Challenges to the BTWC and CWC and questions for the Pugwash CBW Working Group
The Pugwash Chemical and Biological Weapons Working Group (CBW WG) held its first virtual event on 3 October 2025. The primary objective was to gather feedback on potential topics for the WG’s development, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the WG’s specific role in the current academic and civil society landscape. Registrants completed a small questionnaire covering both topics. Seventy-five persons from all continents, including the Middle East and North Africa, participated. Summary Jean Pascal Zanders and Lizeka Tandwa opened the meeting. Götz Neuneck, Chairperson of the Council, introduced Pugwash, its history, current activities and working methodologies. Richard Guthrie (Pugwash …
The weaponisation of fentanyl
This blog posting is an extract from The Drugs Do Work… [PDF] published in CBRNe World (January 2025). Fentanyl is a powerful analgesic belonging to the class of fully synthetic opioids. Its main application is in the pain management of cancer patients and people recovering from major surgery. Paul Janssen, a Belgian pharmacologist focussing his early laboratory research on antispasmodics, anaesthetics and other pain relief medication, initially synthesised fentanyl in 1959 derived from structure–activity relationship studies of pethidine, a member of the phenylpiperidine class of fully synthetic opioids. Thirty years before, German researchers had first prepared pethidine (also known as …
The banalisation of tear gas
I am not the only person who is concerned by the banalisation of tear gas as a riot control agent. Over the past few years, the intensity with which such agents have been used has increased markedly, to the point that whole sections of cities now routinely become saturated with the toxic chemicals. In particular Michael Crowley of Bradford University’s Non-Lethal Weapons Project has published studies on the fast technological development and growing global markets of riot control agents and their delivery systems: one in collaboration with the Omega Research Foundation, and one, co-authored with Dana Perkins, then expert of …