By Fire and Ice

Book excerpt: The Chemical Weapons Convention is a recently signed treaty that requires the dismantling and destruction of the massive stockpiles that many countries (most notably the United States and Russia) have built over the years. However, no simple or agreed-upon means exist to accomplish this admirable goal of the removal of chemical weapons. National security experts assert that the country, and the world as a whole, will be better off if chemical weapons are eliminated, while environmental experts assert that there is no way to accomplish this ambitious plan while conforming to existing national and community health and safety standards. Koplow examines the forced merger between the national security and the environmental policy makers, recognizing the necessity but warning of potential and actual conflicts in missions. Environmentalism and arms control are two crucial sectors of American and international public life that have long existed in segregated "parallel universes." Now these groups must