Boundary blurring: low lethality CBW and their application in law enforcement

As methods of warfare, the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention are unequivocal in outlawing the use of chemical and biological weapons. However, certain chemical and biological weapons have proven utilities outside of warfare including as tools to counter social disorder. On this issue the two treaties diverge, with the Chemical Weapons Convention exempting from its scope the use of chemicals for the purpose of law enforcement including domestic riot control. This paper will examine the ‘law enforcement quandary’ and the consequences of it for the chemical and biological disarmament regimes. Using historical narrative this paper will trace some of the special utilities that have been conceived for low-lethal CBW application in war-fighting and law enforcement; the purposeful construct of terminology so as to force distance between law enforcement and battlefield application of the very same agent and the role of the CBW regimes in both negative and positive peace.