The allegations emerging from Georgia’s 2024-25 protest wave are not merely another chapter in the long, bitter contest between an embattled government and a restless citizenry. They point toward something far more unsettling: the apparent revival of an obsolete First World War-era chemical agent for domestic crowd control. If substantiated, this would represent one of the most serious erosions of global chemical weapons norms in recent years. Through months of demonstrations sparked by the government’s abrupt pause on the country’s EU accession bid, thousands of Georgians gathered outside parliament demanding accountability.

What they encountered, beyond the expected arsenal of water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas, was a burning sensation that clung to their skin and lungs long after the streets had emptied. Some described pain that intensified on contact with water ~ a hallmark far removed from the short-lived irritation characteristic of........

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