ABSTRACT
This chapter examines international multilateral efforts to control the dissemination of weapons of mass destruction. The primary focus is thus on the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In each case, a brief history of the treaty, its provisions and its current status is discussed. The chapter then outlines some issues and dilemmas common to each case with a view to raising some of the key questions that now face these treaty regimes. These are the problems and dilemmas posed by the dual-use (military and civilian) nature of the science associated with the weapon systems, the challenges posed to the treaties by the rapid pace of change in science and technology, the threat posed by the possibility that terrorists will seek and obtain weapons of mass destruction, and the role the international community plays and should play on these issues through the United Nations Security Council.
