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The constant talk of Weapons of Mass Destruction is both simplistic and misleading. The author looks at the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, providing a readable overview of who has these weapons.

Global trends & specific regional problems in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) since the end of the Cold War are examined. In the global economy, increased trade & decreased trade barriers make it harder for states to control weapons & information transfers. Advances in civilian & military weapons have exacerbated the proliferation problem. New proliferations, rogue states, & terrorist organizations do not respond to traditional modes of deterrence. The status of nuclear weapons ability around the world in the big 5 nuclear forces, independent states, & rogue states is reviewed; the US is again considering the use of nuclear weapons. Proliferation of biological & chemical weapons means that large-scale destruction can be accomplished without the expense of nuclear weapons. The US vision of counterproliferation & preemption differs from the focus of the rest of the world on traditional, multilateral nonproliferation. M. Pflum

It is not the purpose of this article to develop or settle the delicate problems arising from the Geneva Protocol of 17 June 1925 for the Prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and of bacteriological methods of warfare; it merely outlines, on the occasion of the forty-fifth anniversary of the Protocol, the role of the Red Cross in the development of law and the work now being carried out by the main international organizations.