Against all odds, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines helped to enact a global treaty banning antipersonnel mines in 1997. For that achievement it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In this volume, Leon Sigal shows how a handful of NGOs with almost no mass base got more than 100 countries to outlaw a weapon that their armies had long used. It is a story of intrigue and misperception, of clashing norms and interests, of contentious bureaucratic and domestic politics. It is also a story of effective leadership, of sustained commitment to a cause, of alliances between campaigners and government officials, of a US senator who championed the ban, and of the skilful use of the news media. Despite this monumental effort, the campaign failed to get the United States to sign the treaty. Drawing on extensive internal documents and interviews with US officials and ban campaigners, Sigal tells the story of the in-fighting inside the Clinton administration, in the Pentagon, and within the ban campaign itself that led to this major setback for an otherwise unprecedented, successful global effort. Negotiating Minefields will be of interest to students and scholars of military and strategic studies and politics and international relations.

Against all odds, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines helped to enact a global treaty banning antipersonnel mines in 1997. For that achievement it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In this volume, Leon Sigal shows how a handful of NGOs with almost no mass base got more than 100 countries to outlaw a weapon that their armies had long used. It is a story of intrigue and misperception, of clashing norms and interests, of contentious bureaucratic and domestic politics. It is also a story of effective leadership, of sustained commitment to a cause, of alliances between campaigners and government officials, of a US senator who championed the ban, and of the skilful use of the news media. Despite this monumental effort, the campaign failed to get the United States to sign the treaty. Drawing on extensive internal documents and interviews with US officials and ban campaigners, Sigal tells the story of the in-fighting inside the Clinton administration, in the Pentagon, and within the ban campaign itself that led to this major setback for an otherwise unprecedented, successful global effort. Negotiating Minefields will be of interest to students and scholars of military and strategic studies and politics and international relations.

In the decade since the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which banned the production and use of anti-personnel mines, governments have spent over $3 billion on clearing up and mitigating the security threat of mines, cluster munitions and other unexploded ordnance in the world's current and former war zones. However, this flow of cash into regions dominated by violent social structures raises numerous political issues. Through detailed archival and field research, this book explores the politics behind the allocation and implementation of foreign aid by the US and Norway for demining in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Sudan. It is an essential resource for practitioners and policymakers working in the field of landmine clearance and for students and researchers of Development Studies and post-war reconstruction.

In this work, an expert on biological weapons offers a thoughtful examination of the political and technical issues that have affected the implementation of arms control agreements from the 1960s to the present. Arms Control Policy: A Guide to the Issues examines the history of the major arms control treaties since the early 1960s. It offers readers a broad understanding of the ways in which arms control agreements were negotiated and implemented during the Cold War, the international and national events that affected treaty negotiation and implementation, and how the arms control landscape has changed in the war's aftermath. Specifically, the handbook overviews the obligations contained in bilateral U.S.-Soviet/Russian and multilateral arms control agreements covering nuclear and nonnuclear weapons. It also treats such agreements as the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Treaty to Ban Land Mines, and the Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions. The book concludes with a look at the current challenges in the implementation of arms control agreements and the future of arms control.

This book is about not just the effects but the making of U.S. foreign policy. It shows how advocates of basing U.S. relations on progress toward democracy struggle in Washington with advocates of support for repressive regimes in return for economic benefits such trade, investment, and mineral resources and military benefits such as access to their territory for U.S. armed and covert forces. By arguing that the outcome of this struggle is determined by the average citizen's position, the book makes readers participants rather than observers. By arguing that a "cultural pump" constantly promotes a vision of American domination as a positive force in the world, it encourages readers to analyze the day-to-day effect of this vision on their own perceptions. Intended for a general audience, the book features enough inside tales and colorful characters to intrigue the casual reader, but also provides the clear themes and historical context needed for a high school or college text on U.S. policy after World War II toward the colonized, and then post-colonial countries.

This updated commentary on the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention addresses international law and State practice on anti-personnel mines under the treaty. It describes the use of anti-personnel mines through to the present day, the destruction of landmine stockpiles, and mine clearance in every affected nation.

In "Mine - Field," Paul Cleary counts the true human and economic costs of Australia's short - term mineral addiction. Australia is in the grip of a bad habit that won't be easy to break. As royalty - hungry governments license breakneck development of our finite mineral resources, people, families, communities and industries are being steamrolled by the mining juggernaut. Politicians consider them expendable victims as they roll out one big mining and gas project after another. High - risk projects are being approved without a full assessment of the long - term consequences. Mining is happening in just about every productive corner of our country. The implications are enormous and beyond the capacity of governments to manage responsibly. Farmers have been worn down, many left with hundreds of coalseam gas wells on their properties, after drawn - out negotiations with miners. A ground - breaking piece of reporting by the author of "Too Much Luck," "Mine - Field" plots the dubious networks created and greased by mining companies to get their projects through and exposes regulatory gaps that must be addressed to avoid an enormous and irreversible cost on society and the environment.