Alexander Ghionis

NB: This is based on info available at the time of posting. Gender references are based on #OPCW documents and may not reflect how individuals identify. Might also have missed some nominees. Always happy to be corrected if more accurate details emerge!

The 2025 #OPCW Director-General election marks a shift: for the first time, women are among the nominees. Out of 9, 3 are female. In 02, 09, & 17, it appears all nominations were men. What might this tell us about the politics of nomination, not just selection? #ec109 #disarmament

OPCW Executive Council Visits Germany’s Old Chemical Weapons Destruction Facilities Modern sophisticated facilities enable safe and secure destruction of WW2 legacy chemical weapons

#ChemicalWeapons #Destruction #Germany #OPCW
OPCW Executive Council Visits Germany’s Old Chemical Weapons Destruction Facilities
www.opcw.org/media-centre...

[...]

Throughout the site visit, the EC delegation received detailed presentations from the GEKA teams on the operations and progress ...

Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Syria – A Door Opening? - PRIF BLOG On March 5, 2025, the caretaker foreign minister of Syria, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, delivered a speech at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in which he promised that his...

#ChemicalWeapons #Syria #Disarmament #OPCW
Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Syria – A Door Opening?
blog.prif.org/2025/03/14/c...

[...]

The announcement by caretaker Foreign Minister al-Shaibani at the OPCW signals the prospect of finally eliminating chemical weapons in Syria completely. This ...

Thank you to everyone who took part in Round 2 of our #AI and #CBW Delphi survey!

The final(!) round will be released over the next day or two.

The detail and focus you’ve all contributed is brilliant. This last round refines majority insights & tests consensus toward the most actionable ideas.

Thank you to all those now completing Round 2 of our AI-CBW Delphi study! Responses so far have been excellent.

You should have received an email with the link earlier this week - do get in touch if you have any questions or issues.

#OPCW #AI #CBW #BWC1972

A heartfelt thank you to all who participated in Round 1 of our Delphi study on AI & CBW governance. Your insights were invaluable.

Round 2 opens next week: please watch your inbox for the link to this penultimate round! #AI #CBW #DelphiStudy

Syria Still Has Chemical Weapons How to get the country’s new rulers to help eliminate Assad’s deadly arsenal.

Pleased to announce a new article in @foreignaffairs.com with @natashahall.bsky.social on the threat posed by Syria's remaining chemical weapons and the need to eliminate this threat and hold the former regime accountable for its chemical atrocities.

www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/syria-...

And, for those interested, here's basic map tracing the routes taken by the various merchant transport vessels during Operation RECSYR. These were protected by naval vessels. The box shows all those who seemed to be involved (might need updating) #Syria #chemicalweapons #opcw

Perhaps time to dust off and re-read "Lessons Learned From The OPCW Mission In Syria". Conclusions and recommendations may be interesting place to start.

www.the-trench.org/wp-content/u...

⬇️a flowchart revealing the complex, multinational effort to remove & eliminate thru 2014

Abrupt halt to consultations in the Fifth Session of the #1972BWC Working Group cbw-events.org.uk/bwc-rep.html Latest = "Approaching the endgame, but an abrupt halt to consultations"

Findings & recommendations will be shared from March 25. Participants will explore AI-related scenarios & identify/shape relevant anti-CBW policy.

Interested? 📩 DM or email a.ghionis[at]http://sussex.ac.uk

🚨Calling #CBW folks 🚨
We’re running a Delphi study exploring how the Chemical and #BiologicalWeapons Conventions can address emerging risks from AI.
✅ Anonymous
✅ 3 short online rounds (20–30 min each)
✅ Open to state parties, civil society & IOs

Round 1 is open until Dec 18!

Always a pleasure and an honour to address the #OPCW Conference of States Parties. Great to see so many delegations, across all regional groups, in the room listening to the diversity of voices and issues that civil society brings. #CSP29

Standing room only at lunchtime Tuesday - thank you to all who joined our side-event at #OPCW #CSP29! Really rich discussions during the Q&A and after; our work is designed to complement and directly support efforts to understand implications of #AI for anti-CW policy and policy-makers.

A happy snapshot of some fellow civil society delegates here at #OPCW #CSP29. Theres expectation that our CWC Coalition will deliver statements on Thursday afternoon. Thanks to the TS Public Affairs for facilitating & supporting our engagement work this week and intersessionally.

If you're interested in ways to think about AI and it's implications for the #CWC, then pop up to Yangtze 1, Tuesday lunch. There's a lot of stiff side event competition at #OPCW #CSP29, I am happy to share slides if the allure of others is too great!

Another year rolls around: #CSP29 is about to kick off in The Hague. It's a wet and windy morning: cue the pathetic fallacy reference. There's lots on the agenda, not least #OPCW's recent TAV to Ukraine. And plenty of #CWCC events to engage with!

📄 at www.opcw.org/resources/do...

Looking forward to the @rusi.bsky.social side-event at OPCW #CSP29 on this topic; data of this nature underpins efforts toward universality as it can give us some practical sense of what the OPCW TS may need to deal with in the future - implicating skills, knowledge, resources, etc.

[4/4] HSP Editoral, December 2002: 'Law enforcement and the CWC' hsp.sussex.ac.uk/new/_uploads... #OPCW #CSP29

[3/4] By Abram Chayes and Matthew Meselson, March 1997: 'Proposed guidelines on the status of riot control agents and other toxic chemicals under the CWC' (p.13) hsp.sussex.ac.uk/new/_uploads... #OPCW #CSP29

[2/4] HSP editorial, March 1994: 'New Technologies and the Loophole in the Convention' hsp.sussex.ac.uk/new/_uploads...
#OPCW #CSP29

With OPCW #CSP29 round the corner, here are three articles from HSP's CBW Conventions Bulletin helping us think about the history of misapprehensions about riot control agents in warfare, how their use may erode the CWC, and perhaps what may be done. 1/4

'Ukraine requested technical assistance in relation to an incident of [the] “use of a chemical riot control agent" [...] analysis of these samples conducted by two #OPCW designated labs indicate [...] the riot control agent CS' www.opcw.org/sites/defaul... #ukraine #chemicalweapons #teargas