served in a variety of editorial roles.
The German-British historian Ulf Schmidt is Professor of Modern History at the University of Hamburg and the founding-director of the Centre for the Study of Health, Ethics, and Society. His research explores the history of European eugenics and racial hygiene - focusing on Germany and Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries - as well as the history of the Nazi “euthanasia” program.
The American political scientist Paul Walker is a renowned expert in arms control, recognized for his decades-long leadership in eliminating chemical weapons. He coordinates the CWC Coalition, serves as Vice Chair of the Arms Control Association and is a member of the US Department of State International Security Advisory Board. In 2013, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for his work.
