The Creation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: A Case Study in the Birth of an Intergovernmental Organisation

This book is the first comprehensive study of the creation and work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). It summarises the history of the development and use of chemical weapons. The authors describe the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the work of the Preparatory Commission for OPCW. They review the first ten years of operation of the Treaty and the organisation.


The book describes how the abstract concepts contained in the Treaty were translated into an operational international organisation, able to send inspectors to military and civil chemical facilities around the world. It offers a detailed example of international multilateral diplomacy in action and provides a detailed case study of how a convention negotiated by diplomats is put into effect by a broad range of government officials and private actors. Last but not least, lessons are drawn for the creation of other treaty based organisations.


As such, the book is of great interest to academic libraries and students of International Relations, as well as government officials, legal scholars and experts involved in the implementation of international treaties.


The publication of this book coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Treaty entering into force.


Ian R. Kenyon was Executive Secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (1993-1997). He is currently active as a Visiting Fellow at SPRU Science and Technology Research, University of Sussex and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, University of Southampton. Daniel Feakes was the Harvard Sussex Program Researcher at OPCW (1997-2000). He is currently a Research Fellow at SPRU Science and Technology Research, University of Sussex.