Pg. 99: Michelle Bentley's "Syria and the Chemical Weapons Taboo"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Syria and the Chemical Weapons Taboo: Exploiting the Forbidden by Michelle Bentley.

About the book, from the publisher:

This book analyses the Syria crisis and the role of chemical weapons in relation to US foreign policy. The Syrian government's use of such weapons and their subsequent elimination has dominated the US response to the conflict, where these are viewed as particularly horrific arms - a repulsion known as the chemical taboo. On the surface, this would seem to be an appropriate reaction: these are nasty weapons and eradicating them would ostensibly comprise a 'good' move. But this book reveals two new aspects of the taboo that challenge this prevailing view. First, actors use the taboo strategically to advance their own self-interested policy objectives. Second, that applying the taboo to Syria has actually exacerbated the crisis. As such, this book not only provides a timely analysis of Syria, but also a major and original rethink of the chemical taboo, as well as international norms more widely.

Learn more about Syria and the Chemical Weapons Taboo at the Manchester University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Syria and the Chemical Weapons Taboo.

--Marshal Zeringue