Publication

This Issue Brief looks at how the UN, the US and other nations have reacted to the seeming use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces. It argues that the US has so far tempered its response to their apparent use because of the difficulties the Syrian government has supposedly had in maintaining centralized control over them, and because of the limited military options outside powers actually have in this civil war. In the end, the Issue Brief concludes, only a Syrian-led political solution can prevent further military excesses from happening.