Chemical warfare has created some of the most devastating and brutal outcomes as it relates to military engagement. Many of these chemicals have resulted in permanent damage to millions of soldiers throughout the world. Here, chemical warfare involves the use of chemical compounds and toxic agents to help incapacitate and even kill enemy soldiers. Chemical warfare is so potent as it provides a seamless alternative to harming enemy parties without risking the lives of soldiers within the process. This two-pronged approach is particularly powerful when one party has access to vast reserves of chemical compounds. During these circumstances nations can rely on chemical warfare to kill opposing soldiers, maintain their own high solider counts and damage the overall moral of enemy troops. Due to its potency chemical warfare was heavily utilized during the first world war where nearly one million casualties where suffered from chemical agents alone. These casualties including permanent blinding, internal burning of organs, burned skinned, and other issues that require vast amounts of corrective surgery. Every sense world war , the use of chemical agents to cause massive harm to others and the surround area have only increased. Due in part to technological innovations that ability for smaller less sophisticated parties to have access to chemical weapons is also compounding, causing still further threats to the stability of the world order. One such threat is that of nerve agents. Here, nerve agents have been particularly potent in the military setting and continue to be heavily utilized today (Somani, 1992).

Nerve agents have a very contentious and polarizing use within the military. Here, the history of nerve agents illustrate how seemingly harmless and useful technologies can be leveraged to harm society and others. The history of nerve agents is particularly unwelcomed as they were used extensively to harm various minority groups during war throughout human history. The most notorious of which are the Jews during the Nazi uprising, Initially, nerve agents where used as a means to help protect food supplies by making an insecticide. The Germans, at the time where very interesting in establishing and maintaining military dominance throughout the European region. In order to do so, they needed to have healthy supplies of food and armaments to sustain a growing and vast military power. Here, the German scientists where looking for methods to help improve crop yield and

Their focus was also to do so in a cost-effective manner to allow more financial resources to be devoted to German military efforts. The German scientists where successful in their ability to achieve a cost-effective solution that would improve crop yields and prevent spoilage. Here, the scientist used two organic compounds containing phosphorus as an improved pesticide. Here, the agent was much more effective that the prior alternative of nicotine at killing and immobilizing insects. This ultimately help to improve crop yields as insects where unable to eat and corrupt German crops. In fact, by 1936 German chemist Gerhard Schrader has perfected the new insecticide that was able to kill 100% of leaf lice just be contact with the liquid. However, unbeknownst to the...…to overexposure to the agent. As the agent was impure, the fatality rate was relatively low as only 13 people died. Roughly 6,000 people were enjoyed as the cult coordinated five attacks on three trains. This would eventually go down as the worst domestic terrorism event in Japanese history (Eldridge, 2001).

By the early 2000 nerve agents have been known to be used in various wars and conflicts within the middle east and Africa. Here again, no new innovations have occurred since the initial improvement made by the UK. However, as indicated in the Japanese domestic terrorism attack, nerve agents can cause very sever and debilitating damage, particularly in nonmilitary settings. As a result nerve agent are particularly potent for terrorists looking to attack civilians or those who do not have counter measures readily available. Much like the circumstances in Japan, civilians are often unsuspected and therefore can not engage in preventative actions quickly enough before the nerve agent activates. Likewise, as the nerve agent is a vapor, it is particularly powerful in crowded areas where people have little ability to escape such as a train. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s nerve agents where used in this manner by military forces looking to control rival territories.

To conclude, nerve agents have long and very controversial history. Originally designed as a pesticide, nerve agents where quickly adopted for military use. Over time, innovations to nerve agents have made them more potent and deadlier than ever before. As a vapor, many terrorist organizations still use nerve agents as a method of inflicting massive…