Bob Rigg

Bob Rigg is former senior editor with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and a former chair of the New Zealand National Consultative Committee on Disarmament. He is a freelance researcher and writer specialising in nuclear issues, the Middle East, Central Asia, and US foreign policy.

If ISIS uses chemical weapons, the west will be partly responsible

How can the international community respond effectively and promptly to this growing threat, not just to the Middle East region, but to the world?

By Bob Rigg

/ 19 Nov 2015

Bernie Sanders has morphed into a serious contender

Democratic socialism does not resonate positively in an America still overshadowed by decades of anti-communism, but Sanders is tapping into deeply-rooted popular frustration with inauthentic politicians.

By Bob Rigg

/ 19 Oct 2015

Iran’s nuclear deal reconsidered

Business delegations are flying in daily, making the most of this opportunity to establish themselves in Iran when Republican opposition to the deal is compromising US prospects at this critical early stage.

By Bob Rigg

/ 3 Aug 2015

When will Islamic State use its chemical weapons?

The west turned a blind eye to the possible use of chemical weapons by militant Islamists allied against the Assad regime in Syria. Now that Islamic State almost certainly possesses them, the chickens are coming home to roost.

By Bob Rigg

/ 12 Mar 2015

Obama, Netanyahu, Iran, Congress and the Republican Party

An intense political battle is going on over Iran on Capitol Hill. Insular Republicans underestimate at their peril international pressures driven by global security concerns.

By Bob Rigg

/ 27 Jan 2015

In Ukraine, NATO has ceased to be an instrument of US foreign policy

In the renewed cold war over Ukraine, while Russia’s economy has been weakened by European sanctions, the US is no longer the hegemon it once was—and NATO is under strain.

By Bob Rigg

/ 21 Jan 2015

Obama's dysfunctional coalition of the unwilling

The US call for "the broadest coalition of nations" to fight ISIS is simply an invocation of past moral crusades. But other states' willingness to commit to war is much changed from 2003.

By Bob Rigg

/ 20 Sep 2014

Nuclear standoff between the Arab League and the west

For decades the west has covertly supported Israel’s nuclear programme while pretending to support a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. Exasperated by this, the Arab League is spearheading a major international move to challenge the west’s double standards.

By Bob Rigg

/ 26 Aug 2014

Ebola: between public health and private profit

Known to the international community since 1976, why has the world dragged its feet for decades to find a vaccine for Ebola—and where has the money gone for public health research?

By Bob Rigg

/ 11 Aug 2014

The enduring spectre of chemical weapons in Iraq

The US's failure to destroy the remnants of Iraq's chemical weapons stock, along with many others, haunts as ISIS continues its advance - now with access to this dangerous and unstable arsenal.

By Bob Rigg

/ 30 Jun 2014

US position over Iran’s ambassador generates confrontation with UN

If the UN does not act to reject this precedent, it will contribute to an international erosion of faith in its own integrity and independence -precisely the kind of behaviour which the carefully crafted ‘headquarters agreement’ was designed to prevent.

By Bob Rigg

/ 16 Apr 2014

Syria's chemical weapons: is the UN exceeding its mandate?

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should be a technical agency of the UN. But it has arguably become a piece in a geo-political chess game dominated by the US, invited into Syria to act in contravention of its remit.

By Bob Rigg

/ 2 Dec 2013