Dateline Washington

Few people expected Bill Clinton to make foreign policy the centerpiece of his presidency. Reversals in the administrations`s China policy and miscalculations in Bosnia and Somalia led to an impression of weakness in Clinton`s foreign policy. The administration sorely needed a foreign policy success. Yet, for some reason, it passed up the opportunity to gain one with an early effort to secure ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CVC). Heralded as the most sweeping arms control accord since the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the CWC would compel signatory countries to shed their chemical arsenals and production capabilities. The CWC would disarm the states that possess chemical weapons capacilities within 10 years and would frustrate further proliferation of chemical weapons

Political science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Nuclear Issues and Defense · Science, Research, and Medicine