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“Driven to Tears”: Britain, CS Tear Gas, and the Geneva Protocol, 1969–1975

Spelling, ARJ; (2016) “Driven to Tears”: Britain, CS Tear Gas, and the Geneva Protocol, 1969–1975. Diplomacy & Statecraft , 27 (4) pp. 701-725. 10.1080/09592296.2016.1238703. Green open access

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Abstract

This analysis considers a controversy over whether the 1925 Geneva Protocol, the treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare, covered CS “tear gas.” Widespread deployment of tear gases by American forces in Vietnam after 1964 attracted much international criticism as many believed the Protocol banned such agents and pressure gradually built on the British government to clarify its interpretative position. Its tabling a disarmament initiative to prohibit production and possession of biological weapons in July 1969 exacerbated the situation, provoking allegations of diverting attention from chemical weapons as a favour to America and the “Special Relationship.” Meanwhile, the outbreak of the “troubles” in Northern Ireland earlier the same year, where British forces also used CS, presented further difficulties. Britain rejected inclusion of CS under the Protocol in February 1970 but wrestled at great length over the decision and its consequences under the Harold Wilson and Edward Heath governments. Largely absent from historical accounts, this episode allows an examination of a complex, convoluted issue that had potentially wide-ranging ramifications for the interpretation of international relations and treaties. Similarly, re-creating confidential inter-departmental decision-making processes, particularly comparing scientific and legal interpretations, the processes of governmental bureaucracy and the role played by civil society demonstrates why an element with little immediate linkage to British overseas affairs proved such a conundrum.

Type: Article
Title: “Driven to Tears”: Britain, CS Tear Gas, and the Geneva Protocol, 1969–1975
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/09592296.2016.1238703
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592296.2016.1238703
Language: English
Additional information: Published with license by Taylor & Francis, LLC© 2016 Alex Spelling This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1532737
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