The Nonproliferation Review/Fall 1999 Kathleen M. Vogel 102 A s a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Con- vention (CWC), Russia is required to destroy its declared 40,000-metric-ton stockpile of chemical weapons (CW). In order to assist Russia with its CW destruction effort, the US government has allo- cated funds from the Soviet Nuclear Threat Act, other- wise known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program. Under CTR, the Department of Defense (DOD) has committed to provide monetary and technical assis- tance for the design, planning, and con- struction of a pilot CW destruction facil- ity (CWDF) at Shchuchie, located in the Kurgan oblast. 2 In order to better meet the needs of all stake- holders in the CW destruction effort and facilitate greater international assistance, I will argue that the United States should supplement the CTR program with projects supported by other US agencies—in other words, coordinate all the tools in the toolbox. The cost for total destruction of the Shchuchie CW stockpile is currently projected at $900 million. 3 This figure includes only the amount necessary for the con- struction of the facility; no monies are included in this sum to cover social infrastructure projects needed in the local community. Social infrastructure includes both re- sources to facilitate the safe operation of a CWDF, such as emergency response and medical services, and gen- eral community development projects, such as construc- tion of new housing units. For the Shchuchie community, some of the most im- portant social infrastructure needs include an emergency preparedness program, water mains, communications systems, medical services, environmental monitoring, and road upgrades to support the safe operation of the CWDF. At the present time, Shchuchie community resi- dents are deeply concerned that they are unprepared to handle any accidents or environmental pollution stem- ming from operation of the destruction facility and dis- posal of its waste products. As a result, many local resi- dents and administrators are mounting protests against the construction of any future CWDF until these safety features are established. 4 Unfortunately, due to the country’s poor economic situation, the Russian government can barely meet its funding responsibili- ties for construction of the CWDF, let alone fund these so- cial infrastructure components. 5 The US Congress, how- ever, has specifically mandated that no CTR monies ever be used for social infra- structure improve- ments. 6 These legislative restric- tions were placed in order to reinforce the main missions of the CTR program, which are to fund the safe transportation, storage, and elimination of weapons of mass destruc- tion in the former Soviet Union (FSU). To date, the CTR program has obligated over $130 million to Russian CW demilitarization activities. 7 Recently, however, congressional support for the Shchuchie CWDF has nosedived. In response to a Gen- eral Accounting Office report, a House-Senate Confer- ence Committee agreed to slash CTR funding for the Shchuchie CWDF in fiscal year (FY) 2000. 8 The Con- ference Committee decision arose from uncertainty about the cost of the facility, doubts about Russia’s abil- ity to meet its own financial obligations to the effort, and a shortage of international assistance to the pro- gram. Outside of US assistance, no international dollars are currently targeted to the proposed CWDF at Shchuchie or any of its supporting infrastructures. Instead, several Kathleen M. Vogel is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Peace Studies Program at Cornell University. She was formely a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Nonpro- liferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA, and holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University. VIEWPOINT: TOOLS TO CATALYZE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR RUSSIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION by Kathleen M. Vogel 1