instability. Threats to international peace and security remain. Mankind still lives under the threat of various types of barbarous weapons, including chemical weaponry. Although the Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical weapons has existed for 65 years, from time to time its authority has been challenged and its effectiveness undermined. A small number of military Powers already possessing formidable chemical arsenals are pressing ahead with the production and modernization of such weapons. This undoubtedly poses a major obstacle to the negotiations on the convention. The harsh reality facing us is that the answer to the question whether and when a breakthrough in our negotiations is possible depends by and large on whether the countries possessing the largest chemical arsenals have sufficient political will to fulfil their special responsibilities in real earnest. Without looking back too far into history, the international community has been urging the super-Powers at least since the mid-1970s to make substantive progress in their bilateral CW negotiations at an early date and to contribute with actual deeds to the multilateral negotiating process. The international community expects them to renounce the use of chemical weapons, destroy their existing stocks and production facilities completely and halt the production and development of chemical weapons. We believe that such an unconditional commitment on their part will surely have the most positive bearing on the multilateral negotiations, thereby contributing to progress towards the objective of the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of chemical weapons on a global scale. That is the logical course for the ongoing negotiation to take. Recent years have witnessed an increase in the number of optimistic statements on the bilateral CW negotiations. Needless to say, substantive bilateral breakthroughs conducive to multilateral negotiations, once they do occur, should be duly welcomed. Years of negotiation between the United States 
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses the threat of chemical weapons and the need for their prohibition and destruction, which is a security-related issue. It also touches on the importance of cooperation among major powers to achieve this goal. The text does not mention economic development, natural resources, agriculture, industry, transport, communication, international trade, health, education, employment, humanitarian aid, or culture.

**Category**
International security