Moral Entrepreneurs and the Campaign to Ban Landmines. (At the Interface Probing the Boundaries)

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Moral Entrepreneurs and the Campaign to Ban Landmines

At the Interface

Series Editors Dr Robert Fisher Dr Margaret Sönser Breen

Advisory Board Professor Margaret Chatterjee Professor Michael Goodman Dr Jones Irwin Professor Asa Kasher Dr Owen Kelly Revd Stephen Morris

Professor John Parry Dr David Seth Preston Professor Peter L. Twohig Professor S Ram Vemuri Professor Bernie Warren Revd Dr Kenneth Wilson, O.B.E

Volume 35 A volume in the Probing the Boundaries project ‘War, Virtual War and Human Security’

Probing the Boundaries


Frank Faulkner

Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007

The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents Requirements for permanence”. ISBN: 978-90-420-2230-0 ©Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007 Printed in the Netherlands

This book is for my late mother, Frances Elizabeth Faulkner and my late father, George Faulkner

CONTENTS FOREWORD

xi

PREFACE Dr. Malcolm R. Dando

xiii

GLOSSARY CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS

xvii xxi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

xxv

CHAPTER ONE: Emergence of a New Superpower Polity Introduction Notes On Methodology

1 1 6

CHAPTER TWO: Landmines, Theory, and Security: An International Relations Perspective International Relations Theory and Landmines International Relations Theory and The Security Problematique Realism Liberal Pluralism Globalism/Structuralism Conclusions

11 12 16 19 24

CHAPTER THREE: Grass Roots Politics: Regime Theory and Moral Entrepreneurism Regimes And Related Matters: A Theoretical Discussion HECs, Moral Entrepreneurs, and Landmines Regime theory: An Exploration Conclusions

33 33 33 35 50

CHAPTER FOUR: Mine Warware: Evolution of a Military Force Multiplier The Evolution of Mine Warfare Part One: Landmines: A Labour-Intensive Weapon System Part Two: Vietnam, Landmines, and The Electronic Battlefield Landmine Types And Systems Conclusions

9 9

57 57 58 65 72 78

viii

Contents

___________________________________________________________

CHAPTER FIVE: Victims, Volatility, and Violence: The Moral Rationale for a Complete Ban The Impact of AP Landmines on Affected Communities Landmine Victimisation: A General Discussion Landmine Incidents: The Medical Perspective Economics and Landmines Mine Warfare: An Economic Overview A Social and Cultural Perspective Mines, Refugees and Internally-displaced Peoples The Nexus of Psychological Fear: Landmines and People Conclusions CHAPTER SIX: Progress and Passion: The Rise of the ICBL The ICBL As Humanitarian Epistemic Community: an Evolution The Advent and Progression of The ICBL The Contribution of Civil Society Conclusions

87 87 88 90 94 94 99 103 106 109 115 115 115 117 137

CHAPTER SEVEN: Legal Authority and Ethical Platforms: The Ottawa Treaty Comes to Fruition The Ottawa Process and Beyond The Ottawa Process and Convention Oslo: Process Formulation Conclusions

145 145 146 155 169

CHAPTER EIGHT: Empirical Analyses: Fieldwork Data Gathering and Interpretation Fieldwork: Analysis and Interpretation Interview Protocols Fieldwork Studies: Results Conclusions

175 175 177 179 198

Contents

ix

___________________________________________________________ CHAPTER NINE: Concluding Remarks: Progress or Retrogression and Possible Futures Conclusions: A Review of General Arguments Event Analysis: Progress or Retrogression? Suggestions For Further Research

203 203 213 214

BIBLIOGRAPHY

219

INDEX

239

FOREWORD This work emerged from an undergraduate lecture attended by the author in academic year 1993-94, at the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, on the subject of antipersonnel landmines. Prior to this, I had no more than a passing interest (or indeed specialised knowledge) of these weapons, certainly from a lay point of view. The lecture under discussion revealed hitherto unknown dimensions to these devices, for example the fact that children are as much potential and actual victims of mines as the targets they are ostensibly intended for. I found the subject to be painful and emotive, and henceforward determined to discover the issues associated with the production and use of these weapons, and implications arising, with a view to arriving at a better understanding of this area. My programme of discovery began with my undergraduate dissertation on the matter of landmines and their impacts on civilians, and what follows will be the culmination of this odyssey to date. Frank Faulkner. Autumn, 2005

PREFACE Dr Faulkner’s book provides a valuable and timely insight into an area of scholarly exploration that had not received the attention that it deserves. For decades, the victims of landmines had suffered and died unnoticed, until humanitarian aid workers informed the world of the terrifying properties of these indiscriminate weapons. The rise of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has been well documented elsewhere, not least for the contribution of the late Diana, Princess of Wales and senior politicians in the UK and abroad. Dr Faulkner has cast a critical eye over the rise of this movement since the early 1990s, and has indeed been a part of the campaign at a personal level. Accordingly, he has managed to combine academic rigour with an understanding of the moral platform that underwrites this campaign. The initial chapters of the book adopt a theoretical approach that seeks to explain the uses of mines, and the movement to ban them, in clear, concise and measured prose. From a comprehensive excursion through mainstream International Relations thought, to a more specialized scrutiny of regime formation and propagation, Dr Faulkner combines the two areas of enquiry to produce a lucid, thought-provoking and analytical exercise. Moreover, and quite notably, the introduction of theoretical argument into the landmines debate has managed to address identifiable lacunae that had been largely absent from texts dealing with this subject, and which adds to the strengths that the author brings to his writing. From the reader’s viewpoint, the book expands into other aspects of this matter with an historical account of the evolution of mine warfare; how it began, and progresses to the impact on civilians and the environment. Taking this perspective allows the book to provide the reader with an understanding of the rationales that dictate the production and deployment of an essentially inhumane weapon, and indicates the thinking of the military mind and those manufacturers who argue for the retention of mines in state arsenals. Clearly, the militarily-disposed argument and pressing humanitarian concerns cannot easily be reconciled, and it is to these and related matters that much of this text concerns itself. Dr Faulkner builds on discussions of technological development to a comprehensive, wide-ranging examination of the impact that these devices have on non-combatant communities. As past reportage informs us, from El Salvador to Afghanistan, from Angola to the killing fields of Cambodia, random and gratuitous landmine use has attacked the infrastructures of predominantly poor countries at several levels, resulting in civilian casualty rates that are far removed from any perceived military

xiv

Preface

___________________________________________________________ utility. As the book aptly shows, landmine victimization is a multi-faceted affair that blindly erodes the fabric of whole communities, bringing greater poverty and misery to those countries so afflicted. As Dr Faulkner explains, many of the costs of mine deployment remain effectively hidden from the public gaze, a factor that this text has sought to reveal. In discussing the progression of mine warfare and the subsequent chapter dealing with effects, the book has laid the philosophical foundations for extensive treatment of the campaign to bring an end to the trading and use of landmines. This has been divided into two chapters; the first offers insight into the early years of the campaign, the personalities, and the sheer enormity of the task ahead. As an arms control mechanism, the nascent ICBL had to confront the fact that the objective would be to change state policy on matters relating to state security, the national interest, and so on. For a grass roots organization this would be a daunting undertaking, an observation dealt with by Dr Faulkner in a painstaking manner. Harnessing theoretical matters discussed earlier in the book, he builds upon these thoughts using real-time factual information to give a rounded appreciation of the multilateral nature of the campaign, and its determination to work towards an acceptable outcome. The second part of this odyssey culminates in the Ottawa Process, a legal instrument that brought about a prohibition of landmines and the determination by States Parties not to trade in these weapons, and to destroy existing stocks. Along the way, the campaign was awarded the 1997 Nobel peace Prize alongside co-Laureate Jody Williams, the movement’s global co-ordinator. The magnitude of this achievement is now known to millions; the quickest arms-control agreement in history promised to relieve millions living under the yoke that these devices represent, alongside international approbation of mine warfare. Rather than just write a book about this area from documentary evidence, Dr Faulkner’s travels took him up and down the United Kingdom, and to the United States to gather first-hand testimony from campaign activists and members of the United States Government. He considered that the authentic deliberations of anti-mine professionals, and members of the American political establishment, would afford a vital and opportune dimension to the work’s aims and objectives. In this, he has clearly justified the risks of presenting opposing views alongside each other in order to create a balanced argument, and with it a greater clarity.

Malcolm R. Dando

xv

___________________________________________________________ In bringing the book to a close, Dr Faulkner reviews the arguments discussed throughout the text, noting many of the principal aspects in a sober, considered fashion. However, as he would doubtless recognize, the book could not be complete without analysis of postOttawa events and what the future may bring. He notes that whilst Ottawa and the campaign have largely captured the public’s imagination, and that grass roots activism has struck a blow for and empowered ordinary people, he nonetheless further notes that success in the international armscontrol arena can be fraught with dangers and disappointments. For example: the question of enforcement remains largely fallow, with Ottawa signatory countries such as Angola embarking on new episodes of mine warfare; and others like El Salvador making public statements that the country is ‘mine free’ when irrefutable evidence shows otherwise. The final negative aspect is that whilst major producer states including Russia, the United States, India, Pakistan and China stay out of the Process, the viability of Ottawa as a durable arms-control instrument remains a moot point. In this, Dr Faulkner accepts that arms control as a concept is still maturing, and has some way to travel before altruism and reality can be mutually reconciled. In also looking at the further but no less important concerns presented by cluster weapons, the book implicitly accepts that whilst progress has been made in the complex and difficult area of arms control, much still clearly needs to be done. As a step in the right direction, this book can therefore be considered an important component. Dr Malcolm R. Dando, Professor of International Security, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, United Kingdom

GLOSSARY ADAM

Area Denial Artillery Munition

APM

Anti Personnel Mine

ATM

Anti Tank Mine

AVM

Anti Vehicle Mine

CARECOM

Caribbean Economic Community

CCW

Convention on Conventional Weapons

CD

Conference on Disarmament

CWC

Chemical Weapons Convention

DFAIT

Canadian) Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

DFID

Department For International Development

DMZ

Demilitarized Zone

FASCAM

Family of Scatterable Mines

FSU

Former Soviet Union

HALO

Hazardous Area Life-support Organisation

HEC

Humanitarian Epistemic Community

HI

Handicap International

HRW

Human Rights Watch

HRWAP

Human Rights Watch Arms Project

ICBL

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

ICRC

International Committee of the Red Cross

IDG

International Demining Group

xviii

Glossary

___________________________________________________________ IDP

Internally-Displaced Person(s)

IPPNW

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

IPU

Inter-Parliamentary Union

IR

International Relations

Kfor

Kosovo (Peacekeeping) Force

KLA

Kosovo Liberation Army

LSN

Landmine Survivors Network

MAC

Mines Action Canada/Mines Action Centre

MAG

Mines Advisory Group

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NBC

Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (weapons)

NGO

Non-Governmental Organisation

NVA

North Vietnamese Army

OAS

Organisation of American States

OAU

Organisation of African Unity

PHR

Physicians for Human Rights

R&D

Research and Development

RAF

Royal Air Force

TNT

Tri-nitrotoluene

UKWGLM

United Kingdom Landmines

UN

United Nations

Working

Group

on

Glossary

xix

___________________________________________________________ UNGA

United Nations General Assembly

UNHCR

United Nations Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

UXO

Unexploded Ordnance

VVAF

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation

WAAPM

Wide Area Anti Personnel Mine

WHO

World Health Organisation

High

Commissioner

for

CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS Sept. 1991:

Publication of ‘The Coward’s War: Landmines in Cambodia’ by HRW and PHR. Call for a ban by these organisations.

Nov. 1991:

VVAF, Medico International Frankfurt launch joint campaign of advocacy for NGOs to work towards a ban on APMs.

May 1992:

Handicap International, MAG and PHR launch campaign.

Oct. 1992:

The above organisations met in New York to coordinate campaign effort, and to co-sponsor first NGO Conference on Landmines in London, in 1993.

Dec. 1992:

EU Parliament passes Resolution on APMs.

May 1993:

First NGO Conference on Landmines.

Sept. 1993:

UNICEF gives priority to APM issues.

Dec. 1993:

UN General Assembly adopts a Resolution calling for a review of the 1980 CCW.

Feb. 1994:

ICRC President declared that for ‘humanitarian reasons’ APMs should be banned.

May 1994:

Second NGO Conference in Geneva attended by 110 representatives from over 75 NGOs.

June 1994:

Vatican Council for Justice and Peace calls for a ban on APMs.

August 1994:

Italian Senate passes a motion ordering the government to use the ‘necessary legal instruments’ to cease production of APMs. UN Secretary-General submits his first report on mine clearance.

Sept. 1994:

Sept. 1994:

President Clinton addresses the UN; calls for ‘eventual elimination’ of APMs.

xxii

Chronology of Major Events

___________________________________________________________ Feb. 1995:

The ICRC holds a seminar in Addis Ababa for African countries.

Mar. 1995:

Belgium became the first state to pass domestic laws banning the use, production, procurement, sale and transfer of APMs.

June 1995:

Norway adopts a binding Resolution fore the government to work for a complete ban on APMs.

Nov. 1995:

Switzerland calls for a complete ban on APMs, and renounces removal of stocks by its armed forces.

Dec. 1995:

Islamic Conference calls for an immediate ban on APMs.

Jan. 1996:

Canada announces a moratorium on production, use and trade in APMs.

Mar. 1996:

VVAF sponsors a two-page advertisement in the New York Times calling on President Clinton to ban APMs immediately.

Apr. 1996:

Germany to renounce use, production and export of APMs; all existing stocks to be destroyed.

May 1996:

Clinton announces a ‘new’ APM policy.

June 1996:

Organisation of American States announces a Resolution to provide a ‘hemisphere-wide zone’ free of APMs.

Oct. 1996:

Ottawa Conference: 75 governments meet to discuss fast-track process to eliminate APMs.

Nov. 1996:

Caribbean CARICOM nations form world’s second mine-free zone.

Dec. 1996:

Austrian National Assembly passes comprehensive ban on APMs by overwhelming majority.

Dec. 1996:

Swedish Parliament adopts unilateral ban on APMs.


xxiii

___________________________________________________________ Feb. 1997:

Fourth International NGO Conference in Maputo, Mozambique, held with 450 participants from 60 countries.

Apr. 1997:

German Government hosted a technical meeting on matters of compliance and verification for forthcoming treaty. 120 States attend.

Jun. 1997:

Belgium hosted the second preparatory Conference for the Ottawa Process.

Sept. 1997:

Norway hosted ban treaty negotiations ahead of Ottawa; over 106 countries attended, including the US.

Oct. 1997:

Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to the ICBL and global co-ordinator, Jody Williams.

Dec. 1997:

122 States sign the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty.

Dec. 1997:

ICBL and Williams receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

Feb. 1998:

ICBL Steering Committee expanded to 16 members.

June 1998:

Landmine Monitor established

Sept. 1998:

Burkina Faso becomes 40th State to ratify Mine Ban Treaty.

Mar. 1999:

Mine Ban Treaty Enters Into Force - deposited with the Secretary-General of the UN.

Apr. 1999:

135 countries signed the Treaty; 72 ratified, 50 Entered Into Force.

May 1999:

1st Landmine Monitor Report published; 1st meeting of States Parties, Maputo, Mozambique

Sept 2000:

2nd Landmine Monitor Report published

Nov 2000:

2nd meeting of States Parties, Geneva, Switzerland

xxiv


___________________________________________________________ Sept 2001:

3rd Landmine Monitor Report published; 3rd meeting of States Parties Managua, Nicaragua

March 2002:

3rd anniversary, Ottawa Treaty Entry Into Force

March 2003:

4th anniversary, Ottawa Treaty Entry Into Force

March 2004:


March, 2005:


2006:

United States Government to undertake a review of its current non- participation in the Ottawa process

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Whilst I make a claim to be the sole author of this book, I cannot say it is purely down to me alone; there are a large number of people who, inadvertently or otherwise, have helped to get me here. I will not consider them in real any order of importance or significance, apart from the obvious, as each must take a measure of responsibility for what has been achieved. What I must do, however, is prevail upon the patience of the reader, as this odyssey features a fair number of characters. The starting point must be my family; my wife Kati, who has put up with me, and done so with great courage and fortitude, and sustained the family through often very difficult times. To her, my love and admiration, my thanks, and above all the recognition that without her I am nothing. My two youngest children Ellie and Darius come under the category ‘inadvertent help’; what I do is as much for them as for my wife, simply for the joy of knowing that they are there to come home to - thanks and much love kids. Special thanks and gratitude go to my late mother Frances, who had unfailingly come to the rescue during the darker days and helped out when she could. Thanks, mum, for everything, not least for believing in me. This is also for my late father George. To my brothers Phil and Brendan, my sisters Alyson and Caroline, thanks for the love, the laughs, the ups and downs, and the good times yet to come. Particular thanks must go to Mr Arnold Guthrie, Managing Director of Herbert Walker and Son (Printers) Ltd., of Shipley, West Yorkshire, who made me redundant two weeks before Christmas 1990. Cheers Arnold, you’ll be hearing from me in due course... From an academic viewpoint, initial recognition is extended to Ann Perry, lecturer at Bradford College, who gave a chance to an unemployed no-hoper and gave me hope, confidence and inspiration in equal measure. Thanks Ann, you changed my life, as did your colleagues at BICC, and my fellow mature students. Enduring gratitude goes to the world-renowned Peace Studies Department at Bradford University; first Professor Paul Rogers, who I saw on the television talking about the Gulf War in 1991, whilst I was unemployed. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do, and luckily was given the chance. Cheers Paul, and also Malcolm, and the rest of the staff at Bradford – you have all been brilliant, and helped to redefine my life. I now take great pleasure in offering my sincere thanks to Nottingham Trent University for allowing me to write on a subject about

xxvi

Acknowledgements

___________________________________________________________ which I care a great deal; you have got me here somehow, and for this I owe the following people so much: my Director of Studies Roy Smith: many thanks man, for the vital input and the shared enthusiasm for rock and heavy metal music! Lloyd Pettiford, who eventually got the head of Michael Portillo, and conducted some ‘interesting’ supervisory sessions; to Professor Stephen Chan, raconteur par excellence and another lover of good music, who took the time to listen and help, and encouraged me to write articles for publication; Melissa Curley, my buddy and fellow student, a fine human being, and a good listener; Jason ‘Memory Man’ Abbott, exasperating, vituperative, but nonetheless a good friend and very supportive colleague; to Chris, Janet, Jan, Ebru, and so many more. Thanks are also due to people I met during the course of fieldwork studies; this includes staff at the various NGOs I visited in Washington, and personnel in the UK and Italy, notably: Nicoletta, Graeme, Tim, Rae, Lou, Mary, Richard, Gervase, especially the late Jim, and Nancy Leggett, and many, many others. The many kindnesses, hospitality and advice/assistance I received are greatly appreciated. Finally, a word or two for other, perhaps less obvious candidates for inclusion. My lifelong friend Paul (the Mexican bandit) Smida. Frida and the contents of her carrier-bags! Metallica, the late Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Megadeth, the late Rory Gallagher, Linkin Park, Radiohead, The Hamsters, all of whom who, thanks to my headphones, blew the cobwebs away with generous assistance from Blossom Hill, McGuigan, Wolf Blass, Jacob’s Creek, Ernest and Julio Gallo, and Mary Warner.

CHAPTER ONE Emergence of a New Superpower Polity Introduction Haas, in a ground-breaking article, posited the question: do regimes matter? What Haas attempts to convey is that ‘Regimes are not simply static summaries of rules and norms; they may also serve as important vehicles for international learning.’ 1 Haas proposes that the empowerment of a group of experts can contribute to the reformulation and convergence of state policies, and that this can be achieved to fit the requirements of the regime in question. In Haas’ scenario, he discusses the role of epistemic communities as bodies of ‘experts,’ in this case ecologists and marine scientists. In this book, the intention will be to develop the idea of ‘Humanitarian Epistemic Communities,’ or those that have pursued agendas under the rubric of moral entrepreneurship and human rights. Moreover, it will do so by examining the proposition that a ‘new multilateralism’ is challenging traditional ‘top down’ politics orchestrated by, and on behalf of, the state-as-actor within international relations practice. In other words, the actions and philosophies of nonstate entities such as the ICBL, grass-roots organisations, individuals and civil society have altered the agenda by which the international community operates, with the state no longer assuming absolute primacy in areas such as security. Indeed, it may be said that the actions and aspirations of so-called ‘ordinary’ people have impacted on areas that normally have been considered to be within the gift of the nation-state. Ultimately, the book will expand on the idea that the ICBL, and the Ottawa Process as arms-control regime, has been an unlikely alliance of various levels of actor working towards a commonly-held preference. Accordingly, this work will advance the proposition that moral authority has challenged traditional ideas on security in that most contentious of areas, arms control. Moreover, and directly related to this, it will test the notion that the international system displays multilateral tendencies embracing the state, civil society, and supranational organisations towards a mutually-acceptable objective, namely the removal of a weapon system from state arsenals. From analysis of disparate entities so described, the book will be able to establish the manner in which this outcome was realised by posing the questions: why did a regime like the Ottawa Process and Convention emerge; why, and to what extent, has it

2


___________________________________________________________ succeeded; and finally, what does this say about international relations at the close of the twentieth century? 2 In Haas’ article, he supports and clarifies the text with explanations of what epistemic communities are, as the introductory paragraph here alludes to. In order to help establish the credentials of this work, the following are offered as my working interpretations of what may be termed ‘humanitarian epistemic communities’ and ‘moral entrepreneurs’ respectively. This is seen as an integral part of the book as a whole, and may also afford explanation of what the International Campaign to Ban Landmines actually is: A humanitarian epistemic community consists of individuals and groups united to form a coalition with a common humanitarian agenda; this agenda is formulated to bring about change within the international system for the furtherance of human rights and the betterment of the human condition. Moral entrepreneurship may be described as the organisation, management, risk assessment and promotion of principles of right action, and conduct, within a given issue area. 3 Moral entrepreneurs, therefore, by networking with like-minded entities, have developed and propagated the ICBL as a normative-based community. With the inclusion of civil society, and through a proselytising process the state-as-actor, the campaign has arrived at the Ottawa Process and Convention as international regime. To be sure, the definitions will invariably depart from what Haas and Krasner, et al, would envisage as working propositions. However, as the book will expand upon, it is the nature of the community that is in question, and not its raison d’être. In other words, Haas’ epistemic communities deal with matters concerning the physical universe, whilst normative communities work to abstractions such as morality, human rights, and so on. Such notions, however, provide only partial insight to the advent of the ICBL, its triumphs and setbacks, and the prevailing global conditions under which it has had to operate. The failure of the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention to address the realities of sub-state mine use, and to provide an effective compliance mechanism, among

Emergence of a New Superpower Polity

3

___________________________________________________________ other things, ensured that the enduring legacy of landmine proliferation and use would continue unabated for quite some time. It is to (arguably) more optimistic matters that this work will now turn, beginning with the words of US Senator Patrick Leahy, a pre-eminent figure in the antilandmines campaign: It is just eleven months since we [multilateral campaigners] met in Ottawa, when [Canadian Foreign] Minister Axworthy launched what we now call the Ottawa Process. At the time, no one knew how many nations would take part, or where it would lead. It was a bold and courageous leap of faith, and it is that same kind of boldness and risk-taking that is needed here in the weeks ahead. It is a unique moment in history that has united so many people from so many countries, in pursuit of a common goal. 4 The common goal that Leahy alludes to is the elimination of landmines, but it is also about the people, and the institutions, that felt motivated to bring this scenario about. I would tentatively suggest here that the global academic community (albeit belatedly) has picked up on the developments in this area of study, as the growing body of learned literature ably testifies. It is seen by some scholars (Price, Tarzi, Faulkner, Walker, Pettiford, inter alia) as a means of re-examining the ways in which the world works, and provides some useful insight into International Relations both as a manifestation of general human activity, and as an academic discipline. This book will first seek to take the latter approach, and will do so to the format outlined below. Initially, the work will examine competing theoretical interpretations in IR of the subject in Chapter Two. The objective will be to engage with differing explanations of landmines, the milieu in which they are used, and the rise of an anti-landmines coterie. As with any theoretical excursion, it is anticipated that analysis may provide suitable reasoning for the forces at work within this field, and may also provide the book with pertinent theoretical conclusions. Persisting with theoretical matters, it was decided, after lengthy deliberation, that mainstream International Relations theory may only provide a partial understanding of this area of study, and that a chapter should be devoted to analysis of regime theory as a pertinent avenue of

4


___________________________________________________________ theoretical approach, insofar as regimes (and by implication humanitarian epistemic communities) are situated at the centre of this inquiry. This was undertaken in Chapter Three, and enquiries conducted at that juncture will be referred to at relevant points in the remainder of this book. The study will then make a departure from these matters, and will look at the evolution of landmine warfare. In order to understand the rationale for the work of the ICBL, it is first necessary to examine the nature of the problem that is to be addressed. This will be attempted initially in Chapter Four, which will offer a detailed account of landmines as a weapon system, the reasoning behind the (primarily defensive) use of these devices, and the manner in which later generations of AntiPersonnel Mines have displayed overtly offensive capabilities in response to changing battlefield conditions, and the subsequent implications for non-combatants. Chapter Five builds on discussion of the weapon’s properties, with an investigation into the impact of this kind of warfare on affected communities. As succeeding chapters go on to relate, the scale of human misery visited by mines demands solutions to the seemingly insuperable problems they pose. As the text seeks to convey, many (or indeed most) of the countries bedevilled by the presence of landmines find themselves overwhelmed in many vital areas, and are financially and economically incapable of bringing real solutions to bear. This chapter will also demonstrate why so many Non-Governmental Organisations were actively supportive of the ICBL, in that APM proliferation affects individuals, communities, security, the agricultural, social and economic infrastructures, and that these weapons pose formidable barriers to national development. Having examined the problem itself, the book subsequently shifts emphasis and explores a movement dedicated to finding real solutions. This will be done in two parts: in Chapter Six, the work will analyse the progression of the ICBL up to the Ottawa Process, looking at the beginnings of the organisation and the emergence of moral entrepreneurs such as Jody Williams, Rae McGrath, Ken Rutherford and Bobby Müller as prominent and durable examples of pro-ban advocates, and then charts the involvement of individuals and groups that form the normative community of anti-mine activists, and which includes those entities that comprise grass-roots bodies. It will also investigate the manner in which a relatively small group of concerned organisations have


5

___________________________________________________________ coalesced and evolved into a global organisation, one capable of effecting change within the international system. There will be some reference to state actors providing input to the campaign, notably Canada, Norway, France and Belgium, but here is a recognition that the bulk of preparation for Ottawa has been provided by the ICBL. Leading directly on from this, Chapter Seven covers the period from approximately October 1996 to the Ottawa Treaty and beyond. This period was given a separate chapter due to the fact that state-level actors now actively engaged in a determined exercise to legislate for a global ban on landmines, and recognising that the instruments necessary for this are usually to be found at this level of political activity. The assumption taken here is that the primacy of the state remains inviolate, and that the ICBL must therefore act in partnership with national representatives to meet its objectives. There is also analysis of the role adopted by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, which the book makes reference to at several points. Chapter Eight builds on these investigations with analysis conducted in the field. This is done in two ways: firstly by conducting a series of interviews with anti-landmine NGO activists, members of the US governmental apparatus, (not all of whom share a vision of a minefree world) and the media, in Washington, DC. Visiting the US is considered highly important, bearing in mind that many of the major players in the ICBL are headquartered there, as indeed is central government. It is also recognised that the United Kingdom, as a significant actor on the world stage, and whose government professes a new, ‘ethical’ foreign policy, (which then Foreign Secretary, the late Robin Cook MP promised would amount to a ‘new approach’ to foreign affairs 5 however politically naïve that ultimately turned out to be), would prove to be a fruitful area of interest. The UK also has a large, diverse normative community that has figured prominently in the anti-landmine movement, as well as several de-mining NGOs. The fieldwork conducted in Europe also takes in research conducted from an Italian perspective, in view of that country’s remarkable transition from erstwhile aggressive exporter of mines to leading pro-ban state. It is also noted that attempts were made to gain access to the thoughts of apparent ‘pro-mine’ advocates to achieve a sense of balance, but, as the chapter indicates, this was not possible. The book will subsequently conclude with a review of the text, an event update commentating on new developments, and will also

6


___________________________________________________________ embark on a discussion of future research programmes arising from this work, and also from suggestions offered by members of the NGO community on both sides of the Atlantic. It is anticipated that any such undertaking will attempt to offer wider analysis of arms control issues as they develop, and what impacts these matters will have on the landmine initiative in particular, the growing clamour for a complementary ban on cluster weapons, and the international community in general.

Notes on Methodology During the research phase of this project, I gathered data from a number of sources, which at the time was mostly focused on the NGO community. This served the purposes of the task I was engaged in then (researching for my undergraduate dissertation), but also subsequently formed the foundations of the matters under discussion. The initial research phase of this work entailed further background reading of the subject, together with data and document collection from various sources in the United Kingdom and abroad, notably the Unites States. This part of the methodology entailed targeting the NGO community, government sources and the media, which included gaining access to and taking data from electronic communications. For more specialised information, I consulted various authoritative medical resources for analysis of wound management, which served to complement that information gathered from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Empirical data was taken from interviews conducted in Washington, DC, with members of the NGO community, the US State Department, and local media sources. This route was seen to be efficacious because of the positions in the antilandmines campaign adopted by, for example, the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, the National Security Council, and other functions of government and non-governmental activity in this area. From a European perspective, I consulted various NGOs (the Mines Advisory Group, International Demining Group, and the United Kingdom Working Group on Landmines, as instances) and government sources (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) to achieve a sense of balance. The Italian information, it is noted, was gathered by telephone interview, and was chosen due to the prominent contribution of Italian NGOs towards the furtherance of the ICBL’s objectives. It is anticipated


7

___________________________________________________________ that much of this analysis will be identifiable with matters of theoretical moment, which the book will now go on to discuss.

Notes 1

Haas, P., 1989, p. 377. Note: the reader should, in particular, refer to analysis offered by Haas, Frost, and Linklater, inter alia, which, taken in tandem with the author’s observations, attempts to explain changes within the international system at the millennium. Analysis can be found in the appropriate part of chapter six. 3 Note: the author recognises the dangers of attempting to define abstract ideas such as normative communities and moral entrepreneurship. It is accepted, subjectively, that precise interpretation can be elusive, as Buzan (1991) discusses and which is referred to in chapter two, notably the introductory paragraph to the discussion on realism. 4 Leahy, P, 1997, p 17. 5 Note: for reference of this new policy on ethics, see the Guardian and Observer entries in the bibliography: Walters and Garrett, 1997, p 2; Black, 1997, Business Section, p 2. 2

CHAPTER TWO Landmines, Theory, and Security: An International Relations Perspective International Relations Theory and Landmines In previous work, 1 attention had been given to asking the question: are landmines truly ‘evil’? Without delving into a complex philosophical argument about the nature of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ or indeed otherwise attempting to invest what are essentially inanimate objects with qualities normally associated with the human condition, the considered conclusion is that mines in themselves are not evil. However, it may be that the agencies that produce and direct the way that they are used might well be. Analysis given in other parts of this study, particularly Chapter Five, supports this assertion in detail with accounts of the impact of these weapons in various parts of the world, where APMs are seen as the bête noire of besieged communities. Assuming, therefore, that the predicament of landmines is anthropocentric, the chapter will approach the argument from this direction. There are a number of qualifications to be set out initially, and it is to these that immediate attention will be given. The first point of reference to be addressed is the structure of the chapter overall; what considerations to analyse, the order in which they will be placed, and what outcomes one might expect to arrive at. A further point that will be discussed in detail during the course of this chapter involves analysis of competing theoretical perspectives within the International Relations discipline; to elaborate: how do the various schools of thought explain the phenomenon of APMs within the global polity? Furthermore, what should become increasingly evident as the text in this section unfolds is a recognition that landmines, as putative instruments of protection couched in terms of the national security paradigm, have proved to be anything but, particularly for those peoples whose lives have been blighted by the presence of these weapons. 2 In other words, particularly from the 1960s onwards 3, APMs have become weapons with offensive capabilities. From this standpoint, a discussion of the International Relations security debate within the domain of theory is both judicious and of increasing relevance in a discipline that has hitherto paid scant attention to the issues at the micro level. 4

10


___________________________________________________________ Furthermore, utilising International Relations theory for the purposes of this book will, besides offering non-empirical reasoning to explain the forces at work, attempt to look at various levels of analysis. The rationale for adopting this approach is predicated on the assumption that the ICBL has been (and still is) an organisation that operates in a multilateral environment. In other words, it has recognised that, in order to pursue a stated agenda, the organisation has accepted state-level input to the aims and objectives it professes to realise. Moreover, as Chapter Three of this work especially goes on to elucidate, there will be an element of normative theory linked into theoretical excursions. The reasons for this are thus: the ICBL’s agenda concerns an image of the world as it ought to be rather than the dystopian interpretations associated with, for example, Realism and its predilection for pessimistic, dysphoric theorising about a world within which (especially military) power, the primacy of the state, and the darker side of humanity are the principal considerations. As military strategists, APM manufacturers and defence planners have striven to argue, there is a case for the retention of mines in states’ military inventories. 5 However, as anti-landmine campaigners and others have vociferously counter-argued, this position is unsafe as these devices consistently breach humanitarian codes of conduct, in both conflictual and post-conflictual scenarios. The apparent conclusion to be drawn from this argument is that there is an element of ethical determinism that is inextricably woven into the fabric of the debate, which in itself suggests the hypothesis arrived at by pro-mine advocates is specious at best. In order to test this hypothesis, and establish the moral (or otherwise) credentials of the protagonists, this chapter will undertake an exploration of the ethical argument as it relates to the book as a whole. Ethical considerations will also be taken into account when the book moves on to discuss the relevance (or otherwise) of humanitarianism as it relates to issues surrounding armaments control in general, but more specifically to the question of landmines and the deployment thereof in conflict. Because the subject matter will address the status of non-combatants in warfare, it will undertake an examination of the ethical platform from which the anti-landmine campaign was able to bring about a reversal of some government’s policies in relation to this class of weapon. Further supporting evidence will be gathered and subsequently presented at the appropriate juncture, which will be a

Landmines, Theory, and Security

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___________________________________________________________ discussion of fieldwork findings and the methodology that dictates inclusion in a study of this nature. Theoretical and philosophical considerations notwithstanding, this chapter of the study will also bring forth discussions that seek to further justify the empirical dimension of the book. The justifications that underpin this research pathway are predicated by two essential requirements: first, to enhance scholarly understanding of what is an important subject within the International Relations discipline; and secondly, as a complementary adjunct to this, the objective will be to make a claim for the originality of the book as a whole. In support of these, and other observations that form the preceding introductory text, there is an implicit acceptance that extensive literary examination has been thoroughly undertaken, and which should become evident as the book progresses. Having established a working basis for the text, this chapter will now open with appropriate analysis of the principal competing perspectives within international relations theory.

International Relations Theory and the Security Problematique According to standard military doctrine, APMs fulfil certain operational requirements as a ‘security guarantor.’ 6 This would seem, prima facie, to be a perfectly admissible statement in the context of warfare as it would apply to the protection of military personnel and operational assets. Conversely, when this ethos is applied to civilians and, indeed, to the military themselves in some circumstances, 7 the devil is often in the detail. What, for example, do we mean by the word security? Not unlike attempting to offer an acceptable explanation of power, 8 the definition of security, at whatever level of analysis one may choose to take, does not give itself over to precise interpretation, and can be considered to be an underdeveloped concept. 9 As Buzan has endeavoured to elaborate, a large body of authors have attempted to rectify the historical inexactitudes associated with formulating and encompassing a workable definition. 10 Moreover, in addition to arriving at a viable working interpretation of the concept, difficulties may arise when putting the definition into appropriate theoretical viewpoints. With these thoughts in mind, the chapter will now turn to an examination of the Realist perspective.

12


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Realism An oft-cited argument used by proponents of a universal and durable ban on landmines concerns the fact that it is largely a ‘Third World’ or ‘global South’ problem. Seeing as the debate surrounding these weapons needs to be precise when categorising those areas that are afflicted, certainly in post-Cold War rhetoric, then a clarification would be in order here. Apparently archaic terms like Third World would seem to be inaccurate, bearing in mind that some states of the Second World (the former satellite states of, and including the ex-USSR) are (seemingly) on the point of embracing liberal capitalism and therefore appear to be in the process of elevation to the First World, or, as some analysts might comment, relegation to the Third World. 11 So, for the immediate requirements of this study, the problem will be considered to be one endured by developing nations, not least because development is now believed to be compromised partly by the presence of these devices. It is accepted, however, that not all afflicted states can be so categorised (for example, Holland, Belgium and France, which still have an APM problem of World War Two vintage), but that the overwhelming majority may be thus considered. A charge levelled at Realism is that developing nations have often been ignored, and that the treatment given by IR scholars was seen as inadequate. 12 Bearing in mind that, according to Realists military security was security, the omission of development in this context needs to be addressed and explained. However, it is accepted that the neoRealism school has taken steps to correct this oversight, even if some observers state that, as a ‘holding operation,’ neo-Realism has had to contest the theoretical high ground with a perceived need for different ontological and epistemological tools for the study of security. 13 This assertion is borne out by critiques of Realist theory that challenge its tendency towards ahistoricism and positivism. 14 Such theoretical considerations notwithstanding, and with the caveat that they are important in themselves, the central premise here is to afford attention to the new challenges that face ‘fortress IR’ 15, the ‘backward discipline’ 16 Furthermore, as Krasner asserts in reflection on Neo-Realism’s shortcomings, ‘Neo-Realism has little to say about transnational [for example the ICBL] relations. For that matter it has little to say about domestic [anti-landmine grass-roots organisations] politics either.’ 17


13

___________________________________________________________ Realism, for its part, views the state as an ‘unchanging entity and the only true referent of security.’ 18 However, problems may occur in attempting to define what is meant by the concept of ‘State’ in the International Relations sense. 19 In seeking to reassure its adherents that the central tenets associated with the perspective are both valid and compelling, Realism ignores other, equally extant viewpoints that may serve to explain security at either the substate or suprastate levels. At the systemic level of analysis, Realism assumes that the state is the final arbiter of political affairs without recourse to any higher authority within the global polity. Therefore, in a world where each unit must trust to (essentially) self-help as an expression of national survival, the assumption being that the means to do so must be at the disposal of the State, which exercises the right to sanction the use of force in pursuit of national interests. Indeed, Realists assume that, within the hierarchy of international issues, national security, military and related matters occupy the apex of the global (high) political agenda: A [R]ealist focuses on actual potential conflict between state actors, examining how stability is attained or maintained, how it breaks down, the utility of force as a means of resolving disputes, and the prevention of the violation of territorial integrity. 20 In emphasising the final part of the above quotation, the supposition suggests that APMs lend themselves well to the Realist’s worldview. As a barrier-building weapon, mines help to ensure that national security is a realisable objective; even as a satisfying compromise option, they may well be seen as an efficacious, albeit suboptimal choice as part of a national defence policy agenda. 21 A major point of discussion that arises from the deployment of landmines, in the Realist sense, is that use of these weapons is a manifestation of fear. 22 In other words, and because the system in which states operate is essentially anarchic, mistrust of others’ intentions leads to the construction of military obstacles as a medium for ensuring survival. However, as this book demonstrates elsewhere (see Chapters Four and Five), the military utility of APMs is outweighed by the longevity of the threat that they pose once, presumably, peace has broken out. As the recent conflict in the former Yugoslavia aptly illustrates: ‘Whilst it would be too strong to claim that that the Balkan war was a

14


___________________________________________________________ Realist war (because of the multiplicity of complex causes) its origins in the fear engendered by the collapse of the Yugoslav state allied to the contagion of a form of nationalism ...’ 23The salient aspect of this example is that the legacy of this war is an estimated four to six million landmines scattered across the country, 24 with the gravity of the concomitant threat posed, according to the US Department of State, as ‘extremely severe.’ 25 Furthermore, this threat is likely to be exacerbated by the recent crisis in Kosovo, where mine laying poses a direct and significant peril for refugees and combatants alike. Indeed, as contemporary reportage informs us 26, landmines and unexploded ordnance left by retreating Serb forces, and NATO in Kosovo are already taking victims amongst civilians and KFor personnel. As Realists (of whatever inclination) would doubtless take pains to point out, the Yugoslav conflagration, in keeping with other such conflicts, is symptomatic of a wider malaise brought about by the absence of a central, global governing authority. Bereft of a world order (excluding the elder Bush’s version thereof), states will adopt whatever measures they deem to be appropriate in pursuit of national security objectives. Looking at this manifestation from a Machiavellian perspective, this will, should circumstances so dictate, entail an abandoning of normative concerns justified by raison d’état. Machiavelli explains the reasoning that underpins this ethos with the following line of thinking: ...[H]owever, how men live is so different from how they should live that a ruler who does not do what is generally done, but persists in doing what ought to be done, will undermine his power rather than maintain it. If a ruler who wants always to act honourably is surrounded by many unscrupulous men his downfall is inevitable. Therefore, a ruler who wishes to maintain his power must be prepared to act immorally when this becomes necessary. 27 This philosophy applies to the deployment of APMs insofar as use of these weapons may not normally be an option, if non-violation of territorial integrity was assured, at least at the state level of analysis. Moreover, in Realist terminology, power and capabilities (which includes access to and willingness to use certain weapons) relative to other States


15

___________________________________________________________ will determine outcomes, incorporating the aphorism that the powerful will do as they must, and not as they should. Even with such an overtly pessimistic viewpoint, Realism’s predisposition for looking at the human condition as essentially negativistic and selfish, its broad assumptions on emphasising security may be found wanting. In analysing security from the level of the state, it fails to answer certain questions about what happens at the sub-state level. From an individual or community perspective, where landmines are a fact of life, security is often undermined by the presence of these devices. There is no security in knowing that one’s next footstep may be the last; nor is there any security in an inability to provide sustenance for the immediate or long-term needs of the community. Neither is there any real security in the atrophying of society at large, due to the paralysing effects of APMs on the national economic infrastructure. 28 Furthermore, Realism’s tendency for subordinating so-called ‘low political’ issues to the margins of global political discourse fails to account for the importance of NGOs as significant agenda-setting bodies. As the book will demonstrate 29, the anti-landmine campaign, (as regime incorporating civil society) in using the analytical and implementary tools available, has succeeded in bringing about a reversal of government policy regarding the use of these weapons, to the point that over 130 States have signed up to the Ottawa Process and Convention (to ban the production, sale, stockpiling and deployment of mines) as of September 2004, and to over 140 by the year 2005. Such is the impact and influence of the campaign, that civil society has been heralded by Nobel Laureate Jody Williams as the ‘world’s new superpower.’ 30 Whilst Realism may present a persuasive argument outlined above in attempting to explain the phenomenon of landmines, it has yet to overcome the premise that it cannot explain the rise or indeed success of the ICBL as a sub-state actor; that it has helped to reappraise the international community’s views regarding arms control. In Realist terms, a ‘low political’ entity such as the anti-mines campaign, as the visible representative of civil society, should have negligible impact on matters such as military security, by virtue of the fact that abstractions of this type have usually been perceived as being within the preserve of the state. As Chapter Three of this book endeavours to argue, the anti-mine community has actively entered into a partnership with state-level instruments to bring about the eradication of a weapon system. It is also accepted that the anti-mines campaign and its associates have yet to achieve a

16


___________________________________________________________ universal, binding proscription on mines, and there is a recognition that the treaty is not set in stone for all time. 31 Conversely, what is significant about the relative success of the ICBL is the belief that some major producer states of landmine weapon systems have eschewed the Ottawa Process in entirety, and may well find themselves in a position to exploit the commodity vacuum created by its adherents, to pursue the trafficking in these weapons with some vigour. With a multitude of conflicts being prosecuted on an ongoing basis across the world, the demand for arms will be satisfied by those willing to supply them, including the sale of mines. In this sense, there is a case for the continuance of Realism as a relevant explanatory force in world politics, even with some of its major assumptions lacking credibility in the modern era. At this juncture, it will be useful to expand the theoretical argument to take in other perspectives within the discipline, beginning with an exploration of Liberal Pluralism, and how the paradigm might seek to explain the phenomenon of landmines within the global polity.

Liberal Pluralism A question that has preoccupied some International Relations theorists in recent years is thus: is Realism finished? 32 Were that the case, then perhaps, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of its demise have been (somewhat) exaggerated. If critics are to be believed, Realism and its intellectual progeny, neo-Realism, were straitjacketed by Cold War zeitgeist, and therefore belong in the history books along with that state of affairs. As this chapter has thus far undertaken to examine, there are salient points in support of both sides of the argument, and the purpose of this section will be to expand upon countervailing explanations of relevant matters. Dissatisfaction with Realist thinking arose amidst the realisation that the perspective demonstrated serious theoretical shortcomings, viz., it failed to predict the peaceful (so-called ‘Velvet Revolution’) end to the Cold War and social change in general; that the theories of peace and war that Realism espoused were flawed, in that it ‘oversimplified the concept of power and misunderstood the lessons of history’; and that Realism would prove to be an inappropriate benchmark for the future study of global politics. 33 Bearing in mind that these notions have highlighted, and indeed expressly criticised the centralities of ideas perceived as Realism’s raison d’être, advocates of Liberal Pluralism have sought to fill the (as


17

___________________________________________________________ they see it) theoretical vacuum. Accordingly, the chapter will now move on to explore these ideas with a view to opening up the debate. The first point of analysis to be addressed deals with the degree of importance attached to the state-as-actor within International Relations; is it, as Realists would contend, the principal entity within the global polity? Liberal Pluralism refutes this line of reasoning, and suggests that other, non-state actors are independently viable as major influences on the world stage, and therefore should be observed as such. There is a certain compelling relevance to this claim, insofar as the international campaign to ban landmines is concerned. 34 In seeking to influence the external policy agendas put forward by the State, this HEC has been at the forefront of what Liberal Pluralist theory would call an agenda-setting platform, and forcefully arguing that the Realist, state-centric preoccupation with issues of power and survival are not the only relevant questions of high-political moment. Within the context of the Ottawa Process and Convention as a recent case in point, it is accepted that, whilst the ICBL has played an important role in bringing the Process about, it nonetheless acted as subordinate to the Canadian Government as facilitator to the initiative. 35 However, as a qualifying statement that seeks to underline the importance of the ICBL an as important actor in the agenda-formulating process, it is noted that non-state entities provided the motivating impetus for the campaign’s rationale in the first instance, as Chapter Six argues, while the state system had either ignored the problem or failed to act until urged to do so. As the text has sought to explain earlier in this section, the origins of what may be termed a blinkered or tunnel-vision attitude are to be found in Realism’s apparent neglect of the developing world, where the overwhelming number of problems associated with APMs are to be found. Moreover, in Realism’s relentless search for explanations surrounding issues of power and security, analysis of landmines would not bear comparison with scholarly investigations of weapons of mass destruction and other, major weapon systems. This is due in part to recognition of the fact that, until the landmine question had been brought fully into the open in the 1980s 36, there existed no foundation upon which to build serious consideration of the issues involved. The task of bringing the dilemmas posed by landmines to the world’s attention has been taken on by humanitarian agencies, whom, relatively unconcerned with the perennial power struggles associated with

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___________________________________________________________ the Realist school, have instead sought to highlight the human tragedies that follow in the wake of contact with these devices. The fact that the issues of landmine infestation have been brought to the world’s attention is instructive; moreover, that the campaign has invested itself with the moral authority to do so, in the absence of state activity in this area, is in itself indicative of a move away from Realist thinking. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that the rise of the anti-landmine lobby was roughly concurrent with the end of the Cold War, and a shift in fortunes for Realism and Liberal Pluralism as theoretical perspectives. The eclipse of the Soviet Union as political entity appeared to signal a logical, inexorable waning of power-security thinking within the international polity, and that ‘ … [L]iberal capitalism ... which cannot be improved upon,’ is now an ‘ ...endpoint for humankind’s political and economic development.’ 37 Whilst this may be considered to represent a somewhat grandiose and Utopian view of the future, it, like Realism, does not seem to take account of the realities of APMs and their impact on communities. An assumption that Liberal Pluralism can prescribe a secure and conflict-free future for humanity ignores the fact that, for approximately one-third of the countries across the world, mines represent a grave and chronic threat to developmental aspirations, by virtue of the fact that these weapons effectively inhibit any such enterprises as this book clearly demonstrates in Chapter Five. Into this atmosphere arrived the NGOs concerned primarily with the plight of APM victims and their communities, and who have harnessed the apparatus of other, non-state actors such as the media to focus world attention, and particularly that of national governments, on the severity of the problem. Furthermore, the incorporation of the late Diana, Princess of Wales into the campaign had proved to be a decisive factor in bringing about a rethink on the utility of these weapons. The fact that her involvement in the campaign prompted vilifying rebukes from certain ‘unattributable’ sources from within the then Conservative Government in the United Kingdom is instructive in itself; 38 the point to be made now, in light of the incumbent administration’s stated ethical stance on human rights and landmines, is that the UK has embraced the Ottawa Process and Convention, and abandoned activities regarding the trade in these devices. 39 In one sense, the ICBL represents the disaggregation of the state, and refutes attempts to reify the state as an actor in world politics. To return to commentary dealing with the late Diana, Princess of Wales,


19

___________________________________________________________ formerly popularly identified as part of the Monarchical institution of the United Kingdom, may have been perceived as being part of the Establishment, despite the loosening of Royal association in later years. Her personal circumstances notwithstanding, Diana nonetheless was seen through the global lens as ‘Royalty,’ and the indelible impression is that by identifying herself with the anti-landmine movement, both actively and passively, has indirectly afforded the campaign with the royal imprimatur, especially as the Monarchy is apparently inextricably woven into the fabric of the British state. Moreover, by actively partaking of the humanitarian agenda pursued by the ICBL, Diana may be seen as an instrument of a process that dispels Realist assumptions of power and security issues being the sole occupiers of high political territory, a point taken up extensively in Chapter Three on regimes and humanitarian epistemic communities. Whether the inclusion, or otherwise, of Diana into the global campaign to ban landmines has proved to be a significant factor in the volte face by certain governments is a moot point, and is perhaps one worthy of academic (and other) speculation at some juncture. However, as an exercise in stemming compassion fatigue amongst the general public, and mobilising efforts towards a greater awareness of the problems that APMs create, it may be seen by anti-APM groups as a success. Furthermore, the award of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to the campaign and its co-ordinator, Jody Williams then of the VVAF, adds weight to the claim that non-state actors can, and indeed do, make a significant impact on global political affairs. However, as many scholars would claim, neither Realism nor Liberal Pluralism can support an accurate and encompassing explanation of the forces that determine global political intercourse, and that other, more adaptive theoretical tools are required to offer a wider understanding of the workings that underpin global relations. Accordingly, this study will now undertake an examination of the theoretical perspectives associated with Globalism/Structuralism.

Globalism/Structuralism As a theoretical interpretation of world politics, Globalism offers a fundamentally different perspective to be analysed. Debate within the International Relations discipline had largely preoccupied itself with issues of Realism and Liberal Pluralism, at least up to the 1970s, and

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___________________________________________________________ Globalism may be seen as a relatively late entry (albeit based partly on Marxism) onto the academic agenda that deals with matters of a theoretical nature. The basis on which this theoretical variant rests is a refutation of the premise that, in Realist terminology, the quest for power and military security presides over all other considerations (high politics), within the domain of the nation-state as the pre-eminent unit of analysis. The main assumption here is that the growth of Capitalism, and the concomitant impact sustained by the evolution of international society, points to alternative and equally viable explanations for the forces at work within the global polity. This point is emphasised by Halliday, who states that: ...[T]he modern inter-state system emerged in the context of the spread of capitalism across the globe, and the subjugation of pre-capitalist societies. This socioeconomic system has underpinned both the character of individual states and of their relationship with each other: no analysis of international relations is possible without reference to capitalism, the social formations it generated and the world system they comprise. 40 In the context of a trade in and subsequent use of APMs, these devices are an economic commodity to be bought and sold for profit, although the end-use is markedly different to that envisaged for most other manufactures. Taking this notion a stage further, it is accepted that, by virtue of the intrinsic properties of the product, it will impact heavily on those areas in which it will be used. According to one example of relevant theoretical comment that is found within the discipline of International Relations, ‘ ... Structuralism is a convenient term to refer to a cluster of theories which emerged in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whose aim was to give an account of the political and economic subordination of the South to the North.’ 41 Given that the preponderance of landmine infestation occurs in the global South, it may be seen that the reflection of economic realities to this theoretical perspective has some credence, bearing in mind that manufacturers of APM systems are located primarily in the industrialised North. 42 Furthermore, in support of this theoretical proposition, it is also noted that the North does not have a significant landmine problem to deal with, and that the mines laid in (for example) Europe during World War Two have been all but eradicated, with


21

___________________________________________________________ occasional exceptions. Certainly, any incidents that may occur are inversely disproportionate to the scale of the dilemma in Africa, Asia, and more recently the former Yugoslavian regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo. One inference to be drawn from these opening statements is that there exists a condition of dominance-subjugation, not least in politicoeconomic terms, between North and South; and that this condition may be represented by looking at this worldview as ‘core’ states (those that dictate the terms of global politico-economic activity) and the ‘periphery’ or ‘satellite’ states, which exist and conduct their affairs at the behest of the core regions, which effectively translates into a ‘geographical division of labour.’ 43 However, given the nature of the subject matter, and the security interests inherent to it, it may be assumed that the manufacture of a particular weapon system like APMs will be partly restricted to the North, as many variants are of a technological sophistication not generally available on a global basis. 44 However, it is accepted that many models are also produced on a global basis, from low-technology APMs to variants of relative sophistication. This harbouring of high-technology resources again reinforces the notion of dominance-dependence, as one scholar concludes: It cannot be emphasised enough that the economic division of labor is also one which ensures the Center nations economically speaking also become the Center nations in a military sense: only they have the industrial capacity to develop the technological hardware - and also are often the only ones with the social structure compatible with a modern army. He who produces tractors can easily produce tanks, but he who delivers oil cannot defend himself by throwing it in the face of the aggressors. 45 The restriction of military technology serves to underline the fact that the globe is divided into haves and have nots, a representation of the disposition of global wealth, and is also redolent of attitudes towards the proliferation of nuclear technologies, albeit on a different level of analysis. The inference to be drawn upon here, in discussions of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots,’ suggests, in line with Structuralist thinking, a system dominated by considerations of class-based theory, which further infers

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___________________________________________________________ that even NGOs exhibit a tendency to represent dominant classes within the system, and that the world economy ‘severely constrains the freedom of states.’ 46 This indicates a system that subordinates free political discourse to the margins of global political activity, thus raising economic issues (and thereby profit) to a high-political status. Because this theoretical perspective shows a tendency to couch political activity in economic terms, it indicates the possible (perhaps even eventual) demise of the Westphalian system that has predominated for the past 350 years, to be supplanted by the burgeoning power of transnational corporations. 47 It therefore follows that, should this hypothesis be borne out in a future reality, ‘The dominant economic class is also dominant politically.’ 48 The arguably unavoidable conclusion to be gathered from this assertion is that, because private corporations do not operate to the same democratic principles as popularly-elected governments, the level of accountability is in no way comparable between the two entities. From the point of view of this book, the last observation may be indeed relevant to the case of arms manufacturers, particularly those engaged in the production of APM systems. The fact that companies are not bound by those strictures of accountability common to elected governments is didactic; presumably, the search for profit is an end in itself, and over rides codes of conduct that are humanitarian-based, a consideration noted by Human Rights Watch researchers: There is an urgent need for the private sector to initiate voluntary codes of conduct, either at an industry-wide level or at the company level, to stop the supply of landmine components. Designing, developing and making antipersonnel mines, or supplying parts for their use, is immoral in light of the devastating impact caused by these indiscriminate ‘hidden killers.’ 49 It is noted, however, particularly in Chapters Six, Seven and Eight, that corporate entities appear to have little input into the Ottawa Process, insofar as it is the state as global actor that had brought the treaty into existence, albeit at the behest of the ICBL as an instrument of humanitarian activism. However, with regard to the US as non-signatory, it is nonetheless significant that certain elements 50 tied to the militaryindustrial complex that have argued for retention of smart variants of


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___________________________________________________________ APMs, and with retention of these weapons in the Korean DMZ for the immediate to medium-term future, as the book explains in later chapters. Further insight into this theoretical perspective is provided by Globalism’s utilisation of historical analysis in theory building; in attempting to explain the phenomenon of landmine proliferation and the subsequent destruction visited by these weapons, one may wish to examine the position of Hobson, who states that, in a Marxian slant on capitalist Globalism, ‘Imperialism assumes an international, hierarchical division of labor between rich and poor regions of the world, but the relation is not one of beneficial comparative advantage. Rather, it is one of exploitation.’ 51 As history informs us, empires were created in the search for new markets within which Western manufactures were (and still are) traded. As Lenin stated, having been influenced by Hobson’s thoughts, he ‘ ... [A]ccepted the key argument that underconsumption and overproduction caused capitalists to scramble for foreign markets beyond Europe and to engage in colonialism.’ 52 Given that research findings and subsequent publications on the reasons for colonialism and the effects of imperialism are quite extensive, this chapter will not detain itself with analysis of these issues. However, in this post-colonial period, some discussion of the legacies of retreat from Empire will be of use. It is accepted, within the context of this book, that some moves towards independence by former colonies were less acrimonious than others, and that the transition to statehood was conducted more smoothly and peacefully in some areas. For example, the agonies endured by Angola are well documented; from 1961 to late 1994, and indeed into the succeeding century, the country has been almost continually at war. 53 The Portuguese abandonment of the country without leaving a durable infrastructure in place meant that Angola descended into civil conflict, without recourse to international law or the conduct of military operations where civilians may become increasingly victimised. In this struggle landmines have been used on a large scale, resulting in one of the highest rates of APM injuries, per capita, in the world. 54 Indeed, much of the region of southern Africa has been the setting for colonial and post-colonial wars, many of which have featured the use of mine warfare, and that ‘The use of anti-personnel landmines has been widespread in the colonial and post-colonial wars that have plagued much of southern Africa for the last three decades.’ 55 From a Globalist theoretical perspective, this would suggest that the legacy of illconsidered withdrawal by former colonisers has led to a proliferation of

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___________________________________________________________ territorial disputes, proxy wars, and an estimated attrition rate of 250,000 (landmine) casualties since 1961. 56 Analysis of Central America, particularly Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua will reveal case histories, as indeed will examination of former colonies in Asia including Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. 57 As Chapters Four, Five and Eight examine, the problematic of mines and less-developed countries goes further than the infestation of APMs; as observers like Prebisch 58 have argued, the question of uneven development between the core and periphery states is of some concern. It is apparent that mine-infested countries are almost exclusively to be found in the global South, and that aspirations towards developed nation status have been consistently hamstrung by mines scattered over perfectly usable land, and in conflicts what may be termed ‘economic assets’ such as transportation infrastructures, energy-producing installations and government departments. From a Globalist perspective, and bearing in mind the current situation regarding mine-affected states, the ‘have nots’ will continue to suffer from landmines or, as one expert puts it, will remove these weapons ‘one leg at a time,’ 59 because the funding needed to address the problem has not been forthcoming. To be sure, it may be argued, this scenario would not happen in the developed world, as the funding to eradicate the problem would be found. In Kuwait also, a country endowed with extensive fossil fuel deposits and petrodollars, the funding was available to clear the lethal detritus of the first Gulf War, including millions of antipersonnel mines. For scholars and others engaged in matters of a political theoretical nature, this is empirically indicative of the cleavages that characterise the North-South divide, and point to perceived inequalities in international relations.

Conclusions This chapter has attempted to offer competing theoretical explanations of the issues concerned with the use of antipersonnel landmines, looking at the three principal interpretations of observable phenomena. The logical prima facie assumption would be to place APMs within a purely Realist worldview, in that these weapons are a manifestation of military expression, and that they act as security guarantor to those deploying them. In other words, landmines provide for the security of the state by


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___________________________________________________________ disrupting real or projected enemy operations, and that they do so at the behest of the state. Moreover, in an anarchic global polity, landmines are but an instrument of national survival, and may be used in a ‘self help’ scenario bereft of a global presence that would undertake to provide for the security of all. However, the logic of Realism seems to founder on the rocks of so-called ‘low politics’ associated with, for example, the economic aspects of mine proliferation and the significance of civil society and regimes for the resolution of security problems within the state-level arena. The state, as Realist unitary actor, has been compromised by the disaggregated activities of grass-roots organisations that have networked towards a ban on these weapons, and in so doing have formed a coalition of like-minded organisations that succeeded in reversing the policies of over 135 states. Moreover, the types of mine warfare practised by substate militias and irregulars emphasises this point, as Chapter Five elucidates. The contribution of Liberal Pluralism indicates a preferable interpretation of events, insofar as it examines the activities of non-state actors, interest groups, and the like. It postulates the importance of disaggregated components concerned with matters including welfare, socio-economic considerations, and transnational networking for the promotion of single or multiple agendas 60. From this view, the importance of a transnational, non-state actor such as the ICBL can be seen to be compatible with Liberal Pluralist assumptions. Given the progress made as an exercise in arms control, the ICBL and its fellow travellers may lay a claim to be at least as important as traditional Realist national security interests. Globalism, for its part, has tended to concentrate on matters pertaining to uneven development, class-based (in the Marxian sense) disparities, dominance and economic factors. There is some relevance to this claim, considering that APMs are viewed as a problem predominantly found in the global South, one that has roots in the events of imperialism, fragmentation and the legacies of post-colonial independence. For Globalists, the continuing exploitation of developing nations is manifested by a lack of activity by the richer states to address what amounts to a humanitarian crisis, a point discussed in some later detail in Chapter Eight. Furthermore, the activities of transnational corporations are noted, trading as they do in mines and the other paraphernalia of

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___________________________________________________________ warfare. From this angle, it would seem that profit is the overriding concern, as opposed to strictly normative concerns. Examining theoretical excursions into the subject matter, it is noted that there are shortcomings that fail to satisfactorily explain the realities of the campaign, and which cannot account for all developments in all cases. What is evident, however, is a requirement to open the debate further, and to assess the possibility of a more suitable theoretical explanation for the forces at work in this issue area. The purposes of this exercise will be thus: to explore the dynamics of the ICBL as humanitarian epistemic community, and the Ottawa Process as regime; and to link any findings to those analyses discussed in Chapters Six and Seven, which will discuss the realities of the campaign’s history in greater depth. In the interim, the book will now move on to investigate pertinent regime theory in support of these aims.

Notes 1

Faulkner, 1997b, p 1. In seeking to widen the debate on this most contentious of issues, the author, along with other colleagues, endeavours to shed light on an issue that had thus far escaped much serious examination in scholarly circles. As personal listings in the bibliography indicate, a concerted attempt has been made to bring about redress to a hitherto far from complete examination of an important area of research. 2 For a detailed investigation of this claim, it is suggested that attention be given to chapter four of this book, which offers extensive evidence to this end. 3 This refers to the bifurcation of technological capabilities, particularly in the Vietnam War, in which landmine warfare departed from a defensive posture to one that offensively encroached on non-combatants, as chapter four explains in detail. 4 Placed in context, this relates strongly to Third World security issues, which have been discussed by Faulkner and Pettiford (1998), and refers to matters of ‘people-centred’ security rather than the statist paradigm. For a broader view of this issue, see Saurin, 1996, pp 657-680. 5 Explanation of this claim by pertinent authorities is offered in the chapter dealing with the evolution of mine warfare, particularly the section that deals with promotional literature marketed by certain APM


27

___________________________________________________________ manufacturers, notably Alliant Techsystems, which can be found in the bibliography. Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that states that have excluded themselves from the Ottawa Process to ban production, sale or transfer of APMs reserve the right to retain these weapons and indeed continue to produce them. An up-to-date listing of these countries can be found in the ICRC report Landmines Must Be Stopped, which again is listed in the appended index of publications, and in recent 21st century editions of the ICBL’s Landmine Monitor. 6 Emphasis added. Allusion to this assertion can be found in chapter four, dealing with the roles of APMs in combat situations. Further discussion is found in C Smith, 1996b; also, from an overall viewpoint of the landmine question, Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, gives the subject somewhat broader treatment. 7 As chapter four discusses, there are recorded instances of, for example, US troops in Vietnam entering areas that have been mined by their own forces days or even hours beforehand. This assertion calls into question whether APMs are, indeed, security providers for the forces that use them, or if the weapon actually removes that which it is designed to provide. This argument will be taken up in detail in the part of the book dealing with the position of the anti-landmine campaign. 8 According to Keohane, 1989, power is a ‘fungible’ concept, and one constrained by ambiguity; it is a ‘troublesome issue.’ See especially pp 53-54. Further explanatory readings include: Rothgeb, 1997; Baldwin, 1989. 9 Buzan, 1991, p 3. 10 Ibid., pp 16-17. Looking at the question of security from the individual through to the systemic, Buzan and others have cited some of the following as useful works for consideration; also, the initial reference point may begin with Faulkner and Pettiford, Complexity and Simplicity: Landmines, Peace and Security in Central America, Third World Quarterly, 19:1 (1998), which examines security at the individual and community levels. Further readings include: Bellamy, Towards a Theory of International Security, Political Studies, 29:1, (1981); Brown, The Future Global Challenge: A Predictive Study of World Security, 19771990, (London, RUSI, 1977); Rogers and Dando, 1992. 11 Given the contentious nature of this observation, the following readings will serve to clarify matters: Pettiford, L, and Curley, M, 1999, especially

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___________________________________________________________ chapter 1; Toye, J, 1987; for a critical appraisal of this issue, see Bayart, J, in Manor J, (ed.), 1991, pp 51-71. 12 See K Booth, ed., 1990. 13 Faulkner and Pettiford, 1998, p 47. 14 Cox, in Keohane, ed., 1986, p 244. To offer a more detailed exposition of the underlying assumptions of this concept, positivism seeks to separate ‘facts’ from’ ‘values,’ in the sense that only through factualising can the foundational bases of knowledge be reliably represented; in other words, facts present what is, and values are irrational. Further discussion can be found in Der Derian and Shapiro eds. 1989. 15 Faulkner and Pettiford, op cit., p 47. 16 George, J, 1994, pp 111-134. 17 Krasner in: Risse-Kappen, ed. 1995, p 257. 18 Faulkner and Pettiford, op cit., p 47. 19 For a discussion of this term, it is suggested that the following may be of some use: Halliday, F, 1994, especially pp 74-93. 20 Viotti and Kauppi, 1993, p 7 (emphasis added). 21 Tigner, 1995, p 8. A salient example would be that Finland refuses to relinquish its landmine stocks, (in addition to being a non-signatory to the Ottawa Process) purely on the basis that it sees APMs as a vital part of its defense posture, especially along the border with Russia. 22 Viotti and Kauppi, op. cit., p 38. This specifically refers to the authors’ discussions of Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War, in which reference is made to the growth of Athenian power and the concomitant fear engendered in Sparta, as an underlying cause of the war itself. The citation is taken from Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, translated by Rex Warner (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1982) p 49. 23 Baylis and Smith, 1997, p 119, emphasis added. 24 Roberts and Williams, 1995, p 183. Note: As stated elsewhere, the estimates of mine numbers in place should be treated with caution, without losing sight of the fact that a real and significant problem still exists. 25 USDS, 1993, p 57. 26 UK Channel Four News, 22 June, 1999. 27 Skinner and Price, 1994, pp 54-55, emphasis added. 28 This point will be taken up in detail in chapter four.


29

___________________________________________________________ 29

See, for example, chapters six and seven of this book, which deal with the ICBL NGO campaign in detail. 30 Short, 1998, pp 7, 10. 31 This observation is discussed in chapter seven; reliable sources indicate that the mines treaty is flawed from the outset, and that a lasting ban on mines is an unworkable proposition. 32 Kegley and Wittkopf, 1997, p 30. 33 Ibid., p 30. 34 See, for example, ICBL Report, 1997e. Specifically, Opening Plenary (pp 2-3)by Jody Williams of VVAF, which is also alluded to earlier in this chapter. 35 Short, op. cit., p 7. 36 The perception that APMs constitute a grave and persistent threat to life stems, in large part, from the work of NGO surgeons dealing with the tide of injuries resulting from contact with these weapons. For a more thorough exploration of the historical background of the problem, it is suggested that the reader consult the ICRC document Symposium on AntiPersonnel Landmines, a report on the dealings of the symposium, 21-23 April, 1993, in Montreux, Switzerland. 37 Burchill and Linklater, 1996, p 28. These observations are based on Fukuyama’s proposition that, in a neo-Kantian sense, international conflict will be brought to an end through the propagation of liberaldemocratic credentials that the rest of the world will seek to emulate on the western-democratic model. This assumption is underlined by the Liberal Pluralist assertion that peace is a normal state of affairs, and that, in Kant’s words, ‘peace can be perpetual.’ 38 See: The Guardian, Friday, 17 January, 1997, p 18. Published letter by the author stating that Peter Viggers MP’s description of Diana’s concern is likened to Bridget Bardot’s love of cats and dogs ‘is a particular affront to the victims of mines, and those individuals who risk their lives attempting to clear land for subsistence farming.’ The letter goes on to describe the then Conservative Government’s position as ‘morally unsafe.’ 39 Note: the UK’s position on APMs, while being a signatory to the Ottawa Process, nonetheless includes the caveat that mines would not be used except ‘in an emergency.’ What is not clear, however, is what this

30


___________________________________________________________ term actually means, and how HMG defines an emergency scenario, given that the UK is one of the most militarily secure states on earth. 40 Halliday, 1994, p 61. 41 Brown, 1997, pp 188-189, emphasis included. 42 For a breakdown of maker’s home states, see, for example, Banks, 1997, especially pp 40-251; Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, especially pp 35-106. 43 Baylis and Smith, op cit., p 131. 44 See particularly chapter four on the development of landmines, referring specifically to the evolution of so-called ‘smart’ systems, which are comprised of new developments in electronics, microprocessors and related technologies. 45 Galtung, in Olson, W C, (ed.), 1991, p 326. 46 Baylis and Smith, op cit. p 5. 47 Jackson and Sorensen, 1999, p 187. 48 Ibid., p 187. 49 Human Rights Watch, 1993, p 5, emphasis added. 50 As later chapters set out to explain, there remains the perennial argument about whether certain countries should, or should not, join the Ottawa Process. This debate, for example in Finland, concerns the Realist argument about the integrity of the state and a need to defend it with landmines. The argument carries greater authority when a peaceful, democratic country shares a border with an actual or potential unstable state, as Finland does with Russia. The theoretical problematic is discussed in Buzan, 1987, pp 69-130; Smith, 1996b, Executive Summary, p 2, discusses this empirically. Further analysis may be gathered from Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, particularly chapter three, Global Production and Trade in Landmines, pp 35-106. 51 Viotti and Kauppi, op cit., p 452. 52 Ibid., p 453. 53 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, 1997, pp 16-17. 54 Ibid., p 29. 55 Vines, in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, eds., p 125. 56 Ibid., p 125. 57 Note: for readings on Central America and Asia, the following are suggested: Americas Watch, Report, 1986; Human Rights Watch Arms


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___________________________________________________________ Project, Report, July 1997; US Department of State, Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs, December 1994. 58 See, for example: Prebisch, R., Towards a New Strategy for Development. Geneva: UNCTAD, 1964; Prebisch, R., Development Problems in Latin America. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1970. 59 Middlemiss, 18 June 1994, p 8. 60 Risse-Kappen, 1995, pp.12-13. See also Chapter by Patricia Chilton in Reiss-Kappen, pp. 189-226.

CHAPTER THREE Grass Roots Politics: Regime Theory and Moral Entrepreneurism Regimes and Related Matters: A Theoretical Discussion The debate in Chapter Two dealt with matters of a theoretical nature, addressing mainstream International Relations thought in that area of study. As matters stand, the conclusions to be drawn from these observations suggest that no one theoretical perspective can adequately explain the forces at work within the domain of landmine issues, although a presupposition may well indicate that Realism has greater relevance than other angles of approach. It is appreciated that this statement would be a debatable point, and that looking at this subject from other directions would be an equally valid enterprise. The aim of this book is, in part, to analyse the advent and progression of the ICBL, and to study the construction and viability of the organisation as a Humanitarian Epistemic Community. The most suitable route to take here will be to offer analysis of regime theory, in support of analysis in Chapter Two, initially examining HECs and moral entrepreneurship as general concepts, 1 which will endeavour to build upon the theoretical excursions undertaken in the previous chapter, and also to achieve a greater understanding of matters at hand. Using a useful and relevant alternative to established theorising may help to explain the phenomenon of a campaign to ban a complete weapon system, the advent of the Ottawa Process as an international regime, and enhance understanding of non-state actors in International Relations.

HECs, Moral Entrepreneurs, And Landmines The introduction to this book opened with a discussion of the reciprocal connection between HECs and moral entrepreneurship. This approach had been taken out of a belief that AP landmines are a pernicious and immoral weapon, that the military utility of APMs is greatly outweighed by the negative properties these devices display, and that subsequently mines should not be manufactured and deployed. In short, this means that they are a ‘ ...[W]eapon of mass murder in slow motion.’ 2 As Oliver discusses, citing what has now become the Axworthy Doctrine, the ICBL

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___________________________________________________________ as HEC finds its philosophical ethos underpinned by a requirement to protect the most vulnerable members of global society, which entails: [A]n approach based on human security ... if there is to be any resolution to the intra-state conflicts [using landmines] that have become increasingly prevalent in the aftermath of the cold war. The victims of these lowtech, long-lived wars are primarily civilians, often disproportionately women and children. 3 The humanitarian dimension takes several historical precedents as benchmarks for progress in this area, noting that such concerns involve the violation of the bodily integrity of innocent peoples (for example, with slavery and apartheid), 4 and one is moved to comment on the response by the international community to the Turkish earthquake disaster, as merely one case in point, which was conducted multilaterally by states and relief NGOs alike in recognition of a common humanity. Paradoxically, the (state-level) community (doubtless due to politicomilitary-security concerns) had not responded in anything like the same fashion to the ongoing calamity presented by APMs, until pressed to do so by the ICBL as epistemic community, again by virtue of humanitarian principles. It is noted, however, that the Turkish earthquake disaster was a sudden event resulting in almost instantaneous large-scale loss of life, whilst the APM scenario has evolved over time, and does not exhibit the same level of immediacy. The phenomenon of moral entrepreneurs, incorporating the definition given in the introduction, arises out of the work undertaken by humanitarian community members. These individuals were the catalysts for politicising the issue of landmines, 5 by directing the agenda of the ICBL, and representing the organisation at events and conferences attended by multilateral functionaries, including those with decisionmaking and policy-formulation powers. 6 In many instances, the role of moral entrepreneur has been assumed by persons disabled from contact with landmines. 7 Besides being a visible indication of the tragic consequences arising from such contact, these people are also a reminder of the necessity for change within the international community, certainly if more victimisation is to be avoided in the future. Therefore, having established the concepts of HECs and moral entrepreneurs, the text will

Grass Roots Politics

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___________________________________________________________ now examine regime theory as preparation for later discussion of the evolution of the Ottawa Process in Chapters Five and Six.

Regime Theory: An Exploration This part of the chapter will open with a commonly accepted definition of a regime in International Relations; it will then deconstruct meanings inside the definition to apply them to the input provided by the campaign to ban landmines. The methodology that dictates this approach is thus: to achieve greater understanding of what a regime is; and to look for areas of compatibility with the regime that was the objective of the ICBL. In so doing, it is anticipated that analysis explored here will complement and reinforce those matters dealt with on the ICBL and Ottawa Process in Chapters Six, Seven and Eight. To begin with, this section will initially open with a definition that is identified by scholars and suchlike as being the most utilitarian and commonly used: Sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision making procedures around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations. 8 Whilst the above definition may serve as a reasonably accurate benchmark for a face-value explanation, there is a need for the sentence to be broken down and analysed in separate statements. This will provide the chapter with a detailed examination of implications in relation to the objectives of this book, and it will also assist in affording precise meanings of regime theory as a stand-alone aspect of International Relations. Prior to this, the chapter will first introduce Ruggie’s definition of regimes, which predates the previous by some years, but nonetheless deserves exposure to afford this chapter a wider explanation of what regimes are: [A] set of mutual expectations, rules and regulations, plans, organizational energies and financial commitments, which have been accepted by a group of states. 9

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___________________________________________________________ Because Krasner’s definition enjoys greater currency within the International Relations discipline, and offers a useful point of analysis ‘ ...[S]ince it begins with the general conception of regimes as social institutions,’ 10 and does not constrain itself to narrow parameters, such as Ruggie’s apparent preference for states as the referent actors to be considered, it will be most useful for this chapter. This is due to the perception that Krasner’s definition offers a workable tool for the analysing of civil society, which would be particularly relevant for an examination of the ICBL as a manifestation of the concept. Besides, taking the latter definition as a workable tool for analysis within the subject matter discussed in this book would prove ultimately selfdefeating, and would detract from the aims of the text. Having established a useful definitive framework within which to continue this chapter, it would be relevant at this point to offer commentary on the politico-security climate in which the ICBL and its fellow travellers have been able to come together and thrive, considering the seismic changes to the international system and the demise of bipolarity at the beginning of the 1990s. The end of the Cold War opened up opportunities for positive engagement for the fostering of international norms, and: ...[H]as facilitated the strengthening and expansion of other prohibitionary weapons regimes, particularly those controlling the use, testing, and possession of chemical and nuclear weapons. The international arms control environment is characterized by a historically unprecedented degree of transparency and intrusiveness to ensure compliance with these regimes governing weapons of mass destruction, producing a hospitable environment for the AP mines norm. 11 Furthermore, this climate of ‘hospitable environment,’ or climate favourable for the propagation of the issues, coupled with the demise of Cold War myopia regarding some non-strategic weapons systems, has ‘ ... [p]rovided a spur to the longer-term historical process of democratization,’ and ‘... a relative empowerment of civil society has occurred with the fall of authoritarian regimes from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ... Latin America, the Philippines, South Africa, and South Korea.’ 12 The assumption here being that democratised states,


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___________________________________________________________ as relatively open societies, encompass institutions and matters of accountability to their electorates, thereby demonstrating an atmosphere conducive to the propagation of regimes. Having stated that, it is accepted that the triumph of Democracy has not fulfilled all requirements regarding the mines ban, as non-inclusion by the US, Finland, and others would testify. However, it is further noted that these countries have strong antimine lobbies that have the freedom and space to pursue their objectives towards an eventual total ban, and inclusion of home governments into the Ottawa Process and Convention. Given that the climate for regime pre-eminence is evident within the issue area concerned, the chapter will now turn to an examination of the key terms in Krasner’s definition. Firstly, the principles of regimes ‘ …[D]efine, in general, the purposes that their members are expected to pursue.’ 13 The fundamental principle of relevance here is that landmines present a clear and present danger to life; that they contravene accepted and established international law; and that they exhibit nondiscriminatory properties that directly compromise the safety and security of non-combatants. The norms referred to (principles of ‘right action’)14 point to recognised standards of behaviour, insofar as international law dictates that a weapon system condemned by state leaders and the public alike should be removed from military arsenals, destroyed and not replaced. The rules of a regime (whether implicit or explicit) offer a detailed indication of the rights, and governing obligations placed on members, within recognised parameters. Rules act as constraints on behaviour, and serve to optimise the survivability of objectives sought by particular regimes. For example, the rules of the ICBL include an acceptance of no compromises or deviations from achieving a global ban on APMs, which would serve to dilute the realisation of such an enterprise. At the same level of analysis, decision-making procedures of regimes ‘ ...[P]rovide ways of implementing their procedures and altering their rules.’ 15 The salient point to be grasped here, certainly in the case of the anti-mine lobby, is that linkages exist between the above considerations; the principles, rules, norms and decision-making processes of the ICBL are relatively easy to understand, 16 and that it is ‘... [L]inkages among principles, norms, and rules that give regimes their legitimacy.’ 17 The final aspect of Krasner’s definition concerns, crucially, the phrase around which actor’s expectations converge. All actors, from

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___________________________________________________________ whatever area of specific interest, harbour certain expectations regarding the rules, norms, principles, and decision-making processes that are applicable, and should these areas converge, a regime exists. 18 To elaborate further: the words ‘expectations converge’ suggest a compatibility of requirements, at least on most occasions, and that these requirements will be fulfilled. To illustrate, the ICBL as aggregate of hundreds of humanitarian NGOs upholds the notion that all members share a common aim - the expectation of a ban on landmines. In the absence of the ICBL as a HEC catalyst for an international regime, it is difficult to envisage the realisation of objectives ever coming about. Closely allied to discussions of what regimes actually are, there are concerns regarding the conditions in which regimes are formed; how they emerge, and what bodies or authorities are instrumental in their formation. It is no longer acceptable to assume that deliberations on regime theory should automatically use the state as the prime level of analysis, despite realist protestations to the contrary, as they cannot account for the input provided by (in this case) humanitarian epistemic communities. As Haas points out in his pioneering work in this area, 19 regimes ...[M]ay also serve as important vehicles for international learning that produce convergent state policies ... [and] ... that this [Mediterranean pollution control] regime played a key role in altering the balance of power within Mediterranean governments by empowering a group of experts, who then contributed to the development of convergent state policies in compliance with the regime. 20 As Haas seeks to demonstrate, the emergence of experts in a given field of enquiry tends to add legitimacy to the espoused cause, as well as affording added momentum to successful regime formation. As Adler would have it: ‘The epistemic community approach has some clear “comparative advantages,”’ by ‘... focusing on an epistemic community draws our attention to the impact of scientific knowledge on international cooperation processes.’ 21 This line of thought closely parallels the rise of the ICBL as a humanitarian epistemic community, as it was initially experts in the fields of medicine, demining, international aid and development, and international law who proved to be instrumental in


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___________________________________________________________ forming the mines ban regime, and who provided the moral and humanitarian authority for a viable agenda to be pursued. However, unlike the groups discussed in Haas’ article on Mediterranean pollution control and epistemic communities, the first antimine campaigners were not ‘experts’ in the sense that governments utilised the knowledge they possessed, but could be perceived as ‘moral entrepreneurs’ united in a common agenda to fashion new international norms. 22 The driving imperative that lies behind the agenda of moral entrepreneurs, certainly as far as this book is concerned, is the perception that landmine use consistently breaches codes of human rights conduct 23 and human-centred security 24 from the individual to the international levels of analysis. Throughout this book, attention is given over to issues of human rights, but less attention has been afforded human security, as opposed to the state-centric concept of this area. Moral entrepreneurship has, as part of a broader security rubric, attempted to highlight this within the epistemic community of the ICBL. The rationale of this position is posited within the security discourse, to bring political attention to the problems caused by landmines to the victims. According to Axworthy, ...[t]he issue of landmines has been incorporated into a broadened notion of security (human security) in which the conditions of daily life are security issues, the contrary process to securitization is observable here; landmines are being humanitarianized. From a nonessentialist perspective, landmines migrate from being off-limits in terms of the state security discourse to being constructed as a legitimate concern for civil society - a humanitarian issue. 25 The humanitarianism of landmines matters has been viewed as a direct challenge to traditional (Realist) state security discourse, couched in Cold War terminology, and that the passing of that era opens up a new state security/humanitarian scourge dichotomy 26 that questions what landmines actually are. 27 In order to bring about changes in attitudes towards perceptions of security, and to move the agenda away from dominant state-controlled (military) mechanisms that cloud the issues, and that ‘The military perspective is still accepted as the point of departure for negotiations on landmine use,’ 28 there is a recognition that

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___________________________________________________________ the military are now not the only ‘experts’ on APM-related considerations. From the viewpoint of the ICBL, the true nature of landmines, and the subsequent need to address the problems, stems from the fact that ICBL member NGOs have based their epistemologies on contact with these weapons in the field, in conflictual and post-conflictual scenarios, and have imparted extensive knowledge to this effect in publications and through the media. It may be said, therefore, that the concept of moral entrepreneurship has invested itself with the requisite expertise and authority to redefine the parameters of security. It has done so in the case of the ICBL by presenting the realities of mine use on communities, by gathering and presenting statistical evidence, by mobilising civil society through, for example, the utilising of transnational media, and by displaying the leadership of Müller, Williams, and McGrath, inter alia, to achieve its aims at the politico-diplomatic level of analysis. It is accepted that this brings forth liberal thought on regimes, which, as Adler therefore argues, ‘ ... are more prone to turn into security communities because of shared practical knowledge of peaceful conflict resolution and a propensity to develop strong civil societies and a transnational civic culture,’ 29 thus downgrading the Realist notion of state-centric superordination in favour of a more universalist rationale, that accounts for the presence of sub-state actors in the global system: In this global polyarchic environment, institutions foster increased interaction and contact among a variety of states, subnational and transnational units. Increased interaction and contact, in turn, change attitudes and transnational coalition opportunities. 30 As Tarzi goes on to elucidate, 31 Realism is not totally ignored because the ICBL operates within a system that recognises the importance of state structures as a vehicle to achieve objectives, in this case the banning of APMs through the Ottawa (State Signatory) Process. Furthermore, the moral leadership (from the perspective of decisionmaking actors at the state level) required to meet this end has been provided, at least in part, by the likes of Leahy and Axworthy, inter alia, working in tandem with anti-mine entities for mutual gain. The outcome of this action is that, as Chapters Five and (particularly) Six elaborate, over 130 states have signed the mine ban treaty, confounding both Realist


41

___________________________________________________________ ideas on security and the central role of non-state actors in bringing this about. The logical rejoinder arising from this observation points to the fact that states like Belgium, Canada, and the United Kingdom do not have imminent APM-related security dilemmas to countenance, which makes them more amenable to an APM ban. The difficulty, at least from a Realist perspective, is accounting for the signatory status of countries such as former Taliban Afghanistan, Angola, Croatia, and Cambodia,32 as examples of states that have not (and in some cases still do not) conduct their affairs in a hermetically secure environment, and further noting the current and ongoing global war on terror. The manner in which consensus on the APM debate has been realised, both state and sub-state, has been achieved is the result of several factors which will now be given detailed treatment. The objective will be to understand how stigmatisation of these weapons by states has occurred, bearing in mind that military security (of which landmines have traditionally formed an aspect) has been within the exclusive preserve of the state, and that other, sub-state actors have faced exclusivity due to ‘the national interest’ on a ‘need to know’ basis. 33 Therefore, non-state campaigners have embarked on the proselytisation process by other means, which will now be discussed. According to Price, four pedagogical techniques have been used to generate normative change: by information dissemination (through the medium of ‘issue generation’); through the establishment of networks for change both within and without governmental circles; by grafting new norms onto existing norms by combining active, manipulative persuasion and the contingent of genealogical heritage in norm germination; and lastly, by using a ‘transnational Socratic method’ through which the demands of civil society are incumbent on states to publicly justify positions, and thereby reverse the burden of proof in contesting norms, leading to the legitimising of the political rationale for change. 34 As Chapter Four relates, landmines as a weapon system had evolved in a relatively unremarkable manner. Prior to the 1990s, these devices have not attracted undue adverse publicity in the way, for example, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been demonised in the public consciousness. Hidden behind a cloak of apparent anonymity, these weapons had not been viewed as especially detrimental to the well-being of humanity at large. In other words, as ‘conventional’ weapons of no particular significance, landmines had previously escaped notoriety. However, as the latter part of Chapter Four and all of Chapter

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___________________________________________________________ Five illustrate, APM use and the realities thereof has presented many observers with a previously unknown truth regarding these weapons. The repositioning of mines as unconventional weapons arises from examination of statistical attrition rates among victims, including civilians, and the fact that, like other non-conventional weapons, they are indiscriminate, as Leahy elaborates: What do chemical and biological weapons have in common with landmines: They do not discriminate. A landmine will blow the leg or the arm off of whoever steps on it. It does not make any difference whether it is a combatant, a civilian, older person, or child. 35 The inference to be drawn from Leahy’s words, and bearing in mind that unconventional weapons invite a sense of opprobrium and have been stigmatised as weapons of mass destruction, is that landmines have been symmetrically associated with these weapons not just because they are indiscriminate, but, to reinforce comments made earlier, are also weapons of mass destruction in slow motion, 36 and that, significantly, ‘It has been estimated that more people have been killed and maimed by landmines than biological, chemical and nuclear weapons combined.’ 37 Whether these statements are of questionable veracity or not, the point to be explained suggests that landmines pose a direct threat to humanity to a similar order of magnitude associated with other weapons of mass destruction. The assumption here is that the ontological status of landmines is of an essentially inhumane weapon, 38 which, when forming the basis of a moral argument as an instrument of change in the international system, has provided the ICBL as HEC with the means to persuade states that policy reversal regarding these particular weapons is both desirable and necessary. The methodology initially utilised to generate and propagate this issue area by the ICBL is based on the gathering and dissemination of knowledge at specific forums by moral entrepreneurs (for example, the Symposium on landmines in Montreux, Switzerland in April 1993) with a view to the creation and fostering of international norms. A positive outcome of these and related events is that ‘[M]embers of transnational epistemic communities can influence state interests either by directly identifying them for decision makers or by illuminating the salient dimensions of an issue from which the decision makers may then deduce


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___________________________________________________________ their interests.’ 39 This notion also takes in issues such as those discussed at the ICRC Symposium of Military Experts in Geneva in January, 1994, that looked at the military efficacy of mines and deliberating possible alternatives. 40 The importance of the Red Cross in these Symposia and other meetings and conferences is quite significant, as the organisation had acted as a conduit for the dissemination of factual expert information to NGOs, the general public, the UN and governmental apparatus amongst other bodies. Moreover, recognition is given to the traditional links between the ICRC and the military, 41 an invaluable commodity for the furtherance of ICBL aims and objectives. It is therefore accepted that much valuable work towards the aims of the ICBL’s humanitarian credentials has been conducted by exmilitary experts, who, although no longer a part of the state structure by virtue of retirement, have nonetheless added a degree of knowledgeable authenticity to the organisation’s agenda purely as a result of military seniority and, in many instances, combat experience. For example General Norman Schwarzkopf, and 14 other retired US officers, encouraged debate and questioned the military efficacy of AP mine systems in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, stating that a ban on APMs would be humane and militarily responsible. 42 By so doing, it may be argued that they have helped to bridge the gap between state and non-state actors, and, particularly in the case of Schwarzkopf as Gulf War ‘hero,’ afforded an air of legitimacy to the anti-mine lobby. Directly arising from these revelations, as one media commentator put it, the military utility has since been seen to be subordinated to pressing humanitarian concerns. 43 As far as the aims of the ICBL are concerned, it is recognised that the agenda-setting process, the moral persuasion of state actors, and eventual proselytising are the aggregate result of a quite diverse group of non-state actors. The mechanics of this enterprise, as well as resulting from the sharing of what Haas refers to as ‘consensual knowledge,’ 44 but access to and use of the decision and policy-making processes. However, as this chapter will go on to explain, this matter of persuasion is but one facet of the success of the ICBL as a humanitarian epistemic community. In order to provide a more complete picture of the multilateral nature of this regime, the chapter will discuss the value and content of networking processes that have contributed to this scenario. According to one observer,

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___________________________________________________________ The signature of the [Ottawa] Convention was the culmination of intensive campaigning by civil society and national governments. A unique coalition of governments, civil society, and international [humanitarian] groups worked closely together to bring the convention into being. Dialogue, lobbying, and outreach between governments and civil society are not new. In what became known as the Ottawa Process, however, governments and civil society worked together as members of a team. 45 Looking at this from a broad perspective, the following comments by Cox serves to illuminate this area of investigation: [T]he ‘new multilateralism’ will not come from piecemeal reform of old multilateral institutions but rather as part of a recomposition of civil society and political authority from the bottom up ... The reconstitution of civil society and political authority ... would require a different sense of the polity, one that put emphasis on arousing capacities for collective action inspired by common purposes ... This would be the indispensable basis for a ‘new multilateralism.’ 46 Given that the moral argument is in place and functional, there still remains the rationale for explanation of how this came about. This part of the chapter will endeavour to discuss the coalition-building exercise that was instrumental in directing opinion and bringing about a requirement for change. Of prime importance to this end is the existence of suitable forums for the generation, stimulation and exchange of information and objectives, at relevant levels of analysis - in other words, the availability of a stage from which to get the message across. In the case of an international epistemic community like the anti-mines campaign, the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross appear to be efficacious entities. Indeed, former UN Secretary-General Boutros Ghali had proved to be an outspoken advocate of the anti-mines campaign, stating that ‘The ultimate goal of establishing a total ban on land-mines has to be kept in view for humanitarian reasons.’47


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___________________________________________________________ Despite the fact that the UN’s constituent members are, by definition, nation-states, (making the UN a ‘sovereignty-bound’ 48 actor) the organisation has proved to be a useful framework from which nongovernmental organisations (‘sovereignty-free’ 49 actors) have gone about their business, and provided ‘... a primary point of access to the international political process in the form of international negotiations orchestrated by intergovernmental organisations.’ 50 Furthermore, the roles of UNICEF, UNHCR have, as alluded to later in this book, notably in Chapters Six and Seven, been important in bringing attention to the suffering caused by APMs. The UN had also been important in strengthening the network between states and NGOs by including the ICRC in the negotiating process, by virtue of the Review Conference, which was overseen by the UN. The ICRC’s role in this undertaking was as expert observer, with the added input to proposals submission, working paper preparation, and the submission of a report for use by the Group of Experts. 51 On balance, it would perhaps be expected that the Red Cross would be offered a place in multilateral negotiations towards a ban on mines, given the organisation’s overtly humanitarian stance, its erstwhile apolitical philosophy, and its position of prominence within the global non-state community. In consideration of the mines issue as the case in point, the ICRC had, in support of a general network exercise, afforded access to a wealth of relevant information gathered by aid and medical professionals, as well as providing authoritative data on the position of APMs in international law and a database of military experts’ opinions from 19 countries.52 This information had been made available to states, NGOs, and the general public, and, due to the expert nature of the publication, is a valuable source of factual information on landmines. As part of its commitment to the international process, the ICRC, for the first time in its history, 53 launched a major public advertising campaign with a view to enhancing awareness of the issues, and emphasising the need for a ban on mines. The organisation did so in conjunction with national Red Cross agencies - using previously established global networks - and Red Crescent societies and their international federation. This initiative comprised of three basic elements, as follows: x Public advertisement and information campaigns; x Distribution of campaign materials, of specific and general interest, outlining the humanitarian implications of APM use;

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___________________________________________________________ x

The provision of pertinent legal and medical expertise. 54 Moreover, in meeting the criteria necessary for successful regime formation and propagation, in the networking aspect of the campaign, the ICRC, along with other elements of the ICBL, have utilised the medium of electronic media extensively to disseminate ideas and information to as wide an audience as possible, 55 and which is regularly updated to keep abreast of the latest developments. 56 With regard to other facets of the ICBL’s humanitarian posture and the use of information technology as a network medium, Jody Williams, moral entrepreneur, ICBL global coordinator and Nobel Laureate, managed much of the ICBL’s work from her home in Vermont, using email communication to reach over 700 contacts and NGOs working in 40 countries. 57 The importance of information, and the management thereof, is particularly relevant for the teaching and learning processes that have been instrumental in the success of the ICBL, and subsequently for the viability of the Ottawa Process as an arms-control regime. As Keohane would have it, The major hypothesis to be derived from this discussion of information is that demand for international regimes should be in part a function of the effectiveness of the regimes themselves in providing high-quality information to policy makers. The success of the institutions associated with a regime in providing such information will itself be a source of regime persistence. 58 Of course, this ethos does not restrict itself to state-level analysis; given, for example, the oft-stated anarchic nature of the world wide web, the assumption here is that the medium is available for scrutiny by students, the public, religious organisations, specific interest groups and scholars amongst a host of possible bodies. The role of communication as a general concept is also seen to be crucial, as the ICRC itself has stated: According to experts, the most important change in our modern societies is probably the role of mass communication. The majority of people have constant access and exposure to the mass media, which therefore have the strongest influence on society. While many of


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___________________________________________________________ the media still adhere to the traditional values of rational debate, established authorities, elites and political systems, some also constantly undermine these institutions and replace them with a universal popular culture. Where political systems lack the capacity to deal with all aspects of society, other power centres develop. When new information emerges by the minute at enormous speed, there no longer seems to be a hard core of knowledge and decision-making. 59 It will doubtless come as no surprise to learn that information technologies have proliferated widely among the network of NGOs and other bodies that constitute the ICBL, which, in a constructivist sense, provide a shared knowledge base for use at local, regional, national, and international levels. Further to this, it is accepted that the domain of information technology inhabits an essentially borderless world, where traditional concepts of the state and its narrow hierarchies of institutionalised politics no longer apply. In this sense, the NGOs and the nascent humanitarian community in which they operate have created an agenda based on facts about landmines, and the grim statistics used to indicate the scale of the crisis have politicised the issues to such an extent that governments have been unable to ignore what is, in effect, an area of great humanitarian concern. 60 The ICBL, having established that there is indeed a problem with landmines that goes beyond the merely ‘fashionable’ or transitory, have had to address the fact that adoption of a stigmatisation programme or ‘taboo’ as some would have it, entails a fundamental shift in states’ perceptions of these weapons. By taking these weapons out of the conventional and into the non-conventional arena they are identified and classified in the same (or similar) way as other non-conventional weapons. The ideal solution - complete eradication of mines - would therefore be the way forward: A total ban means that [AP] mines are not made, stockpiled, exported, or used by anyone. It also requires an internationally agreed system of inspection. A lot to ask for - but, with uncertain steps at times, the world is slowly getting there on non-proliferation (nuclear) and on chemical and biological weapons. 61

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___________________________________________________________ The point of identifying landmines with NBC weapons, and the subsequent grafting of stigmatisation onto states’ agendas is due to the fact that APMs pose a direct threat to civilians, in the manner of other non-conventional weapons, and that the only way to surely remove the threat is to ban the weapon and clear affected regions of the existing danger. Much of the rhetoric (and literature) dealing with stigmatisation of mines is taken from the legal position of these devices; the grounding for the deligitimisation of APMs is largely based on a priori assumptions regarding norms and principles. It is regarded that weapons visiting indiscriminate effects should be banned, and that use should be proportional to the aims required. Moreover, the matters of superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering are of significant moment in this argument simply because the number of civilian casualties outweighs the attrition rates amongst military personnel. 62 This argument, certainly in relation to landmines, concerns the military utility of mines set against humanitarian concerns, which is where the ICBL has placed itself in the campaign to realise a global ban. Both sides of this argument will be covered in depth later in this book, particularly Chapters Four and Five respectively, which seek to open up the debate in a non-judgmental manner. Despite the rationales given above, perhaps the true worth of a regime may be measured by its impact on the world stage, and the durability of its requirements. In the case of the ICBL, as Chapters Six and Seven elaborate, the campaign had invested itself with the moral gravitas to challenge the state system directly and focus public opinion (electorates) 63 on the seriousness of the problems caused by AP landmines. The proselytising process, it is accepted, required the coopting of influential state-level functionaries (and moral entrepreneurs) like Axworthy and Leahy, in order to provide input for the re-positioning of state policies on mines. Seen from the HEC angle, the continued retention of mines in military inventories had become increasingly untenable due to the weight of evidence emerging about the effects of these weapons, and the methodologies used to get the facts - ‘truths’ across. Grafting anti-landmine sentiments onto states’ agendas and decision-making processes, as well as legitimising the campaign, has raised questions about the ethos of military use of these weapons. Previously, there had existed a climate of tacit acceptance that these weapons have a perceived military efficacy, and that deployment in


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___________________________________________________________ conflict was taken for granted as part of an overall doctrine governing conflictual scenarios. However, with the institution of expert working groups to examine the validity of this claim, it had emerged that ‘... they have little or no effect on the outcome of hostilities. No case was found in which the use of anti-personnel mines played a major role in determining the outcome of a conflict.’ 64 Data of such an authoritative nature, drawing on humanitarian epistemic community philosophy, suggests that doubts may be harboured about the effectiveness of mines, especially when one considers that these weapons directly affect friendly forces in the field, 65 which at the very least raises serious reservations about the weapon’s usefulness. This places military establishments, and the governments they serve, in something of a quandary. The onus of justification for mine stockpiling and use is placed within the realm of the politico-military establishment, and, assuming that some rationale for retention of these devices can be produced, the ensuing politicisation of the issues involved may ensure that no real justification can be found, especially if the burden of ‘proof’ cannot meet the more exacting criterion of ‘decisiveness’ or even ‘necessity.’ Certainly, the argument surrounding means and ends will continue for as long as there is a need to do so, which nonetheless escapes the point. In order to meet humanitarian requirements, the established (state) order may find itself searching for ‘alternatives’ to AP mines, as the US is currently doing, 66 simply due to the moral imperative of the humanitarian argument, and the heavily-endorsed process that has sought to change prevailing thinking on the utility of mines. It is, however, noted that the proselytising process would have a better chance of succeeding within the environment described above, with humanitarian NGOs specifically targeting state-level decision and policymakers in a structured, institutional climate that lends itself adequately to ‘win-win’ outcomes. This strategy does not appear to be favourable with regard to sub-state groups (terrorists or insurgents, for example) who operate largely outside the orbit of state-level intercourse, and would therefore not be so amenable to moral persuasion. Having said that, it would still be appropriate to have a starting point for eventual elimination of these weapons, in the earnest hope that sub-state groups will abandon the ‘weapon of choice’ (see Chapters Four and Five for a discussion of this term) although the prospects for such a realisation remain bleak. The problem here, it would seem, is the incidence of guerrilla operations and low-intensity conflicts that have proliferated

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___________________________________________________________ across the globe, and until these types of irregular conflict are brought to an end, if at all, the trend of prosecuting often gratuitous mine warfare will doubtless continue. As Chapter Four indicates, with reference to the above, it is noted that the perception of landmines (certainly regarding sub-state groups’ usage of these weapons) is of a weapon system that has moved from primarily defensive deployment to overtly offensive capabilities, which seems to favour this type of actor in a terrorist or insurgent environment. Needless to say, this scenario presents problems to organisations that campaign to ban these devices on a global basis, and which have targeted the state-level actor as the medium through which change can be brought about. As many of these groups have little or no access to legitimate agenda-setting mechanisms that govern international discourse on arms control, it is difficult to see what influence an international arms-proscription exercise may have on these movements. As Gard clearly states, ‘ ... [B]ecause AP mines are indiscriminate and can be concealed easily, they inherently are weapons of terror,’ 67 and therefore, presumably by definition, apply themselves suitably to this type of conflict. The implications for a regime like the Ottawa Process and Convention dedicated to eradicating this weapon from the face of the earth should be self-evident; any body that removes or distances itself from the legitimate processes of international political discourse, by virtue of its irregular or illegitimate status in the international community, cannot be expected to adhere to treaties formulated at the level discussed in Chapters Six and Seven of this book. That this may prove to be an ongoing dilemma for pro-APM abolitionists to address is open to discussion, and one which will doubtless occupy the thoughts of interested parties in the future.

Conclusions This chapter has attempted to convey theoretical bases of regimes, and humanitarian epistemic communities, taking into account relevant and significant thought articulated by noted practitioners in these areas of academic exploration. It had done so initially not to deliberately debunk or refute mainstream IR theories discussed in Chapter Two; rather, the objective had been to complement those theoretical excursions with an approach that might provide greater accuracy for explaining the dynamic


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___________________________________________________________ of the ICBL, and the realisation of its stated goals. The chapter had to work to different defining interpretations of what regimes are, and elected to use Krasner’s definition as this was seen to be most suitable, dealing as it does with the importance of non-state actors (with the ICBL being a case in point) within the international system. The chapter has covered the pertinence of humanitarian epistemic communities to this debate, incorporating analysis of civil society, a point referred to in several instances as this work unfolds, largely due to the recognition that the idea of civil society is important to the ethos of the ICBL as an aspect of the concept. As the chapter unfolds, it provides evidence that links scholarly thought of this nature to the processes and agenda of the anti-mines campaign, and is directly supportive of and complementary to analysis covered in later chapters. Moreover, it can be seen that including a chapter such as this in the book lends credence to the moral (humanitarian) platform from which the ICBL operates, a consideration necessary in the proselytising process that is crucial to the success of the anti-mine lobby. With these thoughts in mind, the book will now go on to look at the realities of mine warfare, initially taking an historical overview of landmine evolution, which will give a considered study of the capabilities of this weapon, together with analysis of the changing battlefield conditions that have taken mines from a defensive posture to one that has profound implications for civilian populations, and that provides the ICBL as humanitarian epistemic community with its philosophical foundation This chapter will serve to illustrate the realities of mine warfare from the military perspective, followed by detailed discussion of the impact of these weapons on afflicted communities in Chapter Five. Taking this route will provide the ICBL/Ottawa Process as an armscontrol instrument with compelling analysis of the problems associated with these devices, and it will also expect to act as preparatory information for those matters deliberated in succeeding chapters.

Notes 1

According to Adler, (1992), epistemic communities are groups of experts (scientists, or experts in a given field, for example) such as the Pugwash security group. He cites Ruggie’s ‘switchboard’ analogy for the

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___________________________________________________________ connection of ideas from experts through to national governments. Further enlightenment may be gathered from Ruggie, J, in Choucri and Robinson, eds., 1978. 2 Thakur and Maley, 1999, p 278. 3 Oliver, p 385. 4 Price, Summer 1998, p 639. 5 Price, op. cit., p 639. 6 For a representative sample of ICBL moral entrepreneurs, see: ICBL, 1997g, particularly Selected biographies of NGO participants to Oslo Conference, pp 6-11. 7 See comments in chapter five on the role of Tun Chunnareth, Cambodian moral entrepreneur with the ICBL. 8 Krasner, (ed)., 1983, p 1. 9 Keohane in Little and Smith, eds., Perspectives on World Politics, 2nd ed. London, Routledge, 1991, p 108. 10 Ibid., p 108. 11 Price, in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, eds., 1998, pp 340-341. 12 Ibid., p 342. 13 Keohane, op. cit., p 108. Note: for an alternative overview, defined in trade terms, see: Brown, C, 1997, pp 170-173. 14 Viotti and Kauppi, 1993, p 589. 15 Keohane, op. cit., p 109. 16 See, especially, chapters five and six of this book for a fuller explanation of the constituent components of the ICBL regime, and how each part reflects the purposes of the campaign. 17 Keohane, op. cit., p 110. 18 Brown, op. cit., 1997, p 172. 19 Haas, Summer 1989. 20 Ibid., p 377. 21 Adler, Spring 1992, p 105. 22 Price, op. cit., p 620. 23 Wiseberg, in Gizewski, (ed)., 1998, pp 183-209. 24 de Larringa, and Turenne Sjolander, in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, eds., op.cit, pp 364-391. 25 Ibid., p 374, emphasis included. 26 Ibid., p 374.


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Note: there is an extensive examination of what landmines are in a contemporary sense in chapter four of this book, which deals with the real impact of these weapons on civilians and national/regional economic and related infrastructures. There is also plenty of literature on this subject, which is referred to throughout the text. 28 Roberts and Williams, 1995, p 3. 29 Adler, 1997, p 250. 30 Tarzi, December 1998, p 73. 31 Ibid., pp 73-74. 32 Price, op. cit., p 614. 33 In this instance, reference is given to the armaments-security-secrecy trichotomy, of which landmines may be seen to be an aspect. The reader will doubtless recall certain problematics in this area, notably the Pergau Dam and Arms to Iraq affairs, and the climate in which these matters were leaked into the public domain. Suggested readings on this subject include: James, 1982, especially pp 9-17; Leigh, 1980, especially pp 179230; Ponting, 1982, especially pp 138-158. 34 Price, op. cit., p 617. 35 Leahy, 22 July, 1992,. Reproduced in entirety in Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, appendix 8. 36 Physicians for Human Rights, Ibid., p 3. Note: whilst this assertion may appear overly dramatic and perhaps disingenuous, it is arguably used to categorise APMs with NBC weapons for the purposes of the ICBL and others. 37 Rutherford, 1997, p 4. 38 Note: in mitigation, it may be argued that all weapons are intrinsically ‘inhumane’; but to pursue this line of reasoning here would exceed the numerical and theoretical parameters of the chapter, in addition to losing sight of the original argument. 39 Haas, Winter 1992, p 4. 40 Price, 18-22 March, 1997, p 19. 41 Thakur, and Maley, op. cit., p 284. 42 New York Times, 3 April, 1996, p A9. 43 Priest, June 1998. 44 Haas, 1989, op. cit., p 397. 45 Taylor,, Spring 1998, pp 189-190. 46 Cox, 1997, pp 253; 258-259.

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Boutros Ghali, 27 July 1994, para. 26. Thakur and Maley, op cit., p 282. 49 Ibid., p 282. 50 Price, op. cit., p 24. 51 Ibid., p 25. 52 ICRC, 1997c. See also articles by Dr Robin Coupland, FRCS, an ICRC surgeon and wound management expert, who has been an outspoken advocate of the anti-mine lobby, and has lectured extensively on the subject to various professional and lay bodies. Of particular interest may be Dr Coupland’s article The Effects of Weapons: Defining Superfluous Injury and Unnecessary Suffering, Medicine and Global Survival, 3, A1, 1996, pp 1-6. 53 See ICRC, 1997c. 54 Maslen, in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, eds., op. cit., pp 86-87. 55 Note: the ICRC has made expansive use of the world wide web; indeed, a plethora of data on the subject of mines and the international campaign to ban these weapons can be found at URL:http://www.icrc.org which is the ICRC’s own website. 56 Maslen, op. cit., p 87. 57 Beier and Crosby, in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, (eds)., op. cit., p 273, citing Baldauf, S, Nobel’s Long Trip from Vermont Farm to Fame, Christian Science Monitor, 14 October, 1997. 58 Keohane, in Krasner, op. cit., p 165. 59 ICRC, 1996a, p 5. 60 For an indication of the literature currently available from government sources, see the accompanying bibliography to this book that lists several state publications. 61 The Lancet, 16 September 1995, p 1. 62 Rutherford, op. cit., pp 13-18. Note: for more discussion on the legal aspect of landmines see, for example, Roberts and Williams, 1995, especially pp 3-5; Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, (eds)., 1998, especially chapter 17, Price, pp 340-363; Watson, February 1995, especially pp 1-5; Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, pp 261-318. 63 Note: this, of course, specifically refers to those governments that practice democracy as a participatory exercise, and may preclude authoritarian or dictatorial systems of governance. 48


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Price, 1997, op. cit., p 39. Note: further discussion of this issue area can be found in ICRC, 1997c; Smith, 1996b. 65 Chris Smith, in his article on the utility of APMs, states that between 65-70% of US marine Corps casualties in Vietnam during 1965 were caused by mines; in many cases these casualties were caused by mines sown by so-called ‘friendly forces.’ See also chapter three of this book, and for a detailed examination of this matter, see also Human Rights Watch/Vietnam Veterans of America, July 1997, especially sections three and four, pp 4-10. Note: according to the New York Times, Banishing Land Mines, editorial, 12 August 1997, almost 90% of mines used in Vietnam were either made in the US or cannibalised from captured American parts. 66 Ellis, 30 October, 1997. 67 Gard, in Cameron, Lawson, and Tomlin, op. cit., p 144.

CHAPTER FOUR Mine Warfare: Evolution of a Military Force Multiplier The Evolution of Mine Warfare This chapter will be divided into two parts. The reasoning for this approach is two-fold: firstly, landmine evolution has two distinct phases of technological development to address, which are the initial use of socalled ‘dumb’ APMs, or weapons that stay in active mode until either detonated or neutralised manually, and which may be viewed as primarily defensive in nature. Secondly, the chapter will deal with the inception of ‘smart’ technology, whereby mines self-destruct or self-neutralise through the medium of integrated electronic circuitry. Also, as an adjunct to the second consideration, the deployment of scatterable minelaying systems has profound implications for the recording, marking and subsequent retrieval of moribund mines, and which display offensive capabilities. 1 The point of departure, in a technological sense, can be identified as the 1960s and especially the Vietnam War. 2 This particular epoch will be covered extensively within this chapter, largely due to the fact that the era of weapons automation ushered in during this period has serious implications for the protection of civilians during conflicts. Furthermore, it will provide the book with a dimension for argument from the anti-landmine campaign’s perspective, insofar as a lack of accountability regarding so-called ‘remotely-delivered’ mines help substantiate the moral platform from which the campaign has been able to conduct its activities. This deviation will signify a change of direction within the chapter, along with emphasis on the impact of landmine warfare on non-combatants, which is the second aspect to be examined. This will be underpinned by analysis of the military methodology intrinsic to mine warfare, and the innovations inherent to the new technology. The emphasis of this chapter will rest within the text dealing with part two; the justification for taking this approach is due to the fact that the Vietnam Syndrome had (and still has) a profound impact on the American psyche, not least from a military viewpoint. Allied to this notion is the trend towards so-called ‘stand off’ or ‘remote’ weaponry, implemented with a view to minimising the deploying force’s casualty rates. Moreover, tendencies adopted by the US military-industrial complex regarding weapons Research and Development have

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___________________________________________________________ implications for new technologies at the global level. As one academic has observed: ‘ ... [T]he United States was able to fashion foreign armies in its own image.’ 3 Furthermore, the inclusion of a chapter such as this in the book can be viewed as an essential requirement, to emphasise the unique properties of landmines as part of a state’s military inventory, and the fact that these weapons often form part of the arsenals of various sub-state groups who may be engaged in insurgent or terrorist operations directed against the state itself. Moreover, this text will support Chapter Three’s argument dealing with the humanitarian epistemic community’s contribution towards the formation of an anti-mine regime. Therefore, with a view to providing an accurate and legitimate perspective on the ‘supply side’ dimension of the APM debate, it will be relevant for an examination of the weaponry to uphold the debate.

Part One: Landmines, A Labour-Intensive Weapon System The widespread use and evolution of landmine technology is, for the most part, a Twentieth Century phenomenon. The concept, however, can be traced back to Roman times, when a device known as the Caltrop was deployed. This weapon took the form of wooden blocks fitted with metal spikes, the purpose of which was to neutralise enemy cavalry and horsedrawn war carriage advances, which were configured to attack massed ranks of infantry. 4 On a more general level, the concept also embraces strategies designed to force the enemy into a disadvantageous position, by controlling the terrain and situation on the battlefield while conserving combat power. This led to the judicious use of pointed stakes, potholes and, latterly, explosive charges, particularly to mitigate against superior forces. 5 The inherent property of the Caltrop, together with its modern counterpart the mine, is that the weapon achieves its designated objective of autonomous disruption without recourse to human agency; once deployed, the device will act independent of the conscious will, without discrimination. 6 The origin of the word ‘mine’ refers to a form of warfare that was practised during the Middle Ages. In order to place explosives under a defensive position occupied by the enemy, teams of sappers and miners excavated shafts extending behind opposition lines. The military art of sapping and mining is believed to have evolved during the 12th Century;

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___________________________________________________________ Chaucer writes of King John using a mine excavated under the south keep of Rochester castle from which he ‘fired the fat of forty bacon pigs’ (a flash fire), which caused the timber to incinerate almost immediately and the keep to collapse as a result. King John’s soldiers were thus able to march through the breach and take control of the situation. 7 In 1453, Sultan Mehmed the Second used subterranean mines sapped under the walls of Constantinople, 8 where large gunpowder charges were laid and fired. This made a significant contribution to the fall of the city, and the subsequent eclipse of the Byzantine Empire. Sappers and miners became highly-paid mercenaries whose services were much sought after, and indeed the oldest British Army unit, the Honourable Artillery Company established by Henry VIII, were accomplished military engineers for whom sapping and mining was an important part of the job. 9 Sapping and mining, however, had its drawbacks: an example of this occurred at Petersburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War; soldiers hoping to exploit the advantage created by a mine incident were trapped in the crater, and promptly massacred. 10 Landmines as a weapon system first made an appearance that followed the advent of large-scale industrial warfare during World War One. 11 The battlefields of Europe at that time were scarred with ranks of trenches facing one another, as the opposing forces lapsed into a military impasse from which neither side appeared capable of extricating itself. This situation, with instances of high casualty rates amongst unarmoured, open-ordered ranks of charging infantry intent upon taking enemy territory, prevailed until 1916, when another dimension was introduced with a view to breaking the deadlock. Tank warfare was introduced on the 15th October, 1916, as part of the offensive in the battle of Flers/Courcellette, an aspect of the larger battle of the Somme. It was not, however, an auspicious beginning; of the 49 machines available for combat duty, only 36 made it to the front before dawn of that day. 12 Problems notwithstanding, the impact of the new technology on the German defenders was immediate and incredulous, as one tank commander, Captain W H Mortimore, observed: ‘I managed to get astride one of the German trenches ... and opened fire with the Hotchkiss machine guns. There were some Germans in the dugouts and I shall never forget the look on their faces as they emerged ...’ 13 Performance wise, the new weapons left a great deal to be desired, due in part to poor and hurried training of the crews, as well as susceptibility to mechanical failure. The real value of the tank was to boost morale after

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___________________________________________________________ long periods of combat attrition, taking into account the tank’s (then) unique characteristics of mobility, together with rapid fire-power and protection. Basically, the enemy infantry was confronted with a situation of which he had no prior knowledge, and for which he had no training. As the Chief of Staff of the German Third Army Group was moved to comment: ‘The enemy, in the latest fighting, has employed new engines of war as cruel as they are effective.’ 14 As a classic ‘action-reaction’ 15 example of the evolutionary nature of weapons and warfare, the need by the German High Command to find a method of combating the tank became self-evident. The problem that confronted the Germans at that time was a marked lack of available technology with which to approach tank warfare; therefore, with a view to compensating for the seemingly insurmountable, a novel and effective solution was called for. The German forces decided to use partly-buried artillery shells with exposed fuzes uppermost as an improvised anti-tank mine, the rationale being that the subsequent detonation would shatter the tank’s caterpillar track and thus disable the vehicle itself. 16 The major obstacle with such an ill-considered stratagem was the fact that enemy combat engineers would be able to extract the munitions and re-use them for their own purposes. This particular, if irregular methodology proved to be invaluable during the ebb and flow around contested areas on the battlefield, provided that the forces deploying purloined munitions knew the whereabouts of the devices. (The implications with regard to later generations of landmines, and the uses to which they are put, will be analysed in greater detail later in this chapter.) Clearly, the capture and redeployment of these crude anti-tank weapons required a concomitant response; the German forces opted to seed the minefields with small containers of TNT as a method of deterring the enemy from using perceived disruptive tactics. These containers were designed to explode on contact, or through activation of a tripwire and became crude anti-personnel devices. 17 During the interwar years, the efficacy of landmines as a weapon system was taken up by military strategists and war planners, and consequently research and development was undertaken in earnest. This is certainly true of countries like Germany who, having been on the receiving end of new technology presented by the advent of tank warfare, and being locked into a search for suitable counter-measures, succumbed to an ‘action-reaction’ mentality that formed part of a ‘constant tactical factor.’ 18 During the inter-war years of the 1920s and 1930s, the anti-tank

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___________________________________________________________ mine underwent radical modifications, in recognition of the fact that these weapons could be easily neutralised by the fairly simple process of lifting or re-fuzing. Once the Spanish Civil War was underway, the Anti-Tank mine was an established weapon, in conjunction with techniques of lifting and re-use, which was noted by German and other military observers. Furthermore, the practice of lifting and re-deployment of Nationalist mines by Republican forces was also recorded, which led to the introduction of self-initiating anti-lift devices, augmented by small ‘pot mines’ or ‘stake mines’ designed to deter or inhibit the activities of mineclearing personnel. From this innovative practice evolved the AntiPersonnel (AP) mine, which would soon find its way into the arsenals of Italian, British and Russian forces. 19 Indeed, such was the seriousness with which governments took this weapon that, during World War Two, mines were sown in their millions. 20 Across the European theatre, and North Africa, these devices were used to significant effect. Mechanised warfare had, by this time, evolved into the decisive factor on the battlefield, and strategists therefore argued that landmine development should advance at a complementary rate. Logically, and as an adjunct to the refinements taking place in ATMs, anti-personnel devices played an increasingly important role in tactical thinking: ‘Antipersonnel (AP) mines have been developed as complementary weapons to AT mines to inhibit the clearing of antitank mines, harass and destroy infantry units, and to deny access to ground troops.’ 21 As was becoming increasingly obvious, mines lent themselves to a variety of military options, thereby demonstrating the multidimensional nature of the weapon in defensive and offensive operations. The standard usage of landmines generally followed accepted military procedure, but it would appear that the first non-doctrinal innovation appeared during the Second World War, with the intention of demoralising soldiers and civilians alike. The Japanese army, for example, booby-trapped innocuous, everyday objects such as lamps, radios and cans of fruit with modified mines. The habit of booby-trapping the bodies of dead or wounded soldiers, whilst officially denied, was also common. 22 The North African campaign illustrates the way in which mine warfare evolved to meet the tactical and strategic requirements of the theatre. As Liddell Hart observes, ‘In 1941 the course of the war in Africa went through a series of startling changes that upset expectation on either side in turn but had no conclusive issue. It was a war of swift movement -

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___________________________________________________________ but see-saw movement, repeatedly tilting up and down.’ 23 This example of the rapid ebb and flow of activity in and around contested areas is underlined by the British 2nd Armoured Division’s position from March to May of that year; having been forcibly ejected from Cyrenaica, whilst maintaining a tenuous hold on the port of Tobruk. The British had sustained a series of setbacks that culminated in a reversal of momentum stretching back over 200 miles in a week, and 400 miles inside a fortnight. This meant that the British forces found themselves on the western frontier of Egypt, except for a small garrison in Tobruk. In effect, holding onto this slim parcel of land became of paramount importance, and ‘ ...[T]he decision to hold onto this small port, as a “thorn in the enemy’s side,” had a far-reaching influence on the course of the African campaign during the next twelve months.’ 24 It became quite apparent that the German commander, General Erwin Rommel, would have to either accept the status quo in Tobruk, or take active measures to address the situation; therefore, having received a directive from General Staff, he mounted an assault on April 30. However, having advanced approximately a mile, the attack encountered a minefield and came to an abrupt halt; the loss of tanks and personnel effectively took away the German’s advancing impetus, and the attack was called off. 25 What this demonstrates is the efficacy of landmines as a significant weapon system, although during the Second World War the configuration was one that gave itself to an essentially defensive posture. One of the most important developments of the Second World War was the technological advances in, and application of, fuze technology; a fuze is a device with explosive components, which is designed to introduce a sequence of firing or detonation in explosive ordnance. There are three main types: The Impact Fuze which explodes by direct contact between the munitions and target, or by impacting on the ground. The Time Fuze employs a graduated time element, the time fuze incorporates a delay mechanism that closely follows the principles of a clockwork device. The Proximity Fuze is a variant of the above that sets off an explosive train at a predetermined distance above the ground, or from the intended target. 26 Fuzes have been described as the ‘brains of munitions,’27 and, in the case of proximity fuzing, ‘second in importance to the atomic bomb.’ 28 The utility of fuzing systems is such that they are capable of

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___________________________________________________________ multi-role applications, such as in artillery shells, grenades, fragmentation rockets, and landmines. The implications of this for modern mine warfare systems, building on 1940s technological invention, will be discussed later in this chapter. The years following the end of World War Two and the start of the Korean War did not see a major quantum leap in the advancement of mine warfare, although both Germany and the United States had experimented with non-metallic mines. 29 The emphasis was on major weapon platforms such as battle tanks, combat aircraft, and so on. The point that had to be made, certainly from the anti-Communist perspective, was that the UN forces could not hope to match Chinese manpower in sheer numerical terms, so they had to rely on the expertise of the (US) military-industrial complex to provide the troops with the finest weapons and equipment that the industrial community could come up with. 30 That is not to say, however, that mines did not play a significant part in the Korean War. Much of this particular conflict was centred on the capture and subsequent control over perceived stretches of strategic ground, a notable example being the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, from 1952-1953. This piece of land witnessed both intense military and political fighting, such was the significance placed on it by both sides. 31 One of the more notable aspects of the Korean War is that it seemed to invest itself with characteristics redolent of the First World War; Field Marshal Alexander, a veteran of that conflict who visited Korea, was heard to remark that the manner of the war reminded him of Flanders. 32 This is due in part to the fact that the Chinese had upwards of a million men under arms in the theatre, 33 set against the superiority of UN (especially American) weaponry. Seasonal considerations also played a significant part in the ebb and flow of conflictual activities, due in large part to the privations of the Korean winter. Therefore, unsurprisingly, Spring offensives figured prominently in tactical thinking. On 16 May, 1951, the Chinese allies of the North Korean Army launched a second major attack against United Nations forces and ‘suffered enormous losses as they [in human waves] moved against defences heavily protected with mines ... Chinese losses were estimated at 90,000 for the week of May 17 to May 23 alone and in excess of 200,000 for both phases of the spring offensive.’ 34 The Korean War, besides being called a largely civil conflict with massive intervention from outside powers, resulted in large loss of life and an inconclusive stalemate. Approximately three million people

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___________________________________________________________ died, ten million more were displaced, and the whole country was destitute and economically laid to waste. 35 However, because of the static nature of much of this campaign, the development and use of APMs changed very little from what had been witnessed in earlier conflicts. Minefields were laid with ostensibly defensive postures in mind, and the military doctrine that was disposed to take the weaponry to the enemy had yet to be written or, indeed, put into practice to any great effect. Moreover, much of the technology associated with later generations of mines, or for that matter other classifications of weaponry, had yet to be invented or find its way into military applications. In addition, the evolution of certain types of technology and weapon systems is, to a degree, determined by the type of war to be fought, and the prevailing conditions to be found inside the theatre of operations. Much, it would appear, is dependent upon the thinking of ‘ ... [S]oldiers and weapons designers [who] have clung to particular notions about how wars should be fought and the kinds of weapons with which they should be fought.’ 36 Elsewhere across the world, other conflicts were ongoing at this time in history; the French were pursuing a colonial struggle in IndoChina; the Middle East was in turmoil, and Africa was beset with problems of its own. Vietnam, in particular, provides an illuminating episode in the continuing development of mine warfare, both before the arrival of US troops and, as will be examined in part two of this chapter, post-1964. Prior to the presence of the American military in any significant capacity, the French, following in the wake of the Japanese defeat of 1945, attempted to reinstate colonial rule in the area. The protracted war was characterised by guerrilla tactics, with communications frequently targeted and roads heavily mined. 37 What this illustrates is a departure from standard, war fighting scenarios to an attritional campaign that employs irregular tactics with a view to removing or neutralising the perceived enemy by alternative means, especially in a situation such as Indo-China in the 1950s, where the declared objective was to eradicate the apparent evil of colonialism under the banner of ‘freedom fighting,’ or ‘national liberation.’ What the war in Indo-China seemed to indicate, as merely one case in point, was a manifestation of a general trend towards anticolonialism, and the realisation that national self-determination was (and still is) a realisable goal. What it also points to is a recognition of the fact that the nature of conflict is subject to change, and that the means by which wars are fought, and the instruments used, are part of an

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___________________________________________________________ evolutionary process. A pertinent point to make at this juncture is the fact that warfare has changed since the Second World War; ‘Though the vast majority of wars in the first 40 years of the century were of an international nature ... of the 97 wars fought between 1945 and 1969 only 15 were ‘interstate conflicts,’ while 67 were ‘internal, anti-regime,’ and 15 were ‘tribal.’ 38 It is not, however, within the scope of this chapter to persist with comments on statistics regarding suprastate or sub-state wars, as this will be analysed in detail later in this book; the quote offered above serves as an introductory remark that puts the period under scrutiny into perspective. This chapter will now, however, concern itself with a study of the second part of the dichotomy relevant to the development and subsequent deployment of APMs, and which may be viewed as a watershed regarding the existence of these weapons.

Part Two: Vietnam, Landmines, and the Electronic Battlefield This section of the chapter will be taking the evolution of APMs into the modern era, offering commentary on the so-called advances in mine technology available to contemporary military establishments. With a view to ensuring that the analysis given is clear and unambiguous, the text will now make a short departure from the central theme of this chapter and include observations on standard military requirements regarding use of these devices, together with consideration of deployment techniques that fall outside internationally-accepted codes of conduct in mining operations. Moreover, the intention will be to help in providing as broad an appreciation as possible of the philosophy that dictates the invention, evolution and subsequent use, of an entire weapon system. Some military commentators would argue that AP mines have a number of clearly-defined and acceptable roles to undertake in combat situations, which are listed as thus: x To secure military bases and important strategic installations, acting as ‘security guarantors’; x To canalise, or divert enemy troop concentrations into areas strategically or tactically favourable to friendly forces; x To deny areas of strategic or tactical interest to the enemy. 39 The situations listed above generally apply to forces internationally accepted as organised, national military bodies, with a formal rank

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___________________________________________________________ structure, uniforms, and an accepted system of operational discipline. In addition to the strategies already given, military forces also practice other, arguably less obvious operations: x Deep Strike: mine dissemination tactics that remotely scatter ordnance amongst the enemy’s rear echelons; x Cut Off: deployment of mines in a way designed to disrupt the enemy’s advancing or retreating momentum. 40 Conflicts that have been described as insurgent, guerrilla or terrorist have tended to adopt a more flexible approach to mine warfare, and do not particularly conform to customary doctrine in the methodologies used when deploying these devices. Wars so categorised tend to feature the random and uncontrolled use of APMs, including targeting non-military objectives. These types of operation usually take one (or some) of the following forms: x Random and widespread mining of agricultural and community land; x Deliberate use of mines as anti-morale or terror weapons; x The systematic, selective mining of villages, water sources, religious shrines and community burial plots. 41 Bearing the above observations in mind, the emphasis of this part of the chapter will be firmly on the transition from a defensive to an overtly offensive capability, and the inherent properties that have enabled APMs to encroach decisively upon the rights and life chances of declared noncombatants. The epoch this study will undertake to examine is the Vietnam War from 1965, specifically looking at American military involvement in the region. The reasoning behind this approach concerns the fact that, as the world’s foremost military power, the US has unparalleled resources at its command, and a complementary R and D base with access to the requisite levels of funding. This is certainly true of the Vietnam War-related scenario; as an example, in the fiscal year 1972 alone, 12 per cent - about $800 million - of the total US military research and development budget was given over to Vietnam War-related technology. 42 The concomitant of such intensive effort by the R and D establishment meant that: Vietnam also served as a laboratory for technology, so sophisticated as to make James Bond’s dazzling gadgets seem obsolete by comparison.’ 43 These sentiments were echoed by Senator George McGovern, who stated:’ ... Indochina for us is becoming as much a

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___________________________________________________________ laboratory as a battlefield, with Asians serving as guinea pigs in our tests of deadly new technology. 44 What must also be borne in mind is the ethical temper of the conflict 45, which had deteriorated to the point that ‘In moral terms, this resort to high-tech barbarism represented an absolute degeneration of the war. It created a climate in which atrocities, on both sides, became commonplace.’ 46 The war was prosecuted in an atmosphere of overtly racist sentiment; the indigenous Vietnamese peoples were often denigrated in ways that questioned their humanity, by referring to local populations as ‘Gooks’ or, less disparagingly, ‘Charlie.’ Besides, the practice of dehumanising an actual or potential enemy, based on the premise that this makes one’s fellow human beings easier to kill, is a well-documented military indoctrination technique. 47 Not surprisingly, in an atmosphere characterised by a disregard of humanitarian principles and codes of conduct in war, the use of weapons against non-combatants should find fertile ground. Whether this particular encounter would prove to be the moral yardstick by which other, future conflicts would be measured, as far as the use of APMs is concerned, is an interesting, if perhaps contestable point. However, as the ICBL has demonstrated, it is the moral dimension of APM use that is of some concern. What is not in dispute, however, is the deployment of a new generation of mines and mine warfare, and the direction that the new technology would take. The emergence of newer variants of existing weaponry was tailored to meet the requirements of the theatre of operations, and this is certainly the case with APMs. The Vietnam War was, for the most part, prosecuted in a hit-and-run fashion, with the US exhausting itself in a protracted counterinsurgency effort - ‘like a bull charging the toreador’s cape rather than the toreador.’ 48 Despite being a patently asymmetrical conflict - a Superpower pitted against a developing country - the war lapsed into an attritional contest with no apparent end in sight. General William Westmoreland, overall commander of American forces in the region, continually requested more troops for the campaign, and advocated heavier bombing and mining operations directed against North Vietnam. 49 Other considerations regarding the evolution of APMs and the Vietnam War need to be taken into account: the mobility of US forces provided by the helicopter meant a blurring of the definition of what is, or what is not, a ‘front.’ Furthermore, as the Vietcong and NVA contrived to

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___________________________________________________________ avoid major direct confrontation, relying on the element of surprise, the tactical and strategic elements of the war meant that the entire country became one huge battlefield. Finally, as the conflict was perceived as being primarily of an insurgent nature, the distinctions between soldiers and civilians were effectively nullified. 50 The logistics pipeline from the North to the South of the country was also a cause for concern, both for military planners and the Johnson administration. US intelligence studies had concluded that the enemy needed only 15 tons of materiel, other than food, to maintain an offensive posture in the South, and that the route used - the Ho Chi Minh Trail - had an innate capacity to deliver up to 200 tons on a daily basis, and this under an intensive bombing programme. 51 Clearly, other means were required to interdict known (or suspected) supply lines. ‘Carpetbombing,’ as the realities of the situation demonstrated, was not meeting requirements. In the 1950s, the United States had researched a class of sophisticated contact AP mines, known as remotely-delivered, aerial or ‘scatterable’ ordnance, which were eventually used ostensibly to stop the flow of men and materiel from North to South Vietnam, crossing through Laos and Cambodia. The origins of these mines can be traced back to a US Air Force programme known as Project Doan Brook, undertaken at the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, from May 1951 to October 1959. The (now) unclassified abstract of the contractor’s report, submitted to the USAF in 1960, states that: ‘The original task of the Project was to establish the technical and tactical feasibility of an air-laid land-mine. Subsequently, the main effort was concentrated on (1) the design and development of aerial mines to be employed against various targets and (2) the study of the tactical applications of these weapons.’ 52 Because of the nature of the conflict, certain types of weapon system lent themselves more favourably to the requirements of the theatre. On a general level, the relevant APM devices came under the official military designation Wide Area Antipersonnel Mine (or WAAPM, pronounced ‘wop ‘em’). As the designation suggests, the strategic rationale that determined production and deployment of these munitions was dictated by the fact that the US military wanted to expand and increase the area of lethality. The weapons came packed in lots of 4,800 per dispenser (certainly so in the case of the Dragon Tooth mine mentioned below), and were disseminated from bomb-like casings fixed to aircraft, which were dropped over the target area. 53

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___________________________________________________________ Among the types of ordnance being developed and commissioned for active use by US forces were so-called Gravel Mines a flat, three-inch square, cloth-covered device that looked similar to a piece of ravioli. Inside were two plastic pellets, a plastic stiffener, and 20 grammes of black powder. The Gravel Mine’s intended use was to blow off the foot that initiated its explosive mechanism. (Interestingly, the Gravel Mine was the forerunner of the letter bomb favoured by international terrorists, one of which was used to kill the Israeli ambassador in London in 1972.) 54 The most commonly-deployed of these devices were the BLU43 and BLU-44, colloquially-known as ‘Dragon Tooth’ because of their needle-like shape. These weapons were disseminated from the air, and landed on the ground without detonating. When contact with the weapon was made, the device, which weighed only 20 grammes, was capable of tearing off the victim’s foot. Another variant, the BLU-42 or ‘spider’ mine, (so called, because to the Vietcong the device had an arachnoid appearance) sent out eight tripwires after reaching the ground; contact with any one of these appendages resulted in detonation of the device. So many of these types of mine were dispersed throughout the countryside, that US pilots referred to the practice as ‘dropping garbage.’ 55 Any tactical or strategic advantages to be gained by using APMs in this manner were often in inverse proportion to the drawbacks; because scatterable APM systems precluded any accurate method of mapping or recording the locations of the mines themselves, US or allied forces on reconnaissance or ‘search and destroy’ missions frequently encountered their own APMs that had been laid relatively recently. Therefore, casualty statistics usually reflected the fact that soldiers (over and above any civilian considerations) fell victim to their own, recently-deployed munitions: ‘ ... [B]etween 65-70 per cent of [US] Marine Corps casualties were inflicted by mines and similar devices, in 1965 alone.’ 56 Furthermore, landmines caused 33% of all US casualties in Vietnam; 28% of American fatalities in this war were attributed to APMs. 57 Vietnam demonstrated a turning point in the application of mine warfare, both in the way that these weapons were used, and the direction taken in the weaponising of new technologies. Prior to the 1960s, APMs were (mostly) relatively simple, blast-initiated devices that were cheap to produce and deploy. They were largely seeded manually, which meant that minefield location, recording, and subsequent removal after a cessation of hostilities was a fairly straightforward procedure. With the

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___________________________________________________________ advent of mechanisation, however, the (ostensible) safety factor inherent in mine deployment, (albeit from the prevailing military perspective), and retrieval was effectively lost, thus offering an omnipresent hazard for military personnel and non-combatants alike in areas subjected to heavy and sustained mine proliferation. The technological imperative that drives weapon designers and military planners to produce increasingly sophisticated and complex systems, making full use of innovative variations available, extends to the development of landmines as much as any other item to be found in the military inventory. The objective would be, in the final analysis, to ensure that an enemy’s capacity for neutralising or rendering the weapon ineffective is compromised. One major problem facing mine manufacturers and users has been the vexed question of how to evade detection of these munitions; formerly, APMs carried a high metallic signature that brought about clearance of minefields relatively expeditiously, using the appropriate detection equipment. The obvious concomitant to this apparent weakness would be to reduce the metal content of mines to the point that detection becomes increasingly problematical; accordingly, ‘...[M]aterials technology has now reached the stage where the use of metal is unnecessary except as a cost-saving measure. The next generation of anti-personnel mines may be completely undetectable by the present generation of electronic mine detectors.’ 58 The dilemmas associated with devising viable countermine systems, over and above detection techniques, have become increasingly fraught with difficulty. However, to identify and discuss the evolution of APMs, and to put this stage of the text firmly in context, a brief allusion to the military principles involved can be considered as relevant. Removal of mines by an enemy, for destruction or re-use, has proved to be a perplexing situation confronting armies since the First World War. As earlier passages in this chapter have demonstrated, the determination to protect and enhance the effectiveness of AT minefields, from the Battle of the Somme onwards, led directly to the inception of APM warfare. With the introduction of mine detection and removal practices, the requirement to render APMs (and therefore ATMs) less susceptible to de-mining was a logical and acceptable progression. Advances in electronics afforded opportunities for the development and commissioning of a variety of innovative ‘antihandling’ features. It has been argued that the incorporation of antidisturbance features in mines, as a deterrent to removal, is largely

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___________________________________________________________ superfluous. This is because the weapon already carries a significant deterrence capacity, by virtue of the fact that detection and removal is inherently highly problematical. However, that there are some APMs equipped with such mechanisms is beyond doubt; the Chinesemanufactured type 72B blast mine is a device that, if tilted more than ten degrees, will detonate. 59 One might presume that because the type 72A is identical to the ‘B’ classification in every way except for the antihandling feature, the objective would be to confuse and instil an air of caution in the way that neutralising of these weapons are approached by de-mining operatives. This dilemma, conversely, applies equally to the forces that deploy these weapons as much as it does to the enemy. The legacy of Vietnam, from a weapons-development and deployment viewpoint, is instructive. The move towards using remotelydelivered ordnance would have profound implications for civilians, as Chapter Five will demonstrate when an examination of APM effects on communities is undertaken. In the interim, this study will continue with a discussion of the technology involved in the newer generations of landmines. Qualitative increases in AP landmine technology have served to meet the challenges presented by the movement of troops on the ground, and the ways in which territorial acquisition and control has also changed. Infantry units (and logically insurgents and guerrillas) have access to greater firepower and mobility in the modern era than, for example, soldiers fighting in the Second World War or earlier. It therefore follows that, with a view to providing a counterforce weapon that will seek to interrupt or neutralise the enemy’s forward attacking momentum, military forces will call upon the strategic or tactical properties of APMs. At this juncture, the study will offer a description of the types of AP landmine currently to be found in military inventories. The rationale for inclusion at this point in the chapter is largely in keeping with an exploration of APM evolution, and is therefore relevant to the ensuing discussion on systems available in the modern era. It is also critical to enter into a discussion of the types and classes of landmine available to military forces at this juncture because of the question of what is, or is not, an antipersonnel landmine. It is beyond dispute that various types of so-called sub-munitions also fall within criteria that determine the defining characteristics of APMs, even though standard doctrine may well be inclined to describe these weapons as anything other than mines, particularly when legal and humanitarian

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___________________________________________________________ issues are uppermost. 60 The ramifications of analysis offered on the subject will be dealt with elsewhere in this study; accordingly, the importance of inclusion here should become self-evident. Moreover, any literature dealing with the evolution of landmine technology would undoubtedly suffer from a qualitative shortfall, as well as leaving a gap in our understanding of the subject. As such, analysis of this area of discussion will follow on from an examination of commonly-accepted classes of this weaponry.

Landmine Types and Systems Many weapons systems have several models or variants that are designed to fulfil a particular requirement on the battlefield. Missiles, for example, may be used in a ground-to-ground, ground-to-air or air-to-air configuration, dependent upon military doctrine in a given scenario. Antipersonnel landmines also have a number of combat roles to undertake, and as such have been researched, developed and produced with this ethos in mind. According to the ICRC, APMs can be divided into two distinct groups; 61 however, because of various features that are designed to function in a certain mode, these weapons may be further divided into what may be termed sub-groups. For the purposes of this book, and to clarify the full range of systems available, each will be given individual attention. They are as follows: Blast Mines These weapons are deployed in surface, or sub-surface mode. Explosive actuation is initiated by direct contact with the pressure plate situated on the top of the mine, and incur injury by, as the name suggests, a blast effect. These mines are the simple, so-called ‘dumb’ weapons that do not rely on complex technology for operational use. The effects of the blast direct explosive-initiated energy upwards towards the target, carrying parts of the weapon and surrounding debris into the wound impact point. Most modern blast mines are constructed with a plastic watertight casing; only the detonator, springs and strikers are made of metal, making the weapon difficult to detect and clear. 62 As cited earlier in this chapter some models, like the type 72B of Chinese manufacture, are also fitted with anti-disturbance mechanisms.

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___________________________________________________________ Fragmentation Mines This class of APM relies on a shattering effect, in that for the weapon to function according to capabilities the casing will be directed outwards towards the target following detonation. However, these devices are categorised into sub-groups due to the fact some mines may have to meet several operational criteria, and each possesses certain definable characteristics. The feature common to all fragmentation APMs is the explosive methodology of each variant, which entails an explosive train bursting the mine’s casing and disseminating metal shards outwards. Some models are intended to target a pre-set arc of destruction, whilst others are preconfigured to cover a 360 degree circle, and take the following forms: Bounding Mines These munitions are normally designed with a primary charge that lifts the weapon to a pre-determined height above the ground (usually about 1 - 1.5 metres) prior to initiation of the main charge. Bounding mines have a cylindrical body normally located within a short pot, or barrel assembly. Tripwire-activated, the mine uses an anchor cable secured to the barrel to eject a pin from the main fuze when disturbed, which initiates the main charge. The explosive effect produces shrapnel, steel balls or precast fragments that are projected over a given radius at approximately twice the speed of a bullet. Bounding mines are primarily designed to neutralise a target anywhere within a pre-set circle of lethality from the weapon, usually between 10-50 metres from the point of detonation, and can also inflict substantial non-lethal injuries at greater distances. In some instances, bounding mines are activated by a slight movement of fuze prongs normally located on the top of the device. 63 Directional Fragmentation Mines Often referred to as ‘Claymore’ mines (taken from the Scottish double-edged sword) after the US M18A1 model, directional mines are devices originally designed for ambush or defensive purposes. The glassfibre casing or outer shell covers a pad of plastic explosive, usually impregnated with about 700 10.5 grain steel ball-bearings. When activated, the mine expels the ball fragmentation over a 60-degree arc to a height of approximately two metres, and with an effective range of 50 metres. This variant of AP mine can be fired remotely (by ‘command’ detonation) or by tripwire. This weapon has also been copied extensively

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___________________________________________________________ or manufactured under licence by mine-producing countries other than the US. 64 Stake Fragmentation Mines As the name implies, stake mines are normally fitted to wooden poles and embedded in the ground, although they may occasionally be attached with mounting brackets to human-made structures, trees or undergrowth and then camouflaged. Stake mines are invariably tripwireactuated; when the victim walks into or brushes against the wire with enough force to generate a pull of approximately 1 kilogram, the weapon detonates, showering metal and wooden fragments over the target area, up to about 20 metres. 65 There are innovative variations of stake mines, such as the Vietnamese B40 ‘ball mine,’ which was developed from cannibalised US sub-munitions deployed during the Vietnam War. The weapon is usually mounted on a metal stake, and the body of the mine itself consists of a smooth or vertically-segmented sphere. 66 All of the above designations encompass what are universally considered to be antipersonnel landmines, albeit with various distinguishing characteristics. However, in recent years, there has been a blurring of the distinction between what is, or what is not, an antipersonnel landmine. Much of the rhetoric emanating from the arms manufacturing and governmental sectors appears to have been an exercise in semantics, largely orchestrated to circumvent legislation designed to bring an end to the trafficking in APMs. To dwell upon the complexities of legal definitions and related matters is beyond the scope of this chapter, and as such consideration of these issues will be given suitable treatment at the appropriate point in this study. In the interim, the text will continue with an exploration of the evolution of these weapon systems. Area Impact Munitions, Fuzes and Sub-Munitions Recalling earlier remarks made about fuzing technology, the conclusion that may be drawn from perusal of the text is that these components of mines have been an important aspect of ongoing development in this area of research. Fuzes have since been described as the ‘brains’ of APM systems, 67 and consequently lend themselves most efficaciously to a number of military applications, notably the introduction of ‘smart’ technology. Presumably, given the human predilection for pushing back the boundaries of knowledge, and the utilisation thereof, the military uses to which fuze technology can be

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___________________________________________________________ applied are, arguably, limited only by imagination. Suffice it to say at this juncture that the application of the technology has enhanced weapons proficiency to a hitherto unrealised level, which includes an increased level of destructive capability across a broad range of systems. Analysing fuze technology in further detail, it emerges that modern systems can fulfil a number of functions intended to increase weapon reliability and effect; according to the UK’s Ferranti Weapons Equipment division, their fuzes incorporated into the Royal Air Force’s JP233 airfield attack weapon system can ensure that ‘The munitions cannot become armed until they are a safe distance from the [Tornado] delivery aircraft,’ and ‘The Ferranti fuze ... makes clearance a hazardous and difficult operation.’ 68 Further to this, as Ferranti’s literature goes on to elucidate, the technology is ‘ ...[N]ot just for airfield attack ... but is an effective means of blanket attack. The warhead wall fragments can penetrate soft-skinned vehicles.’ 69 The JP233 system, often referred to as a ‘runway busting’ munition, is deployed in conjunction with Royal Ordnance’s HB876 Area Denial weapon, the primary function of which is to deny ground crews access to aircraft runway craters. The overall purpose is to ‘[Create] a random pattern of detonations in the target area over a period of time that have both anti-vehicle and anti-personnel capability. The mine also has an anti-disturbance device ... and is effective against repair vehicles and soft targets.’ 70 The JP233 was designed mostly for use on the Tornado GR1 aircraft, specifically the model used in a strike/attack configuration (the GR1A was adopted primarily for a reconnaissance role), with each aircraft carrying a payload of two JP233s. During the 1991 Gulf War, GR1s and Jaguar GR1As dropped some 100 JP233 munitions on hostile targets; by the end of the first week, the Iraqi Air Force were either hiding in Iran, or trapped on damaged airfields. 71 In the United States, latter-generations of mine systems (which find their origins in the 1960s) are often classified under the term FASCAM (Family of Scatterable Mines); FASCAM covers a range of landmine systems (both AT and AP), all of which are described as ‘combat multipliers’ with interchangeable components under continuing development and improvement by the US Army. 72 Many systems operating under the remit of FASCAM use variable delivery methods; for example, ADAM (Area Denial Artillery Munition) is, as the nomenclature suggests, remotely deployed from fixed artillery emplacements situated in friendly territory. The system operates by

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___________________________________________________________ expellation from the projectile over a predetermined target area, when the munition subsequently impacts on the ground. Shortly thereafter, seven tripline sensors are released and the detonators are armed to function in an antipersonnel capacity if disturbed. ADAM is launched from within a single M483 155mm howitzer shell, which carries 36 mines. 73 The advantages that FASCAM apparently offers over other (primarily manual) emplacement systems include reduced time-frames and manpower utility for deployment. The manufacturer also alleges that the weapon will self-destruct at a pre-set time, and is also less susceptible to enemy countermine operations. 74 Arguably the main drawback (from a non-military perspective) of systems such as FASCAM is that, because these munitions are an integrated package of AP and AT mines, the ostensible distinction between the two classifications becomes blurred. Virtually all technological advances in the AT variant eventually find their way into AP systems. This is true of the so-called ‘off route’ mine first developed by France in the late 1960s as a type of automated warhead launcher system, which would compromise approaching or passing tanks with far greater force than traditional models. Over the past decade, these weapons (sometimes referred to as ‘wide area’ mines) have been the most important focus of mine technology R and D. 75 Modern landmine systems also incorporate sophisticated electronic and computer-enhanced components initially developed in the 1970s. These features provide new flexibility in arming, target acquisition, detection and self-destruction or neutralisation. APM fuzing sensors, together with integrated microprocessors, may even be able to distinguish the activities of humans from those of animals, or to calculate the strength of troop movements prior to detonating at optimum instances. 76 The most up-to-date APM devices also employ what has been termed ‘sophisticated fuze logic’ using magnetic, seismic, acoustic and/or infrared sensors to acquire targets, including enhanced kill mechanisms which, in conjunction with new fuzing technology, provide a barrier that can eradicate both vehicles and personnel. 77 Informed opinion assures us that ‘[T]he main component of landmine warfare remains the anti-tank mine.’ 78 However, as stated above, developments in AT mine technology almost inevitably affect trends regarding the AP variant. This will probably apply to ongoing manifestations of ‘smart’ technology; as Smith goes on to comment, ‘It requires little foresight to determine that by connecting all the various

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___________________________________________________________ smart sensors in a minefield, perhaps by infra-red data links, it becomes possible for targets to be detected and tracked over considerable distances ...’ and that: This is where APM may assume a new role. In addition to their current actuation methods, which can continue to guard against minefield incursions in the usual manner, it becomes possible for them to be automatically and remotely actuated under the control of the inter-connected smart minefield sensors as enemy personnel approach to clear the minefield. 79 It would be injudicious to complete this chapter, in an age of high technology smart weaponry, without presenting a degree of further analysis of so-called ‘hybrid’ mines, and those munitions that display mine-like characteristics but are described otherwise. Therefore, as campaigners have discovered in recent years, failure to clarify what a landmine is has produced a significant amount of specious rhetoric by producers and their political sponsors. 80 Furthermore, there is a compelling and logical argument for the incorporation of non-technical and transparent language in arriving at an acceptable definition of an APM, not the least of which is to close any possible loopholes that may be open to re-interpretation. To deliberate on this matter at length, however, falls outside the parameters of this chapter; it will be afforded appropriate examination in a subsequent section. Such sentiments notwithstanding, for the purposes of this and other relevant chapters, the legal definition of an antipersonnel landmine may be described thus: 1. ‘Anti-personnel mine’ means a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons. Mines designed to be detonated by the presence, proximity or contact of a vehicle as opposed to a person, that are equipped with anti-handling devices, are not considered anti-personnel mines as a result of being so equipped. 2. ‘ Mine’ means a munition designed to be placed under, on or near the ground or other surface area and to be

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___________________________________________________________ exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person or vehicle. 3. ‘Anti-handling device’ means a device intended to protect a mine and which is part of, linked to, attached to or placed under the mine and which activates when an attempt is made to tamper with or intentionally disturb the mine. 81 The intention of embracing definitions of a ‘mine,’ and an ‘antihandling device,’ over and above that given for the AP variant, is to reiterate what has already been stated: that the technology has moved on from the erstwhile weapons of the two World Wars, and that legal considerations have needed to keep pace with developments introduced into military inventories, particularly in the last three decades. It is accepted that measures designed to circumvent or side-step legislation formulated to protect non-combatants will be cynically applied wherever opportunity allows such, and it is therefore necessary to approach these issues with caution.

Conclusions This chapter has looked at the historical evolution of antipersonnel landmines; it has done so for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because it has elected to highlight the unique properties that set these weapons apart from other munition systems. Furthermore, analysis of the research and development, and subsequent commissioning and deployment of APMs, may be seen as an indicator of trends regarding armaments in general, most certainly from the perspective of enhanced lethality. The decision to divide the chapter into two sections was taken because, as the ensuing text illustrated, landmine innovation has two quite distinct historical epochs to discuss, which are the departure from manually-emplaced ‘dumb’ APMs, through to the introduction of automated landmines and ‘smart’ technology. Separation of these phases is viewed as a prerequisite for the aims of the complete book, insofar as it seeks to examine the impact of mines on non-combatants from a humanitarian perspective, as well as looking at the politico-military justification for retention of these devices. Initially the text discussed weaponry that, whilst not considered to be landmines per se, may be seen as precursors to this type of weapon.

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___________________________________________________________ This is notably relevant from an etymological angle, that is to say the origins of the word mine in a purely military context. Looking at the development of mines from a strictly tactical standpoint, it is noted with interest that the Roman use of the Caltrop lends itself more readily than Medieval warfare scenarios to an accepted contemporary use of these devices, because of the way it was employed to disrupt enemy movement on the battlefield. Recalling earlier comments on modern military usage, the Caltrop’s deployment is reminiscent of ‘Deep Strike’ and ‘Cut Off’ strategies. It could be argued that AP mines were invented in response to the advent of industrial warfare, by virtue of the fact these devices were deployed as a result of the introduction of the tank onto the battlefields of World War One. To elaborate: had tanks not been invented, then there would not have been a need to effect countermeasures, and the primitive AP devices sown to support any such countermeasures would have been superfluous. This is, admittedly, a moot point, and not one worthy of pursuance in detail. What is significant about the early use of these devices concerns the ‘action-reaction’ methodology inherent to countermeasures designed to neutralise, or counteract, the commissioning and deployment of a given weapon system. During the Second World War, APM use figured quite heavily, particularly in North Africa, which is now considered to be the most heavily-mined region on earth, 82 a legacy of operations conducted over half a century ago. Significantly, this period also saw advances in fuzing technology, which would have major implications for the development of AP mine systems in more recent decades. Developments in landmine technology remained relatively static during the 1950s, which includes the period covered by the Korean War. In this conflict, mine warfare tactics followed those practised in earlier military encounters, which is to say that they were emplaced manually with an essentially defensive posture in mind. Warfare conducted in a static manner, characterised by the operational stalemate situation in Korea, would only have need of the weapons to meet the theatre’s requirements; as part two of the chapter demonstrates, the 1960s, new technology and a different kind of war gave rise to a radical change in the nature and use of AP landmines. The Unites States’ military engagement in Vietnam can be described as a defining moment in the evolution of APM systems, the emphasis on deployment of these weapons changed from defensive to

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___________________________________________________________ offensive, which was representative of the manner in which this conflict was fought. Furthermore, as the text indicates, the trend towards greater utilisation of electronics and computer-based technology afforded greater reliance on smart weaponry, effectively divorcing the human decisionmaking element from actual discrimination in choice of targeting options. This ethos also applies to the methodology regarding delivery of the ordnance to the target area; automation has effectively replaced labourintensive emplacement, taking with it the concomitant requirement for mapping and recording of minefields. Not surprisingly, the inclination of the military-industrial complex to take a more deterministic attitude towards weapons R and D carries far beyond activities conducted on the so-called ‘electronic battlefield.’ Over and above issues of enhanced lethality and remotelycontrolled warfare, the human costs, certainly for non-combatants, has to be given proper consideration. Therefore the following chapter will look at the implications of mine warfare, particularly for non-combatant communities. It will examine the various ways in which offensive landmine deployment has impacted on regions in which these weapons have been used extensively. It is anticipated that analysis offered in the following chapter will provide evidence for what has been termed the ‘humanitarian crisis’ arising from often unconstrained use of APMs, and which will act as preparation for those matters discussed in later chapters of this book.

Notes 1

The chapter will establish the differences between so-called dumb and smart mines as the text progresses. To put this issue in context from the outset, however, it is noted that scatterable minelaying systems do not conform to standard military doctrine, as they are deployed randomly which makes the task of locating and neutralising these devices much more problematic. For a technical discussion of these matters, see, for example, Banks, E, 1997; Jane’s, 1997. Note: this last document can be found at Jane’s website, at: URL:http://www.janes.com./company/ catalog/ data97/df16.html 2 See McGrath, 1994, pp 3-4. 3 Kaldor, 1982, p 132.

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US Department of State, July, 1993, p 11. Epstein, in Ibid., p 11. 6 Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, p 3. 7 Data supplied by Goldsworthy, facsimile, 1 December, 1997, p 1. 8 Nicol, 1972, p 405. 9 Goldsworthy, op cit., pp 1-2. 10 SIPRI, 1978, p 180. It should be noted here that the incident referred to in the text was also the result of military incompetence and poor leadership. 11 Fowler, August 1992, pp 11-19. 12 Macksey, 1971, p 35. 13 Ibid., p 35. 14 Weeks, 1975, p 22. 15 For an explanation of this term see, for example, Buzan, 1987, particularly pp 76-93. 16 Smith, 1996b, P 13. 17 Doucet, 1993, p 1. 18 Smith, op. cit., p 13. 19 Ibid., p 13. 20 Physicians for Human Rights, op cit., p 16. See also Paul Cornish’s work, Anti-Personnel Mines: Controlling the Plague of ‘Butterflies,’ London, RIIA, 1994. Note: the term ‘butterflies’ refers to the Russian PFM 1 APM, which looks like a butterfly’s wings. Because the former USSR deployed these scatterable weapons from helicopter-borne dispensers in Afghanistan, the shape had been aerodynamically engineered to act like a sycamore leaf in flight, thus ensuring the weapon did not damage on impact with the ground. The device was also known as the ‘green parrot.’ For a full description of technical specifications of this mine, see: Banks, 1997, op. cit., p 233. 21 Epstein, op. cit., 1993, p 11. 22 Ibid., p 11. 23 Liddell Hart, 1970, p 171. 24 Ibid., p 172. 25 Weinberg, 1994, p 223. 26 Prokosch, 1995, p 71. For details of technical specifications of fuzing systems, the following manufacturer’s sales brochures are useful: SenSys, Intelligent Fuze Systems of the Newest Generation, undated; Ferranti 5

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___________________________________________________________ Weapons Equipment, Ferranti Fuze Technology in the HB876 Area Denial Munition, undated; Alliant Techsystems, CBU-87/B Combined Effects Munition (CEM), undated; Textron Defense Systems, Skeet Smart Warhead, undated; Chartered Industries of Singapore, Mine, AntiPersonnel, Jumping, VS-69, undated. 27 Hexner, June 1970, pp 35-37. 28 Ibid., p 71. 29 Hawkins, 1996, p 4. 30 Hexner, op. cit., p 32, taken from the US Department of Defense Annual Report 1 January-30 June 1953, p 124. 31 Hastings, 1987, pp 370-371. Note: further reading on the Korean War, from a US military perspective, may be found in Human Rights Watch Arms Project/Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, July 1997, especially pp 4-7. 32 Ibid., p 355. 33 Kaufman, 1986, p 185 34 Ibid., p 185. Note: Kaufman states in his Suggestions for Further Reading (p 359) that the best account of the United States’ participation in the war is David Rees, Korea: The Limited War (New York, 1964). 35 Lone and McCormack, 1993, p 93. 36 Kaldor, op. cit., p 4. 37 Wintle, 1991, p 63. 38 Davies, 1994, p 127. 39 Faulkner, 1997d, p 17, extracted from McGrath, 1994, pp 20-21. This area of study can be analysed in greater detail; suggested readings include: Human Rights Watch Arms Project/Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, July 1997 op. cit.; International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, ICRC, 1997c; Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), The Military Utility of Landmines: Implications for Arms Control, Document D-1599, June 1994; Smith, June 1996. 40 Ibid., p 18. Note: these alternative mine warfare strategies were introduced with the advent of scatterable systems, thereby adding an extra dimension to the deploying force’s offensive capabilities, a point discussed in the US Department of State’s report, Hidden killers: The Global Landmine Crisis , Washington, USDS Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs, 1994, pp 6-7. The legacy of this type of conflict is

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___________________________________________________________ reported in Agence France-Presse International News, Mines Still Taking a Toll 20 Years After Vietnam War, Hanoi, AFP, 26 April, 1995. 41 Ibid., p 22. This point is taken up in detail in, amongst other publications, Fernandez, R, Deactivating Mines: Pacifying Nature, Envio, September, 1995, looking at the scale of the problem in a Central American context; for a discussion of other areas of the world, the following are suggested: Human Rights Watch, 1993; Evans, War’s aftermath: deadly debris: in Laos the end of the Vietnam War did not stop the killing, Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong, FEER, 22 September 1994, pp 58-59. 42 SIPRI, op. cit., p 42. 43 Karnow, 1994, p 452. 44 Dickson, 1976, p 206. 45 Referring back to (particularly) chapter three, and forward to chapters six and seven, it is noted that the ICBL had based its ethos on the moral/ethical implications of mine use, which this text seeks to bring out. 46 Wintle, op. cit., p 145. See also Karnow, p 543. 47 Fromm, 1977, p 48 Karnow, op. cit., p 19. 49 McNamara, 1996, p 264. 50 Hawkins, 1996 op cit., p 8, emphasis added. 51 Ibid., pp 286-287. 52 Prokosch, op. cit., p 107. 53 Dickson, op. cit., pp 43-44. Note: the reader may refer to earlier footnoted comments regarding fuze technology, the sources of which also give technical information on the capabilities of these weapon systems. Further information can be found in HQ Department of the Army, Mine/Countermine Operations, FM20-32, Washington, Department of the Army, 1992. 54 Ibid., p 27. 55 Physicians for Human Rights, op. cit., 1993, p 17. Note: the dragon tooth mine, with its aerodynamic shape and deployment methodology, was the direct forerunner of the notorious Soviet PFM-1 ‘Butterfly’ APM, which was used extensively by Russian forces in the Afghanistan conflict. 56 Smith, op. cit., p 18. See also US Army Countermine Systems Directorate, Fort Belvoir RD&E Center, World-Wide Informational Mine Guide, 1993.

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Human Rights Watch Arms Project, 1997, p 6. Interestingly, the ICBL used this kind of analysis to undermine the arguments presented by promine groups. 58 Blagden, in International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Report, 1993, p 121. 59 Smith, op cit., p 25. 60 This area of investigation presents problems for anti-mine groups such as the ICBL and ICRC, because of the potential for certain types of weapon to escape proscription mostly due to the fact that they are classified as something other than mines, for example ‘area denial’ weapons like the UK’s JP233. 61 ICRC, 1995, p 3. 62 Ibid., p 3. 63 Ibid., p 3. 64 McGrath, 1994, pp 7-8. 65 Physicians for Human Rights, op. cit., pp 19-20. 66 McGrath, op. cit., p 13. 67 UK Working Group on Landmines, 1995, p 3. 68 Ferranti Instrumentation Limited, undated, p 1. 69 Ibid., p 1. 70 Royal Ordnance, undated, pp 1-2, emphasis added. Note: despite the fact that HB876 has been primarily marketed by the manufacturer as an area denial weapon, as part of a runway cratering munition, the reference to an anti-disturbance capability clearly indicates that the weapon is a hybridised mine with an antipersonnel function. In addition, it is an arguable point that the words ‘soft [skinned] targets’ is an oblique euphemism for human beings or animals. 71 Heyman, 1994, p 51. 72 Alliant Techsystems, Incorporated, 1991, p 2. 73 Ibid., pp 8-9. 74 Ibid., pp 2-3. Note: the use of the word ‘alleges’ in the text is deliberately included due to the fact that disagreement exists between military and humanitarian organisations regarding the reliability of selfdestruct mechanisms. As Smith, 1996 states, any fuzing or self-destruct mechanism may carry a 15% failure rate. 75 Human Rights Watch, 1993, pp 26-27. 76 Ibid., p 28.

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Ibid., p 28. Smith, op. cit., p 22. 79 Ibid., p 23. 80 See, for example, UK Working Group on Landmines, op. cit., p 4. This refers to the (then) United Kingdom Conservative Government’s postulation that certain devices, because they are not ‘primarily’ designed to function as mines, should not therefore be classified as such, even though the weapons may fulfil the performance requirements associated with these devices. In mitigation, it is noted that the incumbent New Labour administration has taken active measures to reverse this policy, as stated in their 1997 Election Manifesto. 81 Arms Control Today, September 1997, p 13. 82 Borger, 1997, pp 2-3. 78

CHAPTER FIVE Victims, Volatility, and Violence: The Moral Rationale for a Complete Ban The Impact of AP Landmines on Affected Communities Elsewhere in this book, the argument put forward concerns the motivations of HECs for launching a global campaign to bring an end to the trade in antipersonnel landmines. It should be quite evident at this point in the study that the rationale for mounting a concerted effort is valid and compelling, albeit from the viewpoint of individuals and groups who are involved in alleviating the suffering of peoples labouring under the yoke of these weapons. The realities of APM infestation on besieged communities have been exposed to a hitherto (largely) ignorant global population, many of whom are now au fait as to what living with landmines on a daily basis really means, albeit remotely. 1 This chapter will build on the data discussed previously by offering analysis of the multidimensional impact of mine deployment, with particular emphasis on post-conflictual situations. It intends to discuss the effect of landmines, as Chapter Four analysed the cause. It will do so by opening up several distinct avenues of enquiry, with each one providing relevant evidence supporting what has been (arguably erroneously) called ‘The Global Landmine Crisis,’ 2 but nonetheless it is a phenomenon that, in a humanitarian sense, we should all care about. The first point of reference to address will be the medical/healthcare sector; the justification for opening the chapter in this way rests with the widelyaccepted belief that death and injury occasioned (particularly regarding non-combatants) by landmines is by far the most important aspect of the APM debate, and that damage to property and economic assets are markedly subordinate. The chapter intends to support the above considerations with an account of the economic impact of landmines, and how a sustained attack by these devices contributes significantly to the chronic impoverishment endured by those countries that report severe problems as a result of APMs. This aspect of the chapter will also unfold in the context of the relative economic position of the overwhelming majority of APMinfested countries, or those that languish on the global economic periphery, and subsequently are less able to solve their internal problems.

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___________________________________________________________ Landmines pose a unique dilemma that blighted states have to try and come to terms with, including encroachment on the cultural fabric of societies. In this section, attention will be afforded to the status and life chances of mine victims within the societies of which they are members, together with an appreciation of social cleavages that afflict both ablebodied persons and amputees alike, as disrupted socio-cultural activities are oftentimes shared experiences. Mention will be given to the particular circumstances in which refugees and displaced persons find themselves; in addition to being victimised by the capricious fortunes of conflict, geographicallydispersed, non-combatant peoples are frequently caught unawares by gratuitously-unmarked minefields, laid in what were once familiar pastures, during their absence. Therefore, the incidence of mine-related casualty statistics tends to rise with the implementation of repatriation programmes. Finally, this chapter will embark upon an investigation of the psychosocial aspects of mine proliferation. However, due to the wideranging nature of this area of study, it will seek to narrow the focus substantially and will concentrate on the subject of fear as it relates to landmines and civilians. The reasoning that supports this line of enquiry points to the fact that APMs, whilst ostensibly suggesting a measure of security for the user, paradoxically undermine (sic) the well-being of those communities paralysed by the presence of these munitions. Having completed this section, the chapter will be subsequently brought to a close with concluding remarks on the issues covered. In the interim, the text will now cover those matters outlined in the introductory statements, beginning with scrutiny of the global situation regarding APM incidents.

Landmine Victimisation: A General Discussion Antipersonnel landmines cannot discriminate in choice of target; these weapons will kill or seriously injure an adult or a child, a soldier or a civilian, 3 which later chapters will expand upon in discussions on the ethos of the ICBL. Furthermore, they do not recognise ceasefires or negotiated peace settlements, and will continue to take victims until either deployed stocks are exhausted, or they have been removed, made safe and destroyed. It has been estimated that there are currently 250,000 APMdisabled persons in the world, 4 with updated statistics suggesting that the

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___________________________________________________________ numbers are increasing by 26,000 annually, including significant numbers of children. 5 To put the problem further into perspective, it is believed that landmines have killed, or otherwise maimed, one million people since 1975. 6 The number of countries currently subjected to landmine infestation, from moderately to critically, has been put at 64. 7 It is difficult to quantify the numerical scale of the landmine problem with any degree of certainty, but apparently reliable estimates indicate that there may be as many as 110 million of these devices scattered across the globe. 8 Dissemination of mines has not been confined to modern, latter-day conflicts, as evidence gathered shows that victims are still being reported in countries that have not seen episodes of mine use since the Second World War. As an example, Egypt’s El Alamein district has suffered a post-war death toll of over 400 persons, with another 4,500 injured - averaging over 100 casualties per annum since the war. 9 The dilemmas, and controversies, associated with landmine use are not confined to casualty statistics alone; as at least one informed observer has been moved to comment: I take the view that anti personnel mines are a crime against humanity which civilised nations should not touch with a barge pole. I am unimpressed by military evidence which insists that the anti personnel mine is indispensable to defence. 10 This position is endorsed by others, who argue that ‘Antipersonnel mines are indiscriminate killers and constitute one of the great public health hazards of the late twentieth century,’ 11 and that they [APMs] are ‘ ... [P]erhaps the most toxic and widespread pollution facing mankind.’ 12 Whether these sentiments are accurate or perhaps obscured by over-reactive, emotive terms is open to conjecture. What is irrefutable however is the fact that a severe and chronic problem exists, as the remainder of this chapter will endeavour to demonstrate, beginning with a study of the situation faced by healthcare infrastructures in minecontaminated countries.

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Landmine Incidents: The Medical Perspective According to the WHO’s definition, ‘health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being.’ 13 As the following text shows, APMs have the capacity to severely affect this condition, a matter of some concern to the ICBL. The initial aspect to be addressed here will be the physical trauma visited by mines on the human body, and the concomitant situations encountered by surgeons and supporting medical staff dealing with injuries of this nature. What should also be borne in mind from the outset, is that not all mine victims receive timely medical attention; some are killed outright at the point of impact, whilst others die in transit. Much hinges on the type of mine encountered, its explosive yield, and the location of the mine incident, which is frequently in areas far removed from any appropriate medical assistance. 14 When a human being or animal steps on, or triggers a landmine detonation by whatever means, the immediate effects are massive and highly damaging, without exception. The least injury that a person might expect to sustain is loss of part of the foot causing the explosion; genital mutilation, permanent blindness and extensive abdominal trauma may also result. 15 In some cases, the level of physical trauma suffered by the victim is directly attributable to the manufacturer’s predisposition for ensuring that the weapon’s design characteristics ensure non-fatal injuries only. The logic that dictates this practice points to a recognition that a wounded soldier’s screams will, in all probability, serve to undermine his or her comrades’ morale, and that a wounded soldier will place greater burdens on the military medical and logistics apparatus than a dead one. This ethos, of course, has consequences that apply equally to noncombatants as it does to members of a military force. 16 The methodology that deals with variable wound infliction rests within the science of wound ballistics, a field of study dedicated to maximising injury and lethality, ostensibly on the battlefield. This ‘more bangs per buck’ mentality seeks to enhance weapon effectiveness within a given area, and is well described by the following statement: Early in the 1950s, the Department of Army embarked on a program to develop special antipersonnel munitions for a variety of weapon systems. These munitions were characterized by a design philosophy which considered the efficient distribution of the smallest effective fragment. The


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___________________________________________________________ definition of effectiveness was the fallout of a considerable wound ballistic program which evolved the lethal potential of small fragments at high velocity. By small is meant oneor two-grain fragments at velocities of 3,000 to over 6,000 feet per second. 17 As research has demonstrated, 18 the effects of high-velocity fragmentation on the human body results in severe tissue damage from the entry site inwards. This type of damage infliction is directly attributable to testing programmes involving fragmentation behaviour at ballistic speeds, with ‘those [the Princeton Group of scientists] attempting to devise more and more effective ways to main and destroy the enemy.’ 19 The unfortunate caveat to this research is an increase in the trauma visited upon the human body, together with the inherent difficulties associated with wound management. When a projectile travelling at high speed impacts on tissue, the result is massive localised displacement of organic matter, resulting in what has been termed ‘cavitation’ as the object makes its way further into the victim. The effects are exacerbated by the amount of water held in tissue, which tends to aggravate any significant disturbance to bodily mass. This phenomenon occurs due to the transfer of kinetic energy from the projectile to the target, which, in making way for the invading material, creates a temporary vacuum or cavity. The concomitant result is an explosive ‘ripple’ effect not unlike dropping a stone into a pond, although greatly enhanced. The intended purpose of this category of wounding is to optimise tissue impairment with a view to disabling the victim in the most efficient manner achievable. 20 For the scientist, the engineer and the technician, working in this field doubtless involves a degree of professional detachment. For the victims and attending medical staff, situations concerning landmine injuries exhibit a tendency to address the realities of fragmentation wounding. Persons initiating a mine detonation, and sustaining the resultant effects, will have to suffer the following manifestations of this type of (non-fatal) wound: The immediate aftermath of an APM explosion forces fragments of the weapon casing and components upwards into the body of the victim, showering unprotected flesh with metal, plastic, earth, bacterial matter, footwear debris and bone shards higher up from the initial impact point. Clinical patterns of mine injuries indicate extensive corporeal trauma away from the primary wound site;

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___________________________________________________________ damage is infrequently confined to one leg, as the contra-lateral limb is also exposed to a greater or lesser extent, dependant upon the explosive yield of the weapon. 21 Secondary impact features may include: widespread abdominal attrition and genital mutilation, and explosive trauma to the upper limbs and facial areas. The shock wave produced by initiation inflicts damage to the blood vessels higher up in exposed limbs, thereby forcing surgeons to amputate much higher than at the site of the primary impact point. Furthermore, the need for elevatory amputation is often viewed as a prerequisite, largely due to bacterial contamination spreading out from the initial point of entry. 22 Surgeons having to deal with mine injuries quite often find themselves somewhat disadvantaged, due to the extremely problematic nature of the wounds. The severity and degree of contamination are rarely found in civilian practice, which means that expertise in these matters is usually found wanting. The initial task to be undertaken (by attending medical staff) is to cut away all dead and severely-damaged tissue and remove debris and dirt, a process called debridement. Ordinarily, debridement in conventional scenarios is a relatively straightforward affair. However with mine injuries, and the types of material to be found at the wound site, it is seen as vital that all infectious organisms and detritus are methodically removed, thus obviating the need for subsequent or secondary surgery. 23 In some instances, however, prophylactic surgery is not always possible, due to long lead-times between the mine incident and timely medical intervention. In such instances, because of the onset of infectious disease, amputation may have to be exercised much further away from the wound than would have been otherwise necessary. 24 Patients with mine injuries also require larger quantities of blood for transfusion than other war-wounded, that being due to the extent and severity of the injury. In countries without a full, up-to-date laboratory and back-up service, this in itself becomes problematic. There is also a danger of contamination from infections such as Hepatitis B and HIV. 25 Because landmines are found mostly in developing countries of the South, the medical infrastructures are often rudimentary, and inadequate to meet the needs of victims. In some instances, unnecessary loss of life and limb occurs for just these reasons; as often as not, the patient may die due to unsanitary hospital conditions and indifferent levels of surgical expertise. 26


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___________________________________________________________ As a case in point, Cambodia provides evidential analysis of the parlous state of a war-ravaged nation’s debilitated healthcare system. Shortages in quality and quantity are commonplace, as a direct result of the Pol Pot years. The statistics speak for themselves: ‘Of the 450 doctors in Kampuchea before 1975, only 45 remained in 1979: 20 of the 45 have since left the country. Of the 3,400 medial students, only 728 have returned.’ 27 Patients who survive surgery have to address the fact that the post-operative programmes available to them involve a number of factors; victims need to come to terms with what is a distressing experience in the fullest sense of the word, and must therefore prepare themselves for life as a disabled person. This may mean protracted periods of aftercare, permanent disfigurement and intensive therapy sessions designed to help victims resume their place in society. 28 In the poorer regions of the world, this can mean a life languishing on the margins of survival, with minimal (or non-existent) levels of social security. Based on the assumption that an APM amputee is in a position to continue a (relatively) normal existence, he or she may have to face a life of penury, begging and/or petty crime. A significant aspect of the burden to be carried by amputees rests with the fact that the cost of prostheses may be beyond reach. For a child, an artificial limb should ideally be replaced every six months; for an adult, every three to five years. So, for a child of ten with a life expectancy of forty to fifty years, roughly twentyfive prostheses will be needed, at an average cost of US$125 each. In some developing countries where the average monthly income is US$1015 per month, prostheses may be prohibitively expensive. 29 As this chapter will now go on to explain, the problems of being mine-disabled are manifold, not least in economic terms. From the personal through to the national levels of analysis, APMs attack various levels of activity seen as vital to the well-being of a nation and its citizens, which will be discussed at length here. The purpose of including a section of this nature is to present a profile of the uniquely devastating effects of APM proliferation in economic terms, which in developing states vis-à-vis industrialised nations, amounts to bridging the chasm between poverty and relative affluence.

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Economics And Landmines Economics, and more specifically economic development, are seen as essential to the realisation of fulfilment, or as ‘[T]he ability of a nation to produce economic wealth, which in turn transforms society from a subsistence- or agricultural-based economy to one where most of society’s wealth is derived from the production of manufactured goods and services.’ 30 In states where the aspirations towards developed nation status are perennially bedevilled by the presence of landmines, any notions of achieving this effectively atrophy. The economic integrity of a nation depends on its wealth-producing fabric, and the mutual recognition that needs to be reached by supply-side and demand-oriented aspects of micro- and macro-economic principles. That a society cannot realise these goals due to the miasmic influence of a weapon system indicates a bleak and unwholesome future, and one from which an afflicted state cannot extricate itself until the problem is removed. Insofar as most states that report having a problem with APMs are at a pre- or early-industrial stage of development, the following section will comprise essentially two aspects, that is rural and urban perspectives, with the pastoral dimension to be addressed as the first point of reference. Whilst these are two fairly distinct considerations to be examined, there will be some unavoidable overlap of analysis, which should serve to complement and enhance understanding of what is a common dilemma for urban and country dwellers alike. Moreover, it should be recognised that organisations practising mine warfare have often viewed mine deployment strategies from an overall geographical viewpoint, as both perspectives offered here present high-value, efficacious targets as part of military policy.

Mine Warfare: An Economic Overview Living in and working on land that has witnessed contamination by mines is a process of continuous risk assessment. 31 Every area where human activity, be it social, economic or cultural is carried out, must recognise certain criteria in categorising the level of risk involved, which are listed thus: x Non-mined land; x Land believed to be non-mined;


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Land known to be mined. 32 However, the assessment criteria that determine whether land is truly infested with mines cannot always be taken as factual. For example, mine-free areas may be perceived as harbouring these weapons on the basis of unsubstantiated reports, past incidents or people witnessing ‘unidentified objects.’ In the final analysis, it would presumably be wiser to assume that a danger from mines exists, at least until the area has been declared as safe for use. Until the land is considered as workable, local communities must therefore allow prime agricultural pastures to remain unused, even if subsequent events prove that the area was totally minefree. In some instances, the only way that the presence of mines becomes common knowledge is when a person or animal initiates a device. The use of landmines as a weapon directed against regional communities may take a number of forms: as a method of population control; area denial against enemy forces; as a terror weapon designed to affect morale; or as part of a defensive, barrier-building strategy to deter a potentially-aggressive neighbour, as for example in Finland or Korea. The problem with any of the preceding observations is that the presence of these devices can have a detrimental effect on the daily cycle of agricultural activities, that local communities depend on for their survival. Where APMs are to be found, they are usually accompanied by disruption to the following activities: access to essential areas; repatriation of refugees; resettlement of IDPs; agricultural rehabilitation; use of pasture repair and irrigation systems; access to water sources; reconstruction; access to fuel; fishing; electoral process; trade and communications; movement of aid workers; rural social and cultural activities; children’s access to schools; internal security; surveys/needs assessments; and evacuation of sick and injured people. 33 Some of the above will already have received cursory treatment elsewhere in this study; this chapter will, however, seek to expand analysis with a view to broadening the perspective to achieve a better understanding of the subject matter. It will not dwell on matters associated with aid or relief work in detail; these issues will be adequately covered elsewhere in this book. In predominantly pastoral or agrarian societies, where the ritual of planting, cultivation and harvesting is highly labour intensive, muscle power may be equated to survival. Therefore, to be killed or maimed by a landmine effectively removes part of a valuable community resource, as well as, in the case of injured victims, inflicting an unwanted liability on

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___________________________________________________________ the community. An amputee, accordingly, is viewed as someone ‘... who eats ... but produces nothing.’ 34 Within these invariably low-income communities, the group ethos is directed towards the sustainability of constant agricultural turnover, in order to stay alive. Obviously, this means having to continue working despite the presence of mines; for most people, the thought of abandoning the land is not even a serious option. The determination of peoples to persevere with activities that have persisted for generations goes on despite the multi-dimensional nature of mine warfare, which exhibits a disturbing habit of attacking various aspects of rural community life. The grazing of livestock presents its own particular type of hazard; animals, even domesticated species, tend to migrate in search of the best-available feeding grounds. In many cases, this entails beasts wandering into unmarked minefields and being killed or badly injured. Moreover young children, who are frequently charged with tending community herds as part of their duties themselves fall victim to unmarked mines, partly due to high illiteracy rates which means that they cannot decipher the warning signs. Ideally these children should be in a position to recognise danger areas, but, due to the work they have to undertake, many do not attend mine-awareness training classes. 35 To take up a similar theme, many tribespeople and subsistence farmers tend to supplement their diet by hunting for game, foraging for edible vegetation and gathering local herbs for cooking and medicine. Often the game is killed by landmines, 36 thereby detracting from the quality of life for those dependent upon local resources for sustenance. Foraging for firewood and other usable vegetation may mean having to enter areas that have been left undisturbed for long periods, where the grass or brush is overgrown and which could quite easily contain landmines, either the hidden blast variant, or fragmentation mines mounted on stakes to maximise lethality. In desert areas of countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia or Afghanistan, access to clean, fresh water sources is viewed as critical to sustain life. In regions such as this, the mining of wells and irrigation systems has become commonplace. As the singularly most important asset for these communities, targeting of water delivery systems may leave a large social and economic impact. It has been noted that heavy attrition of civilian populations and livestock has occurred due to this practice. 37 Furthermore, access to plentiful water supplies is crucial for raising crops that may be for local consumption, or perhaps the surplus


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___________________________________________________________ may be required for national use and export. Clearly, an inability to do so has an adverse effect on both regional and national economies, and would undoubtedly make a profound impact on a developing country’s balance of payments situation. The seriousness of the situation is exemplified in parts of Angola, where, it is estimated, food production has been reduced by 25% - a statistic directly attributable to the presence of landmines. 38 Those countries with minimal infrastructures, for example those mentioned above, are particularly vulnerable to APMs. Often one huge battlefield, these states find that dams and electrical power stations have been mined as part of a disruptive strategy, thereby reducing the ability to harness the power outlets necessary for reconstruction. Transportation systems have also been similarly affected, which has a detrimental effect on the free movement of people, goods and services. Market systems have been left to decay simply because farmers have not been able to convey produce due to heavily-mined roads and tracks. The systematic strangulation of day-to-day commercial and other activities has a direct impact on employment considerations, as well as contributing to higher prices for goods and services. Restricted movement of commodities deemed to be important for national economic health, whilst depriving populations of the essentials needed to repair war-damaged infrastructures, also contributes significantly to rising inflation, thereby undermining an afflicted state’s economic performance. 39 The exploitation of other natural resources is similarly compromised by ubiquitous minefields, even though the deposits may be perfectly accessible and relatively cheap to extract. In Mozambique, 40 as a case in point, the railway system used to transport raw materials, goods and people had been heavily targeted for mine warfare by both Renamo rebels and the Frelimo Government forces. There are five railway lines in the country: Maputo-Zimbabwe; Maputo-Swaziland; Maputo-South Africa; Beira-Tete; and Nampula-Lichinga-Malawi. By the end of the war in Mozambique, only the Maputo lines were operable; The Nampula line is undergoing non-mine-related repair, whilst the Beira-Tete line has been out of commission since 1982, due to mine sabotage, which renders repair operations extremely costly and dangerous. The Beira-Tete line is of vital importance, as it links Mozambique with neighbouring landlocked states to the port of Beira through the Beira corridor. The declared purpose of this line is to transport goods through Mozambique, rather than taking the longer (and presumably more expensive) route through South Africa. 41

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___________________________________________________________ Damage to national infrastructures tends to exacerbate the problems for countries struggling to achieve acceptable levels of development; again, Mozambique epitomises this endeavour. According to the UN, all of the twenty-eight major road systems have been singled out for mine deployment, and all are paralysed by uncleared mines. As well as interrupting trade and labour flows throughout the country, the landmine problem inhibits the development of civil society, and places constraints on the growth of a thriving market system. Without the presence of internal markets, domestic suppliers must either export or face bankruptcy. 42 In a country such as Mozambique, which has significant deposits of coal, titanium and bauxite, 43 it is clear that, without the ubiquitous minefields that are scattered across the country, the nation might well be able to achieve realisable levels of development in the future, political intrigues notwithstanding. Many of the problems associated with APM proliferation, including those already mentioned, are due to the fact that underdeveloped nations do not have the financial wherewithal to deal with the dilemma. The objectives of minelaying, as discussed in Chapter Four, include the securing or denial of access to strategic assets, which also ensures that a perceived enemy cannot make use of any such facility. In poorer countries, conversely, the cost of removing these weapons would be prohibitively expensive, in addition to an almost certain lack of indigenous demining expertise. This means that power lines, watertreatment plant, bridges, roads and any other medium of economic activity will be effectively moribund, without any real means of remedying the situation. The same quandary affects the urban sector as much (and arguably more) than the rural. Government buildings, radio and television stations, communication centres and other branches of the national governmental apparatus can all be viewed as efficacious targets for mine strategies. In countries that have witnessed episodes of heavy and sustained warfare, such as Angola and Afghanistan, the problems associated with the use of landmines extend to almost every facet of national life. Internally-displaced persons, hoping to escape the fighting, move to the relative safety of towns and provincial capitals. Many of these urban centres have been ringed with perimeter minefields to deter the enemy from attacking; paradoxically, the mine kept people imprisoned, as much as defending them from opposition forces. They, in turn, have mined airfields with the express purpose of causing maximum disruption to


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___________________________________________________________ aircraft bringing in relief supplies. 44 The net economic result of these actions meant that, in Angola in 1994, the cost of providing 200,000 tons of airlifted food for two million people was US$100 million. 45 The practice of mining prime economic targets varies according to the country; in the 1991 Gulf War, millions of mines were laid by both the Iraqi Army and the Coalition forces. The vast numbers of mines sown by the Iraqis were hand-emplaced in regular, NATO-approved patterns, were well-demarcated and mapped for subsequent retrieval. Mines sown by the United States, Great Britain and France during the war were not mapped or recorded because they were sown randomly, by aircraft and artillery shells that opened in mid-air. 46 During the war, APMs were laid in the southern desert on the Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian border areas, as well as impairing access to major oil installations, with severe implications for the Kuwaiti economy. 47 In total, five hundred linear miles of minefields were deployed during the Gulf War. 48 As well as having to address the problems associated with established and suspected minefields in desert conflict areas, residents of Kuwait City also had to contend with the Iraqi practice of laying ‘nuisance’ mines that, it is anticipated, will continue to terrorise the civilian population for some time. These weapons were left by retreating Iraqi forces in homes, and around Bedouin water sources. 49 As this section of the chapter has sought to demonstrate, APMs have a profound effect on many facets of economic intercourse. Without labouring the point ad nauseam, landmines effectively place a stranglehold on ventures critical for the economic well-being of impoverished, less-developed nations, who are almost invariably the main victims where these weapons have been used to any significant extent. As well as making overtures directed at analysing the economic impact of mine warfare in this chapter, it is equally important to study the social and cultural dimensions of what is transparently a major problem in affected states. The aim of this particular section will be to complement other aspects of the chapter, with a view to building a comprehensive picture of the realities surrounding mine use for affected communities.

A Social and Cultural Perspective There is a substantial case for including socio-cultural factors in a chapter such as this. From observations gathered this far into the text, there is overwhelming evidence to support the assertion that landmines affect the daily lives of people ostensibly living at peace, which is at variance to the

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___________________________________________________________ perceived utility of these weapons. This utility, in keeping with trends in modern warfare, extends to taking conflict into the community, which represents a stark bifurcation from the traditional uses of mines on the battlefield, as Chapter Four sought to establish in the first section. In this section, the approach will study the consequences of contemporary mine warfare by analysing the impact and costs from a person-centred angle, together with the concomitant implications for the afflicted society as a whole. The initial point to be addressed concerns the needs of the individual, particularly the victim of a landmine detonation. Any person (or indeed animal) who steps on, or otherwise initiates an APM detonation will not be in a position to seek immediate medical attention at their own behest, as referred to earlier. The nature of the injuries incurred preclude any autonomous attempts at journeying to a medical facility, which will necessarily involve other members of the community having to render assistance, should such help be forthcoming (bearing in mind that many mine incidents occur in remote areas, which means that assistance may not be available for some time, if at all). Assuming that help may be at hand, the immediate problem facing the victim’s carers would be to apply a tourniquet, and to manage the wound with the best materials available. Prompt evacuation to a medical station being of the essence, the victim and others accompanying him or her must recognise that the journey may only serve to exacerbate an already difficult situation. In heavily-mined countries, the problems of travelling from one place to another are compounded by the knowledge that not all (if any) minefields are marked. Accordingly, APM victims and their carers must run the gauntlet of suspect roads and tracks as a matter of course. There is also the additional problem of ongoing care of the victim - how does one keep a badly injured person alive on what may be a lengthy and arduous trek to a medical facility? The nature of the problem, from the initial incident through to receipt of medical care, are instructive; For every mine victim surviving a blast, two die (including evacuees); in some countries, 75% of survivors require amputation. 50 Assuming that the victim survives amputation surgery and ersatz aftercare, his or her problems are merely beginning on being released back into the community. Amputees, in certain societies, are regarded as not ‘being whole’; that is to say, they are stigmatised by able-bodied persons as a


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___________________________________________________________ result of APM incapacitation. This is particularly true in superstitious societies such as Cambodia (which has the highest ratio of amputees to able-bodied people in the world), 51 which, through Buddhist teachings, stress that to be a complete person is a preferable state of existence. Moreover, this social stereotyping of non-able-bodied people means that an amputee will not be able to become a Buddhist monk; he has ‘different Karma.’ 52 Consequently, amputees are effectively marginalised because of an inability to achieve this ideal. They are viewed as symbols of illomen, their stumps ‘give off gasses that affect the brain,’ 53 and they are shunned in case their afflictions are contagious. For this reason disabled children are reluctant to attend school, largely as a result of the adverse reactions of their able-bodied fellow pupils. 54 This ethos of ostracism applies equally to disabled adults, who also face an uncertain future as a consequence of landmine injuries. It has been estimated that, on average, only 1 in 5 amputees finds work. 55 This means that many may have to resort to begging or petty crime in order to survive. To hold down a job is not only a way to regain a sense of self-esteem, but also provides the financial foundations to marry and bring up a family. The harsh reality of these situations, however, as one amputee put forward, is thus: ‘Who wants an unemployed cripple for a husband?’ 56 In Cambodia young men are expected to provide a sum of money - a dowry - for the prospective bride’s parents; the younger and more beautiful the partner, the greater the amount. This is, in part, a measure of the groom’s ability to provide for his wife and prospective children, and is a very important custom. Amputees are, therefore, consigned to an existence of alienation and poverty, reduced life chances and bereft of the advantages offered to their less impecunious contemporaries. 57 It would appear that for those amputees already married, their status is no guarantee of any kind of security; mine injuries can result in rejection, 58 largely owing to the fact that income generation will be severely compromised due to disability. This is especially true in countries with minimal social security provision, which may be primarily due to the recognition that mine-infested countries are invariably poor. The disenfranchising of landmine victims offers a disturbing scenario for future generations to come to terms with. Positive and patently productive role models within any mine-affected society would undoubtedly assist in breaking down long-held but erroneous beliefs that disabled individuals are ‘unproductive,’ and that they are less than equal members of society.

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___________________________________________________________ Skills training, arguably needed more than prosthetics, would help to reinforce the perception that disabled people are quite capable of making a contribution to society, provided, of course, that jobs are available once trainees have completed their instructions. The overwhelming priority in societies encumbered with significant numbers of mine-disabled individuals is to reverse the attitudes that prevail towards these people, and to overcome discriminatory practices regarding the rights and opportunities afforded to less able members of any such society. The cycle of emiseration that besets communities besieged by landmine proliferation extends to other, less obvious aspects of societal activity. As a flexible ‘weapon of choice’ that renders itself conducive to a variety of military and paramilitary applications, the AP landmine has, not infrequently, been deployed as a weapon of terror, over and above the normal (sic) uses to which this class of ordnance has been put. The rationales for adopting an irregular approach to what may be termed nonconventional landmine warfare indicate the nature of the conflict itself; as most wars in the second half of the twentieth century have predominantly been of an intrastate nature, 59 they have not necessarily conformed to a standardised, formal perception of the treatment of civilians in times of conflict. As Pilger has been moved to comment, 60 these weapons have frequently been used as an instrument of population control in specific areas, which amounts to incarceration of whole communities and prevents the free and natural movement of peoples from one place to another, for example to visit relatives, attend social functions and generate trade. In certain cases, the deliberate intimidation of civilians extends to other areas of cultural life. This intimidation includes the mining of places of worship and private spaces to express bereavement, such as temples, churches, other religious shrines and family or community burial plots. 61 The above deliberations notwithstanding, it would be difficult to entertain other problems associated with the implosion of a society without reference to a climate of political stability, a factor to which, arguably, other related issues are markedly subordinate. Assuming that conflict has been replaced by the peace-building process, then a priority must be the establishment of normative measures designed to rebuild the national infrastructure, complemented by a stable, multi-party system that seeks to represent the views and aspirations of the nation as a whole. For states that have to endure the chronically crippling effects of landmines, the degree of difficulty is largely measured by the severity of the problem. This is particularly so when embarking on the electoral process;


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___________________________________________________________ getting the electorate to a polling station to register their vote can be a burdensome undertaking, a task that presents huge logistical problems in a country that had only recently ceased practising the arts of warfare. Angola, as an example, found the experience to be devastating and counter-productive. 62 The disempowerment of amputees, and those able-bodied citizens living under the threat of actual mine deployment extends further than those groups discussed above. The geographical dissemination of these weapons means that other sectors of society suffer also. Such is the multi-faceted nature of these devices, that peoples temporarily removed from a given conflictual arena may, and indeed are, subjected to the privations endured by others living in mined areas. The following section will examine the position of refugees and internally-displaced persons in relation to mine warfare, looking at the special vulnerabilities of those individuals who find themselves having to escape the ravages of conflict.

Mines, Refugees, and Internally-displaced Peoples Wars, whether international in nature or confined within the borders of a single state, are often characterised by the mass movement of peoples fleeing theatres of conflict. For those displaced by military engagements, the over-riding consideration is to find a place of relative safety. Many have found themselves having to move to a neighbouring country, or safe haven within their own borders. Irrespective of which war they wish to avoid, and by what means, refugees worldwide are united in sharing the traumas of: necessary migration; disease; malnutrition; increased mortality and morbidity, and uncertainty as to what the future may have in store. 63 The problems of refugee status are not, however, confined to the logistics of moving from one place to another; there is deep concern for the numbers involved. At the end of 1991, the United States Committee for Refugees determined that approximately fifteen million people had been motivated by war to move to other neighbouring states, and also that there were roughly fifteen to twenty million IDPs who had fled their homes and indeed entire localities seeking places that offered some measure of safety. 64 For those people who find themselves in situations of this kind, the future is unlikely to improve once peace has broken out in their home state or community. In a conflict that has featured mine warfare, the chances of rebuilding their lives are

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___________________________________________________________ compromised because these weapons are still in live mode, and therefore quite capable of inflicting death and injury. Assuming that a degree of political stability has returned to their homeland, many refugees and IDPs will, nonetheless, view repatriation with some trepidation. Having absented themselves (or, perhaps, been forcibly removed) from familiar localities for (in many instances) some time, they cannot know if the journey home is safe to undertake, due to a lack of knowledge regarding which areas have been mined and which may not have. Indeed, the same problems will undoubtedly confront returnees once they arrive back in their home communities. Looking at the position of refugees from this standpoint, and also from analysis to follow, it would appear that returnees are particularly vulnerable to mines laid in their absence. This statement is supported by statistics complied by various monitoring groups and humanitarian organisations; some are involved with de-mining operations, whilst others concern themselves with aid programmes and developmental issues. One of the major problems with researching and interpreting data on the medical and social consequences of landmines and returnees, is the apparent lack of methodology and experience in gathering empirical material in this area. 65 However, available data that exists indicates that the incidence of mine-related injuries and deaths tends to rise with the inflow of returnees to their home locales. In Afghanistan, as a suitable case in point, over 1,400 mine victims were received into medical centres in Kabul, Quetta, and Peshawar in 1992, a period that saw heavy repatriation of refugees; this represents a 130% increase in victims against similar periods in 1989, 1990, and 1991. 66 Studies carried out thus far have intimated that putative repatriation programmes, organised by pertinent organisations, have been consistently bedevilled by instances of spontaneous evacuation by refugees. In a best-case scenario, this would not ordinarily be considered to be a great problem, especially if the prospective returnees were resettling in mine-free areas. The high-risk factor occurs when refugees and IDPs wish to leave whilst hostilities are ongoing, and therefore do not have the benefit of warnings, markings, or mines-awareness education. The result of hurried and ill-considered return is an increase of victims of mines. Records at the hospital in Hargeisa, Somalia, show that landmine injuries, notably amongst children between five and fifteen years of age, had increased dramatically in early 1991, when thousands of refugees suddenly left their camps in Ethiopia and returned to northern Somalia. 67


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___________________________________________________________ If returnees have been able to complete the journey back to familiar locales, there may be other, equally serious problems to confront. Those individuals who did not attempt to flee the fighting, but stayed within reach of community environs, would invariably be better placed to take advantage of known mine-free areas and therefore able to farm safe, premium pastures. For refugees, however, repatriation may bring a host of difficult situations. These people may return to find that their land is being farmed by others; prime agricultural land may thus be in short supply, which effectively means that returnees may have to appropriate unfamiliar land to make a living. Draft animals, whose numbers may have been decimated by APM or general war attrition, are frequently in short supply, as may be farming implements, fertilisers, and transport for conveying crops to market. Displaced persons who may have acquired work skills in transit camps may engender resentment from locallytrained tradespeople in competition for jobs. Many new arrivals may have no home, or means of livelihood, which would entail a wider search for work. The mass movement of peoples, whether for conflictual or economic reasons, can have a devastating effect on communities plagued by ubiquitous minefields. 68 The effects of APMs on besieged communities goes much further than erosion of the regional infrastructure; in many cases, refugees may have to confront the fact that their countries have been ravaged by years - or decades - of conflict. Entire villages have been razed to the ground; irrigation systems have been destroyed, and many people have lost their homes and land. Economies have ground to a halt, and vast areas of arable land have been subjected to prolonged and perhaps gratuitous episodes of mine warfare. 69 Furthermore, refugees and IDPs may be excessively victimised by virtue of the fact that displaced peoples are disadvantaged due to a distinct lack of contemporary local knowledge. It would be impossible to expect these individuals to gather information about the recent deployment of landmines, certainly to the level of community members who elected to stay behind. This may in part explain why the incidence of APM casualties rises, once repatriation and resettlement programmes have been organised and are underway. It should be abundantly clear at this point in the chapter, that the physical manifestations of APM proliferation are wide-ranging and profoundly problematic in nature and effect. Data concerning the existence of the dilemmas presented by these weapons is self-evident, and readily available for detailed empirical research and subsequent

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___________________________________________________________ evaluation. An amputee crippled by a landmine is a visible example of the effects of these devices, as are depleted livestock herds, mined fields and other high- or medium-value economic assets. Whilst the gathering of research data in this field of study may bring its own attendant hazards, all the problems to be addressed are by no means exclusively insurmountable. Research methodologies that seek to discover the hidden, lessobvious aspects of the subject matter could encounter difficulties with the psychological impact of mine warfare, an area of study that may benefit from greater analysis at some point in the future. That a greater understanding of these phenomena is required is beyond doubt; whilst a ban on the production, sale or transfer of these weapons is both laudable and necessary, the existing problem of how to deal with those weapons already in the ground continues to be relatively unresolved. With these thoughts in mind, the chapter will now afford attention to the nexus of fear as it relates to landmines, which, because of the association that exists between APMs and the individual who becomes the victim, will primarily study this relationship as the first point of analysis.

The Nexus of Psychological Fear: Landmines and People Landmines possess the ability to inspire fear in populations subjected to the presence of these devices; as manufacturers and military personnel alike would agree, the fear factor, from an operational viewpoint, may be necessary: The mine has been designed with a view to disable personnel. Operating research has shown that it is better to disable a man than to kill him. A wounded man requires more attention, conveyance and evacuation to the rear, thus causing disturbances in the traffic lines of the combat area. Also, a wounded person has a detrimental psychological effect on his fellow soldiers. 70 Because mines are not limited to targeting soldiers, the ‘detrimental psychological effect’ mentioned above applies equally to non-combatants. As Chapter Four seeks to demonstrate, the nondiscriminatory nature of this weapon ensures this.


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___________________________________________________________ Looking briefly again at the plight of refugees and IDPs, anxiety for disadvantaged peoples means unnecessary problems being created, because a ‘ ...[F]ear of landmines has been cited as a significant cause of the slow pace of repatriation of refugees.’ 71 The scholarly study of fear, in a psychological context, is well documented. To pursue this line of enquiry does not does not fall within the scope of this book, which will instead analyse empirical data gathered at point of contact by NGOs and other relevant bodies. 72 To clarify this matter, the following description of fear is offered: Fear is usually listed among the emotions ... [and] that the common element binding the emotions into a class is that they all represent some kind of reaction to a ‘reinforcing event’ or to signals of impending reinforcing events ... [V]iewed in this light, fear is one form of emotional reaction to a punishment, where ‘punishment’ may be operationally defined as any stimulus which members of the species concerned will work to terminate, escape from, or avoid. 73 Over and above military considerations and the attitudes of troops towards death and injury in combat, and the supposed acceptance of such eventualities (conscripts notwithstanding), the emphasis of this section will be on non-combatants, who are ostensibly believed to have some measure of protection against the excesses of warfare. Reality belies such belief, as demonstrated during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, when ‘To terrorise the local population, anti-personnel mines were placed along fields and mountain passes.’ 74 The fear engendered by APMs may not necessarily be the result of an innate caution of these weapons; the probability is that terror associated with mines is the result of learned experiences, a case of ‘nurture winning out over nature.’ 75 The culture of terror and landmines is often at odds with the daily imperatives of existence; in rural subsistence economies, whereby farmers are impelled to work the fields in order to provide for the community’s immediate needs, choice (if indeed that is the word) is often restricted to a decision on whether to risk one’s life planting, cultivating or gathering the harvest. As Pilger noted during an interview with a young female victim, she stated that ‘I knew there were mines around ... [E]very day I was in fear of them. But the work had to be done.’ 76

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___________________________________________________________ The psychological problems of mine victimisation, as terrible as they are, tend to be compounded by the potential for wholesale damage, particularly in areas that have been saturated with large numbers of these devices. In countries such as Angola and Cambodia, the able-bodied have first-hand experience of the fate of amputees who face an (at best) uncertain future, and with the knowledge that the next footfall may place them in a similarly disadvantaged position. The list of problems that potential victims may have to deal with are formidable: In addition to the physical trauma of the loss of limb, the psychological trauma of a radical change of self image, especially for young adults, can seem unbearable to the individual involved. It often elicits a kind of grief response, analagous to that which occurs after the death of a close relative or friend. These people often have to bear the burden of providing for their family, or bear a social stigma. Unemployment, divorce, poor marriage prospects, and social ostracism are just some of the insults that follow the original one. 77 In the developed world measures to meet crises that, paradoxically, do not occur due to the fact that a mine problem does not exist, are in plentiful evidence. Well-structured and funded healthcare services, augmented by trauma counselling and ancillary services are available for those who need them. As earlier sections of this chapter have shown, the reverse applies in countries that frequently need them the most. It would therefore be logical to assume that any psychological impairment due to mine incidents would be exacerbated by a lack of suitable treatment, measured alongside the long-term impact on a stricken society as a whole.


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Conclusions The principal function of this chapter has been to analyse the minutiae of what has been described as the (arguably) global mine crisis. In so doing, several aspects of a manifestly multi-dimensional problem have demanded attention, in order to provide the book with an examination of the realities of mine warfare in afflicted communities. It establishes that APMs have certain properties incompatible with military utility, and that they breach codes of humanitarian conduct. Moreover, mines directly contribute to chronic impoverishment found in developing nations where these weapons have been used, which consigns them to a future on the global economic periphery. Because the countries concerned are almost certainly poor to start with, they are incapable of absorbing the costs in the same manner as industrialised nations. Ranging from the nature of wound ballistics, to the economic burdens presented by mines, through to the medical and social aspects of the problem, the chapter has sought to widen the debate regarding unconstrained deployment of the weapon. The use of these weapons has contributed to the struggles encountered by refugees and IDPs, adding to the sense of insecurity endured by such unfortunates. The chapter has also looked at the hidden, psychological impact of landmine injuries, a facet of the problem that may be invisible but is nonetheless an important area deserving of greater study. The chapter has attempted to cover a wide and detailed analysis of the landmine scourge, building on studies conducted in Chapter Four of the development of mine warfare and the increasing sophistication of mine systems. This brings the first part of the book to a close, which has also included a study of relevant theoretical matters in Chapters Two and Three. The text will now move on to complement what are perceived as the problems of landmines with an examination of possible solutions within the international community, which entails charting the progress of the campaign to ban these weapons up to the beginning of the Ottawa Process. This will also, importantly, take in matters of a normative nature, notably those issues concerning humanitarianism, morality, and organisations disposed to addressing the problems that APMs present.

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Notes 1

Note: this refers to analysis given theoretically in chapter two on regimes, which is expanded on at length in chapters six and seven. 2 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, 1997, p 3. Note: there is some disagreement on whether the APM crisis is truly ‘global’; according to the US State Department, many countries do not have a landmine crisis, which casts doubt on one of its own publications’ title, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, Washington, USDS, 1993. For instance, the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and many other states do not have a problem with uncleared landmines. 3 ICRC, 1992, p 1. Note: this observation may be found in several publications cited throughout this book, and will be referred to elsewhere. 4 Roberts and Williams, 1995, p 3. 5 Faulkner and Pettiford, 1998, p 53. 6 Watson, 1995, p 8. 7 United Nations, Department of Humanitarian Affairs, July 1995, p 1. 8 New Internationalist, September 1997, p 8. Reasons cited for an inexact methodology in calculating precise landmine numbers point to the fact that these weapons have been frequently deployed in remote regions, including arid brushland and heavily-forested areas. Furthermore, according to Jefferson (See: chapter 7), there is a suggestion that the ICBL has exaggerated the scale of the APM problem to serve its own ends. 9 The Guardian, 9 December 1997, p 2. 10 Lord Deedes, in A Clwyd, MP, 1996, p 9. 11 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, op cit., p 6. 12 Davies, 1994, p 1. 13 Coupland, in Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Review, 1996, p 69. 14 Mines Advisory Group, 1991, p 48. See also, for example, Human Rights Watch, A Deadly Legacy, 1993. Rae McGrath, former Director of the Mines Advisory Group, also gave delivered a speech on the subject, entitled: Collateral damage: Anti-Personnel Mines delivered to Handicap International Forum, Brussels, 6 March, 1992.


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Faulkner, 1997b, p 32. The degree of wound severity depends largely on the explosive yield of the weapon, as APMs have variable capacities to kill and maim. Furthermore, blindness is likely to be sustained by children, in part due to their lesser bodily stature, and also because they may be inclined to pick up and examine a device out of natural childish curiosity. 16 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, op. cit., p 86. 17 Prokosch. 1995, p 30. For further information on this subject, see Swedish International Peace Research Institute, Anti-Personnel Weapons 1978 which gives a comprehensive study of the subject matter. 18 See, for example, Harvey et al, Mechanism of Wounding, pp 143-235, in Beyer (Ed.), 1962, also Zuckerman, Wounds From Bomb Fragments, British Medical Journal , 1940, esp. pp 131-2; Coupland and Korver, 1991, pp 1509-1512; Stover, et al., 1994. 19 Prokosch. op cit., p 26. Note: the ‘Princeton Group’ refers to a team of scientists based at Princeton University, who were tasked to explore the science of wound ballistics under the leadership of E Harvey Newton during World War Two. 20 Ibid., p 12. 21 ICRC, 1993, pp 65-66. Other publications dealing with this subject include: Amputation for War wounds, ICRC, 1992a; Doucet, June 1992; Stover, et al., 1994, esp. pp 331-336. 22 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, op. cit., pp 121-124. Further data may be viewed in O’Brien, E, The Land Mine Crisis: a Growing Epidemic of Mutilation, The Lancet, 344, 3, December 1994, particularly p. 1522. 23 King, 1991, p 14. 24 Mines Advisory Group, op cit., p 48. See also: Gray, 1994; Coupland, 1994; Eshaya-Chauvin, and Coupland, 1992, esp. pp 221-223. 25 Coupland, op. cit., p 67. 26 Roberts and Williams, op. cit., p 9. 27 Mysliwiec, 1988, p 42. 28 Human Rights Watch Arms Project, op. cit., p 117. See also Stover, et al., 1994; International Committee of the Red Cross, 1995. 29 Ibid., p 130. 30 Kegley and Wittkopf, 1997, p 119. This reference seeks to build on the work of, for example, Balaam and Veseth, Introduction to International

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___________________________________________________________ Political Economy, (Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1996; Shannon, An Introduction to the World System Perspective, (Boulder, Colo., Westview Press, 1989); and, from neo-classical development theory, Todaro, Economic Development in the Third World, 5th. ed., (New York, Longman, 1994). Further readings of empirical findings can be found in United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report, 1991-1995 (New York, Oxford University Press). 31 McGrath, 1994, p 31. 32 Ibid., pp 31-32. See also: Goose, 1995. 33 McGrath, op. cit., pp 30-31. For further exploratory reading on this subject, see: ICRC, 1997c; Davies, 1994. 34 Human Rights Watch, op. cit., pp 131-132. 35 Borger, 1997, p 10. 36 United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General, 1994, p 12. 37 US Department of State, 1993, p 7. Note: according to Handicap International statistics, 97 % of mine casualties who received treatment in the Inhambane region of Mozambique for 1993 were civilians, of whom only 40% were males. Source: Human Rights Watch Arms Project, Still Killing: Landmines in Southern Africa, New York, HRW, 1997, p 78. 38 UN Report, 1994, op. cit., p 12. 39 Roberts and Williams, op. cit., p 6. 40 According to the US Department of State (1993), Mozambique’s landmine problem has been described as ‘extremely severe,’ with approximately 2 million unrecorded mines scattered across the country. 41 Ibid., p 217. There are currently a number of articles dealing with the situation in Mozambique; they include: UNDP, Human Development Report, 1994, (New York, Oxford University Press, 1994); Bernstein and Strasburg, Frontline Southern Africa, London, C Helm Ltd., 1998); Hanlon, Mozambique: The Revolution under Fire, (London, Zed Books, 1990). 42 US Department of State, op. cit., p 9. 43 Roberts and Williams, op.cit., p 208. 44 UNICEF, 1994, p 1. See also: Taylor, A Maimed Generation, Washington Post, 13 February, 1995. 45 World Food Program, undated. 46 Roberts and Williams, op. cit., p 261. 47 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 1991, p 56.


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Webster, 1994, p 29. Ibid., p 29. 50 ICRC, 1993 op. cit., pp 71-72. 51 Ibid., 1993, p 75. 52 Davies, op cit., pp 113-114. 53 Ibid., p 113. 54 UNICEF, 1993, p 18. 55 Ibid., p 18. 56 Ibid., p 18. 57 Davies, op. cit., p 112. 58 Ibid., p 112. 59 Ibid., p 127. 60 Pilger, 1992, p 237. 61 Physicians For Human Rights, op. cit., p 23. 62 See Human rights Watch 1994. 63 Doucet, op. cit., 1993, p 8. 64 Brogan, 1992, p 8. For further exposition of the problems associated with refugees and IDPs, the following may be of some interest: Handicap International, Rehabilitation Centre for Afghan Refugees in: Balochistan: Annual Report 1993; Batson, 1993; Teas, 1993; Armando, 1993. This subject is given wider treatment in publications, including: Loescher, 1993. There are, of course, innumerable papers and articles dealing with refugee issues published by, or on behalf of, the UNHCR. 65 Physicians for Human Rights, op. cit., p 134. This subject has been dealt with by other organisations, such as the UNHCR, and the Mines Advisory Group to a point, but opinion suggests that further studies need to be undertaken to increase general understanding of a complex matter. 66 US Department of State, op. cit., p 30. 67 Physicians for Human Rights, 1992, p 18. 68 Physicians for Human Rights, op. cit., p 135. 69 For more detailed case studies dealing with this issue, see Lake, et al, After the Wars: Reconstruction in Afghanistan, Indochina, Central America, Southern Africa and the Horn of Africa, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1993. 70 Pakistan Ordnance Factories, undated, emphasis added. 71 Hawkins, 1996, p 11. 49

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Readings on the related issues of psychological manifestations of fear, stress and anxiety cover a broad spectrum, with the following suggested as examples: Gray, 1971; Fromm, 1973; Marks, I M, Fears and Phobias, London, Heinemann, 1969; Cattell, and Scheier, 1961; Cox, 1978. 73 Gray, 1971, p 9. To clarify and expand on the definition given in the text, the following is offered for consideration: 1. A sudden calamity; danger; 2. The painful emotion caused by the sense of impending danger or evil; 3. Apprehension or dread; 4. Reason for alarm; 5. Solicitude, anxiety for the safety of a person or thing. Brown, L, (ed.) 1993. 74 Girardet, 1985, p 213. 75 This phraseology refers to the controversy among psychologists regarding behavioural patterns. The premise upon which each perspective rests concerns influences proceeding from 1. the environment, including learning and cognitive processes (nurture); and 2. the nature aspect takes its influences from hereditary principles that are generally founded, and would therefore carry on from one generation to the next. 76 Pilger, op cit., p 239. 77 ICRC, 1997, p 7.

CHAPTER SIX Progress and Passion: The Rise of the ICBL The ICBL as Humanitarian Epistemic Community: An Evolution This book has thus far looked at the realities of APM infestation on afflicted communities, with an historical perspective charting the development of this category of weapon system. The book will now move on to examine the ICBL as Humanitarian Epistemic Community (HEC) in detail; attention will be given to those imperatives which dictated the advent of the campaign from the outset, moving on to offer a study of the gradual evolution of those component members that form the constituent whole, up to the Ottawa Process and Convention. The relevance of this proposition is the central consideration that an entire class of weapon should be outlawed for humanitarian reasons, and bearing in mind the implications of such for possible future arms control issues. Chapters Six and Seven will accordingly offer a graduated progression of the campaign, culminating in the final Ottawa Process and Convention. Firstly, this chapter will look at the ICBL, which advocates normative responses to the immorality that landmines are perceived to represent. It will also take in the importance of certain actors as moral entrepreneurs within this community, examining the role that these individuals adopt in moving the campaign forward to its objectives. Chapter Seven will subsequently deal with the Ottawa Process and Convention, as an international regime resulting from the collaborative efforts of the ICBL and state-level entities.

The Advent And Progression Of The ICBL The ICBL, as an organisation dedicated to ridding the earth of landmines, found its intellectual and humanitarian precedents in a recognition that non-combatants should not be subjected to superfluous injury or death in the course of hostilities prosecuted between states parties, or (latterly) 1 within the confines of internationally-accepted, sovereign borders. Moreover, the campaign had invested itself with the moral authority taken from, by way of explanation, treaties and documents concerning the treatment of civilians in warfare. 2 This ethos was born out of the

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___________________________________________________________ realisation that antipersonnel weapons have become increasingly more destructive as technology has advanced, 3 and that the ratio of civilian to military casualties in warfare has increased as the twentieth century had unfolded. Carried a stage further, the campaign also recognised that, certainly in the case of APMs, casualty statistics continued to rise even after a cessation of hostilities. Owing to the intrinsic properties of this type of weapon system as a case in point, it is also accepted that APMs impact upon afflicted communities both directly and indirectly (see Chapter Five dealing with landmines and infested areas). Following on from these observations, it is a debatable point whether the ICBL would be in existence at all, or if there would indeed be a need for such an organisation, had the problem not assumed the proportions we witness today. To elaborate: the number of countries reporting moderate to extremely severe incidences of APM infestation has been estimated at almost 70, 4 which is more than one third of the total number of nation-states currently existing. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of countries affected by mines are situated in the global South - the Third World - which may go some way to explaining why the problem has not been addressed in anything like the manner it probably would have been, had this ongoing scenario occurred in any of the developed nations. 5 Looking at the issues from this perspective, and bearing in mind prevailing North-South relationships discussed earlier, it is not surprising that the campaign to ban landmines has been infused with a sense of moral outrage as the casualty statistics have risen inexorably upwards. It is perceived to be inevitable that any crusade assuming the mantle of ‘humanitarian’ matters will be inextricably linked to human rights, which, as Frost observes, ‘are rights which we have by virtue of our being human.’ 6 However, as he states in Footnote 3 (p 872) of the article in question, there is a recognition that asserting the existence of a human rights discourse is not to make a claim for consensus on all human rights matters. For instance, it is postulated as a given that citizens in the industrialised countries can reasonably expect to go about their daily lives without continually having to confront the perils of hidden mines and the life-threatening situations that they present; that children may go about their innocent pursuits without fear of having limbs torn off; and that socio-economic atrophy will not result from the still-functioning detritus of war. As such, the campaign has posed the question for the international community to ponder: if freedom from this type of persistent threat is

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___________________________________________________________ merely localised, and bearing in mind Frost’s comments above, should it not also be universal? Therefore, in undertaking a study such as this, these normative concerns are seen as the raison d’être and will form the basis of this chapter as it unfolds. Dependent upon which actors within the international system one wishes to analyse, and what aspect of the debate is most efficacious as a starting point, will determine with some accuracy when efforts to finally ban mines began. 7 Consideration will be given to the multi-faceted dimensions of the movement, taking into account historical analysis in general support of the chapter as a whole. The rationale that supports this modus operandi is thus: to broaden and deepen understanding of the subject; and to offer a wider appreciation of the normative concerns of the study in toto. For the requirements of this book, this is seen as a cumulative process - the initiating of the campaign as a sub-state, grass roots enterprise that sought to bring about change within the international system, arriving at the point whereby significant change is seen to have occurred, and formal procedures may then be adopted at the state level. The initial aspect of the campaign to be analysed here will be the role of international civil society; this is seen as a judicious starting point, largely from the perspective of those individuals and groups primarily responsible for starting the movement towards a ban on APMs. Those elements of civil society commonly identified with the problems are drawn from several disparate groups who, as putative moral entrepreneurs and mindful of the impact of mines on their activities, have brought about a coalition of epistemic experts, as Haas describes, 8 to eradicate what has been viewed as a common dilemma and chronic impediment to their objectives. In this manner, it has been possible to identify the (arguably) unique nature of the threat that landmines present. In the following section of this chapter, these thoughts will be explored in greater detail.

The Contribution of Civil Society Jody Williams, global co-ordinator of the ICBL and Nobel Laureate, in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1997, referred to civil society as the ‘...[W]orld’s new [S]uperpower.’ She also believes that the collaborative efforts of governments and non-state actors has set a precedent as a model for future arms control deliberations. 9 Be that as it may, it is undoubted that the achievements of this campaign have borne fruit because, as Williams has further stated:

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___________________________________________________________ ... [T]his campaign was born out of the minefields. This campaign was born of the humanitarian work of the mine-clearers and those putting limbs back on victims ...They recognised the dire necessity of going to the root of the problem, and the root of the problem is the indiscriminate killer of civilians: the landmine ... 10 Williams, above, identifies the nature of the problem to be addressed, and in so doing has encapsulated the ethos of the ICBL, allied to the fact that ignoring the dilemmas presented by mines will inevitably result in more deaths and injuries because the weapon will not go away landmines will continue to kill and maim if nothing is done to confront the situation. This is particularly relevant in developing countries, where surgeons from the ICRC, MSF, and other humanitarian groups have been continually confronted with landmine victims sustaining horrific injuries. In many cases, these wounds and deaths were inflicted long after what have been termed ‘low intensity’ conflicts have come to an end. For those medical and ancillary personnel, the use of weapons in what are ostensibly peaceful periods was (and doubtless still is) morally unconscionable. Moreover, in post-conflictual situations, the victims will all be non-combatants, simply by virtue of the fact that combat is nonexistent. From this observation alone it is quite evident that a moral platform for eradicating landmines is viable, certainly when tied in with the conduct of combatants in war. Returning to Williams’ definition of civil society as putative ‘Superpower,’ there is a case for clarifying her assertion further. Civil society may not, however, be as neatly encapsulated as Williams suggests. As Frost would have it, There is a sense in which a civil society is open to all in a way that membership of most other institutions is not. There is no list of members and there is no membership committee to which outsiders might apply for membership. Membership is gained either by rights holders granting to others the recognition appropriate to rights holders (whether or not such people have sought such recognition), or by outsiders simply acting as rights holders and thereby becoming members of civil society. 11


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___________________________________________________________ In other words, the ICBL is not civil society per se, but is a constituent part of civil society, in the same way as, for example, groups as diverse as the US-based National Rifle Association, the Catholic Church, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Furthermore, the concept, and existence, of civil society is not a contemporary phenomenon. What is seen as a ‘new’ development is the extent to which constituent communities communicate and co-operate on a transnational level, giving rise to a putative global civil society. However, and irrespective of whether this exists or not, as Frost reminds us, ‘[c]ivil society ... is pointedly a society which can be conceived of independently of the existence of any central authority.’ 12 In the same manner that the global polity is anarchical in nature, civil society does not exhibit a central overarching mechanism for policy formulation and implementation. Accordingly, matters pertinent to the redistribution of wealth, the environment, or even the proscription of a weapon system do not arise from civil society itself, but from within it. Extrapolating Frost’s ideas include his thoughts on ‘ ... [T]he great advantage of a human rights practice ... provides the individual with a defence against powerful entities such as corporations [APM manufacturers] or governments [mine-exporting and using states].’ 13 Taken a stage further, the individuals (moral entrepreneurs) have, in the case of the ICBL, formed a humanitarian community specifically to seek redress from the above entities. The use of the word community here is instructive. As Linklater discusses in his magisterial work The Transformation of Political Community, 14 as a recent example of influential emerging literature in this area. Such communities emerge because of the need for a deeper notion of rights that involves consideration of the marginalised, the ‘victims’ of the international system. In Linklater’s words, ... [n]ormative commitments to the civil, political, social and cultural rights require the widening and deepening of political community, especially when the members of like-minded societies are exposed to unprecedented levels of transnational harm. 15 This idea of ‘harm,’ which is revisited by Linklater elsewhere, 16 goes some way towards identifying the ‘harm’ occasioned by landmines, and provides a suitable rationale for the emergence of the ICBL as precisely an example of the political communities that he identifies as

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___________________________________________________________ necessary to internationalise the struggle against injustice in the international system. Consequently the ICBL, as a political community, and representative of civil society, emerged because of a common perception by disparate groups that landmines, by their presence, severely constrain the well-being of victimised individuals and societies: Transnational civil society not only exists as a community of political engagement in world politics, but it has a meaningful impact acting through networks in teaching states what can be seen as in their interests and in generating international norms. It is impossible to understand the co-ordinated, widespread commitment to ban the use of AP land mines by over fifty states since 1995 without the catalytic role in creating international norms played by transnational networks of non-governmental actors as members of a global civil society. 17 The ICBL itself may be described as: [A]n association of members as self-subsistent individuals in a universality which, because of their self-subsistence, is only abstract. Their association is brought about by their needs, by the legal system - the means to security of person and property - and by an external organization for attaining their particular and common interests. 18 Whilst the greater proportion of activity surrounding landmine issues have been conducted in the 1990s, the foundations of this campaign as a whole can be traced back to the end of the Second World War. However, to avoid unnecessary tangential excursions here, the matter will be dealt with at the appropriate juncture as the chapter progresses. There is a recognition that international overtures 19 designed to curb the excesses of APM use in warfare had seriously underestimated the nature and wide-ranging impact of the problem itself, and that existing regimes lacked the wherewithal to bring about meaningful change. The perception persisted that landmines issues were not de rigueur; they


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___________________________________________________________ languished in an arms control backwater, overtaken by developments of greater international moment, such as the ending of the Cold War and the conflict in the Gulf of 1990-1991. The Cold War as international phenomenon may be seen as a barrier to considered analysis of the landmines question, because those organisations and individuals capable of affording adequate treatment of the issues were themselves preoccupied with developments within the strategic landscape, and effectively ignored a weapon system that itself was a manifestation of global ideological struggle. 20 What has hitherto been overlooked, certainly in this context, is the question of effect in terms of operational use; in other words, whilst not denying the probable consequences of strategic weapon use, any comparison with APMs becomes effectively moribund when casualty statistics, and the harsh realities of economic implosion resulting, 21 are offered for examination. However, with the apparent demise of Cold War nuclear sabrerattling and a recognition of the dangers posed by seemingly unconstrained deployment of landmines, a moral consensus arose that began to question the legitimacy of these weapons as part of the state’s (and sub-state) military inventory. As one armaments worker at Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA of Brescia, Italy, explains: I always knew that I was constructing weapons. Landmines. We all knew it here, obviously. Castenodolo [where the Valsella plant is sited] has made its fortune on the production of landmines. What we were not aware of was the devastating results of our work, the real consequences for human beings in other parts of the world. That is how we have been deprived of our dignity. That is why we have to say: enough! 22 These sentiments are echoed within the NGO and legal communities, arguing that ‘...[T]he use of landmines is illegal under current international customary and treaty law’ 23 and that producers and their apologists in government give the appearance of operating in a moral vacuum. In keeping with the quotation from the Valsella worker, with reference to producers in mine-free, developed nations, retention and subsequent sale of mine stocks ‘ ... is, of course, easy to argue ... from the safety of the United Kingdom, which does not have mines hidden in its parks and playgrounds.’ 24 Being able to argue this position with relevant

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___________________________________________________________ facts at the disposal of civil society, is the end-product of research undertaken by people in the humanitarian and academic communities, with a view to raising mines awareness within society at large. From this platform, it has been possible to move the campaign forward in a positive fashion. In Chapter Five it has been put forward that, amongst other groups, refugees and internally-displaced persons have themselves been subjected to landmine attrition, a fact not lost on organisations concerned with the welfare of such peoples. In January, 1991, the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, in testimony to the US Congress, called for a ban on APMs in furtherance of refugee rights. 25 This requirement was endorsed later that year by Asia Watch of Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, in their joint publication ‘The Coward’s War: Landmines in Cambodia,’ thus providing expert and authoritative evidence from the field in support of a ban on these weapons. 26 Studies conducted by, amongst others, the UNHCR discovered the extent of landmine infestation, and the impacts of these weapons on (especially) itinerant, and also static communities. 27 Whilst it is accepted that fieldwork analysis undertaken on the problems encountered by refugees and displaced persons would open up further enquiry on the likely social, economic and human rights impact of APMs, it also widened the geographical implications thereof. In other words, landmines do not always specifically target small, sedentary or static economic targets; they also proliferate widely according to the size of the conflictual theatre in which they play a role. As demonstrated in Chapter Four, this scenario becomes increasingly problematic when automated, scatterable mine seeding systems have been introduced. 28 Bearing in mind that there existed a growing awareness of the nondiscriminatory properties of these devices, it became increasingly obvious that the perceived military utility of such systems should be called into question, particularly when set against pressing humanitarian concerns, and bearing in mind the ‘violation of the integrity of innocent peoples’ described in Chapter Three. From initial awareness of the gravity of the situation in mined areas, the VVAF and Medico International of Frankfurt, Germany, agreed to jointly start a campaign of advocacy that would bring together various NGOs (what Chapter Three refers to as humanitarian epistemic community formation) in a concerted effort to bring about a ban on landmines, in November, 1991. From this meeting, the ICBL can trace its


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___________________________________________________________ beginnings, 29 based, as an indicator of the direction in which the campaign appeared to be moving, on customary laws of war as normative precept, and consideration for the protection of the wounded and sick, prisoners of war and innocent civilians. 30 The implicit recognition at this point is of the escalating ratio of civilian to military deaths, and the need to bring about redress and reverse this trend. Further impetus to the campaign had been added with the incidences of sub-state conflict around the globe post World War Two, notably intrastate wars of a terrorist, insurgent or revolutionary nature. Conflicts of this type have been characterised by undisciplined use of weapons or tactics, which put them ostensibly at variance with national standing armies having formal rank structures, standing warfighting doctrines and operational procedures and, significantly, being representative of states that are signatories to treaties dealing with the treatment of civilians. 31 The campaign also had to consider the fact that APMs are cheap and plentiful, and may be termed the ‘weapon of choice’ for many substate groups conducting military type operations, or what Ambassador Karl Inderfurth of Special Political Affairs in the US delegation to the UN, in paraphrasing (then) Ambassador Albright, refers to as the ‘Saturday night specials of regional conflict;’ 32 as US Senator Patrick Leahy (D, Vt.) explains: Landmines are cheap, easy to get, easy to carry, highly effective and can make whole areas inaccessible. Thus, whatever their source and wherever they are used, landmines have advantages for insurgents and poor countries as well as technologically advanced countries. 33 The magnitude of the task facing the ICBL should be selfevident; it had become increasingly clear that APM proliferation, and the death and injuries incurred as a result, had assumed the proportions of a major humanitarian catastrophe. 34 To meet this challenge the ICBL, as an agenda-setting, humanitarian community, was able to establish and maintain contact with other bodies on a relatively large scale, mostly due to the knowledge-dissemination media and the technological communications (what the chapter on regime theory describes as ‘shared knowledge’) capabilities at their disposal: ‘The technical revolution of the twentieth century lies in the increased density, the increased speed and the

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___________________________________________________________ reduced cost of communication. The political revolution lies in these changes bringing rapid global communication to most people.’ 35 In recognition of this facility, the ICBL had used the technology as a vehicle to transport ideas and a programme for action to those bodies instrumental in bringing the world’s attention to this specific issue area. The ICBL campaign began in October 1992; the steering committee that would supervise the campaign came from the following groups, combining their separate initiatives: Handicap International; Human Rights Watch; Medico International; Mines Advisory Group; Physicians for Human Rights, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. These NGOs agreed to co-sponsor the first NGO conference on landmines, held in London in May, 1993. What is notable about these organisations is that, prior to the landmines initiative, none were previously involved in disarmament issues. 36 They came together under the common rubric of anti-mine campaigners, to confront what they perceived to be a humanitarian catastrophe. In the words of Ken Rutherford, co-director of the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) and himself an APM-disabled individual, ‘NGOs are influencing the movement of public opinion, governments and the media towards a [regime] ban. Like environmental degradation and terrorism, the landmine issue has become “internationalized.”’ 37 Certainly, the inception of the steering group in 1992 ably reflects the international flavour of the campaign at a relatively early stage in its development, indicating a growing awareness of the problems presented by APMs, and demonstrating a unity of purpose by those groups and individuals concerned. In addition to orchestrating a co-ordinated campaign to bring attention to the issues, various organisations decided to publish reports and expert articles designed to attract the interest of policymakers and specific interest groups. In October 1992, Middle East Watch published a report on landmines in Kurdistan, entitled ‘Hidden Death’; this report, whilst ostensibly of interest to anti-APM activists and lobby groups, would also be of concern to, amongst others, development agencies and refugee advocates’ forums. Besides the obvious benefits of disseminating information to as wide an audience as possible, this strategy would also act as a catalyst for debate on a whole raft of issues, designed to open up research on the wide-ranging implications of using these weapons in vulnerable communities. Furthermore, as Chapter Three indicates, disseminating factual, epistemic-based data of this nature not only draws


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___________________________________________________________ attention to the problems in the field, but also provides policymakers with analysis to arrive at informed decisions. For example, data collection in the field by experts of approximate mine numbers, casualty statistics and possible environmental degradation would be important for forming an accurate picture of the scale of problems on a region-by region-basis. 38 By 1993, the ICBL’s steering group had been established, and with it the momentum for meaningful change to the position of APMs as instruments of armed forces doctrine. In February of that year, the French Institute of International Relations, together with Handicap International, jointly set up a symposium on landmines attended by over 100 individuals, at which the French Foreign Ministry declared that a letter had been sent to the UN Secretary-General, the purpose of which was to request a review conference of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). With this announcement, the type of actor incorporated into the campaign had graduated from the purely HEC sector into inclusion of multilateral organisations such as the UN and the state itself. The point to make here is that France, by participating in this process, had legitimised the ICBL at the state level, thereby opening the door for other states to provide input. Further to this, Handicap International, as part of its brief to expose the severity of the mines situation to a wider platform, presented a 22,000-signature petition to French President Mitterand, on an official visit to Cambodia. There was some strategic thinking to this move; Mitterand was aware of the problem in one of the world’s most mine-ravaged countries, and would therefore be mindful of the weight of public opinion. Subsequently, Mitterand recognised France’s so-called ‘voluntary abstention’ from exporting mines and calls upon other states to follow France’s lead. 39 What is perhaps highly significant about the normative nature of the campaign at this juncture, with regard to mine manufacturers, concerns the changing position of Bofors, the Swedish armaments company. In December 1993, Bofors issued a statement announcing that, for ‘moral’ reasons, the company would no longer be trading in landmines; furthermore, in an effort to promote transparency and to clarify its position, Bofors also took the step of stating that the ban on APMs included the export of fuses and explosives to buyers who might conceivably use such materials to construct and traffick in AP mines. 40 As observers of international humanitarian law would doubtless comment, the actions of Bofors at this stage in the ICBL’s evolution presents a moral precedent for other, allegedly less scrupulous mine

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___________________________________________________________ producers to contemplate, and that such actions point to a watershed in the ongoing argument regarding the moral responsibilities of companies that make and sell weapons which, as the ICBL has taken pains to indicate, are intrinsically non-discriminatory, and which should therefore be proscribed without reservation. Moreover, it is recognised that arms companies operate within a legitimate security environment that looks to industry to provide the tools that underwrite national security, be it of the indigenous or international variant. 41 From the point of view of the ICBL, enlisting the participation of a broader range of epistemic interest groups at this stage meant that the impact of the movement would be dispersed amongst actors potentially capable to bring about substantial change, not least with regard to strengthening and improving international law and binding legislation on these devices. The ongoing results of this activity meant that, at a relatively early stage in the history of the ICBL, other sub-state actors would be apprised of the grave consequences of gratuitous (and frequently random) deployment of landmines. Medical Action for Global Security, an affiliate organisation of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, hosted a seminar on mine injuries at the Royal College of Surgeons; in the audience were medical professionals, mine manufacturers and military-political representatives. 42 The primary purpose of this seminar was to demonstrate the human cost of using mines, with the IPPNW assuming a ‘moral entrepreneur’ role, and the concomitant ethical dimension that the ICBL clearly believed to be of paramount importance. 43 Taken in context, seminars such as these served to open the debate to a wider audience, acting in a pedagogic capacity, thereby widening the knowledgeable support base. This strategy of inclusivity, coming as it did shortly after the end of the Cold War, added emphasis to a perceived appreciation of the hitherto widely unappreciated dangers associated with APMs, certainly when preoccupation was centred around strategic weapon systems. What began to emerge concerned the ‘core strength’ of the ICBL; as alluded to earlier in this chapter, the campaign consisted of several diverse organisations which, while dealing with human rights and related matters under a fairly broad remit, nonetheless could not be considered to be a ‘single agenda’ agglomeration of disparate entities. The ICBL, from the outset, had adopted a quite loose structure, eschewing the need for a central headquarters or secretariat, 44 thence avoiding the pitfalls of top-heavy bureaucratic institutions that may be


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___________________________________________________________ prone to data duplication, institutionalised prevarication, and so on. It is accepted that the ICBL’s common goal has always been to achieve a ban on APMs, but its strength has been to adopt a semi-autonomous posture suited to peculiar circumstances, cultures, and free development according to mandate, while still being in a position to chart common actions and strategies on a regular basis. From this position of relative strength, free of a rigid and inflexible structure, the campaign had been able to realise its vision in a relatively informal environment. As the momentum of the campaign began to gather impetus, the geographical spread began to assume the proportions of a global network. In September of 1993, New Zealand NGOs, which had at that time commenced work on landmines awareness projects, convened their inaugural meeting that would form the platform for the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines. This was closely followed in November of that year with the Australian aspect, in which groups held a day-long seminar in Parliament, formally opened by the Prime Minister. This took the form of a Symposium, entitled Landmines: A Human Rights Crisis. 45 Subsequent to that meeting, one week later, the Australian Defence Force Academy held a one-day seminar. 46 As a final act for the ICBL in 1993, Italian NGOs hosted a workshop in Rome, in conjunction with NGOs from the campaign steering Committee. 47 The Italian arm of the ICBL, in particular, was seen to be highly important, as their indigenous mine manufacturers had adopted an aggressive export policy, notably by Technovar and Valsella. 1993 also saw a number of authoritative publications disseminated amongst NGOs, defence organisations, scholars and interest groups. Previous to this, papers and other, lesser-known publications had tended to be aimed at specialised readerships, particularly those dealing with issues of humanitarian aid and mine clearance (see bibliography for details). However, there was a recognition that, in order for the landmine question to receive greater awareness within a larger audience, it would be imperative for the written word to complement the impassioned rhetoric of those organisations and individuals who espoused a complete ban. In November of 1993, Human Rights Watch, together with Physicians for Human Rights, released a joint 536-page report on APMs, entitled Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, that dealt with the production, trade, pertinent international law matters and mine clearance techniques among other relevant issues. 48 Other important and influential documents that deal with mine-related matters may be found later in this chapter,

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___________________________________________________________ under specific sections other than current observations dealing with matters at hand. What had been perceived to be a matter of central concern to the ICBL, and indeed other bodies involved in humanitarian work, surrounds the often emotive outcry that inevitably follows whenever children are subjected to gratuitous acts of random (and all too frequently premeditated) violence, mental and physical abuse, and the deleterious effects of famine and abject poverty. Whilst it would be perhaps inappropriate to state that inequality in all its manifestations is deliberately used by concerned organisations as a weapon (sic) to prick the collective conscience, it is nonetheless axiomatic that appeals to paternal and maternal instincts will, in all probability, galvanise the public into ‘doing something.’ 49 To elaborate, pictures of children with amputated limbs caused by mines would stir emotive feelings in most parents. From this angle of approach, the ICBL used powerful tools to put the message across that landmines are pernicious, unfeeling killers of young and old alike. With these thoughts in mind, and moving chronologically onwards, Radda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) launched its campaign with the issuing of a report entitled ‘Mines and Children - A Catastrophic Combination’ in January of 1994. 50 As an indicator of the widening opposition to landmines, Oxfam UKI, within its remit as a humanitarian organisation, released a briefing paper under the heading ‘Tackling the Scourge of Anti-Personnel Mines,’ in February 1994. The paper sought to open up the debate within the NGO community at large, by discussing the problems encountered by APM-besieged communities in the global South. In so doing, Oxfam underlined the issues of the problem by looking at the nature and scale of the dilemma, its own experiences and responses, complemented by case studies of Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia. The report concluded with a short narrative or what might be done to resolve the problems posed by APMs world-wide. In March of 1994, both the Belgian and Irish NGOs launched their respective campaigns to bring about an end to the use and trafficking in landmines. 51 What is significant about these overtures, at least from the Belgian perspective, is the influence that HECs would have in bringing about a change in governmental policy. This aspect will be dealt with in the appropriate areas in Chapter Seven, dealing with State-level measures to proscribe APMs, but it is worth mentioning here in passing, as it represents a landmark initiative in the continuing evolution of the ICBL.


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___________________________________________________________ To clarify this point here, and without revealing too much of what properly belongs in another section, this refers to the actions of the Belgian government in stating its preferred position on banning mines as part of its stated policy. Leading on from this, in May of 1994, the ICBL held its Second International NGO Conference on Landmines in Geneva, logistically supported by UNICEF Geneva, and which, as a reflection of the growing strength of the ICBL, was attended by over 110 Representatives of 75 NGOs. 52 During the same month, Lord Deedes, former editor of the Daily Telegraph and pro-ban advocate, called landmines ‘... [T]the cruellest serial killer and an ecological horror story,’ in a speech in London on behalf of Oxfam. 53 Running concurrently with this latest development, the US arm of the ICBL, in the (moral entrepreneur) form of Senator Patrick Leahy, announced a moratorium on the sale, export, and transfer of APMs, to be ostensibly observable for an initial one-year period. The philosophy that determined this deviation from former policy would be that the US, as a global leader in both political and military terms, would be in a position to give a new direction to States’ attitude to APMs in general, and the growing consensus regarding landmines in particular. 54 It is accepted, however, that moratoria are not lasting bans, and should be looked at in that light. Up to this point, the involvement of religious groups had not yet made the impact that might have been expected. However, in June of 1994, the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace disseminated a document that, in broad terms initially, discussed issues related to the arms trade; what is significant about the Vatican’s stance concerns a statement that called for the banning of landmines, and thereby purported to take a lead, from a non-secular perspective, in the aims and objectives of the ICBL. 55 In August, Cambodia, a country that had suffered (and continues to do so) the deprivations of APM infestation to devastating effect, announced that the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines was to be launched. This move was closely followed by the Canadian Landmines Campaign’s first meeting in Ottawa, in which Mines Action Canada (MAC) challenged the Canadian Government to ban the use, production, trade in and stockpiling of APMs. At the same time, Italy, a known major exporter of APMs, witnessed the Italian Landmines Campaign holding a 3-day event in Brescia. Thousands of people participated in a 17-kilometre march towards the local APM-producing plant, culminating in the Castenodolo

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___________________________________________________________ town council, bowing to popular pressure, voting unanimously to join the Landmine Campaign. 56 This remarkable demonstration of ‘people power’ came about, as much as anything, from the work of Manitese, the Italian NGO, which presented the impact of APMs on victims to workers at the Valsella plant. With the collaboration of local priests and trade unionists, Manitese promoted mines awareness inside the factory. What Manitese had in effect done was to take the campaign directly to the manufacturers, using the moral argument with graphic explanations of the end-uses of APMs, and also reminding workers that, as devout Catholics and with the Vatican imprimatur that landmines are immoral and inherently pernicious killers, and that the production of these weapons constitutes an inhumane act. 57 The continuing evolution of the ICBL forward into 1995 largely followed the pattern of the preceding years; landmines awareness, targeted at other members of the humanitarian community and the general public, gradually put the message across that these weapons operated in contravention of humanitarian principles, and that use was, at the very least, morally reprehensible. With the closing of the preceding year, US Ambassador to the UN Karl Inderfurth, speaking at the landmines forum on 16 November, gave a recognition that the ICBL’s concerted efforts were beginning to bear fruit, by stating that ‘This is the first time the international community has spoken with one voice on this subject.’ 58 With the acceptance that the ‘international community,’ to paraphrase Inderfurth, had indeed spoken in concert about the salient issues, came a recognition that the visible evidence of landmine despoliation would add further credence to the campaign, should that be needed. Drafting the human face onto the misery that mines represent is a powerful weapon to stir the collective conscience of a hitherto largely unaware public appreciation of what these weapons can do to people. The ICBL have had to utilise emotive and arguably controversial methods to achieve stated objectives in the same way as, for example, Oxfam or Christian Aid in an attempt to galvanise opinion in their favour, certainly with regard to complex issues surrounding human rights and ethical argument. In March, 1995, Tun Channareth, a Cambodian ambassador for the ICBL, launched a campaign in the UK designed to shame the British government into changing its policy on landmines. Mr Channareth delivered a 280,000-signature petition to the Government, calling on then Prime Minister John Major to support the ban. Channareth is an APM-


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___________________________________________________________ disabled amputee, who lost both his legs after stepping on a landmine near his home. In an emotional address in the House of Commons, he said ‘My children’s playground is a minefield. This is the same for all of us in Cambodia. We cannot even do ordinary things like collect wood or water without risking standing on a landmine.’ 59 This event, which was organised by Cafod, highlighted the APM problem in Cambodia, a country described by the US State Department as a ‘ … [T]extbook case of a country crippled by uncleared landmines.’ 60 Furthermore, in order to highlight the international nature of the mines dilemma, Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, opened a meeting on the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons in Harare, Zimbabwe, by calling on all nations to bring about a ban on landmines. 61 Landmine victims would prove to be prominent in ongoing campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues, in addition to ensuring that governments, particularly those involved in the trade in these devices, as a visible reminder of the unconscionable impact on real people and the concomitant effect in social and economic terms. In June of 1995, the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines, and the NGO Forum on Cambodia, held a three-day international conference attended by over 400 people from 42 countries in Phnom Penh. As a high-profile exercise, this proved to be a significant platform for amputees (of which Cambodia has an estimated 30,000) 62 to sit alongside their able-bodied peers from the UN, relevant NGOs and de-mining organisations. 63 The position of amputees, and other disabled victims of landmines, had also, from 1995 onwards, improved immeasurably with the founding of the Landmine Survivors Network, a humanitarian NGO that advocates at the international level and is a full contributing member of the ICBL. 64 Over and above the shock value of seeing what is left of a human being that steps on a mine, there remains the objective difficulty of attempting to imagine what being a victim feels like, as Jerry White, co-founder of the LSN, explains: Sometimes it is hard to fathom the mass suffering caused by landmines. Even I have trouble getting my mind round it, and I have actually stepped on a mine. I’ve experienced the shock of looking down at my body and wondering in pain: where did my foot go? ... I still remember the deafening blast and the smell of blood, dirt and burnt flesh. The explosion completely ripped

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___________________________________________________________ off my right foot on the spot ... I probably would have bled to death if I had been travelling alone. 65 In a message of support to the Cambodian conference, Pope John Paul II called for a lasting ‘ ... definitive end to the production and use’ of anti-personnel mines, at the 50th anniversary meeting of Pax Christi in Assisi, Italy; this message was echoed by the Vatican Secretariat by calling for a ‘ ...permanent ban on this type of weapon.’ 66 By incorporating the Vatican and its instruments into the campaign process, the ICBL had sought to invest itself with the moral authority of the church, as an adjunct to the secular aspect of this campaign. The stated aim, in line with prevailing NGO thinking on this matter, was to ‘ ...[B]uild up pressure on governments ahead of a review of the 1981 Inhumane Weapons Convention ... to be held in September 1995.’ 67 It is to this aspect of the movement that the chapter will now devote attention; it will not do so, however, in any great depth. The reasoning that dictates this approach concerns the realisation that this conference is mostly involved with state-level deliberations on the matters in hand, and, mindful of the HEC element prominent in this part of the chapter, to overstate the case for extensive inclusion would fall outside the inherent requirements thereof. From the perspective of HECs, the review conference represents a form of progress towards eventual elimination of landmines, as part of the state’s military inventory. It had been accepted that the original Inhumane Weapons Conference, especially Protocol Two relating to mines, whilst ostensibly a well-meaning attempt to proscribe or limit a class of weapon system, had inherent flaws that made binding and effective legislation all but impossible. 68 Therefore, should the aims of the ICBL be realised, it would be necessary to draft a document that seeks to address these concerns, in addition to providing the campaign with a platform to strengthen and expand the terms of reference for a universal ban on these devices, and tighten up the utility of use by military forces, because ‘ ... much of Protocol II appears to provide civilians with protection, but suffers from ‘get out’ clauses which prioritise military needs over civilian protection.’ 69 In September, immediately prior to the review conference, the VVAF held a press conference in Washington, DC, to publicise the release of its book, by (later) Nobel Laureate Jody Williams and Shawn Roberts After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines,


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___________________________________________________________ which amounted to a socio-economic report on the impact of mines in afflicted communities. The book was also released in the UK and at the review conference. The UKWGLM, in an act of judicious timing, held a weekend of action marking the opening of the conference, during which a special landmines service was held in Westminster Cathedral. Similar events were held simultaneously in Germany, South Africa, and in the Irish Republic. 70 The Review Conference was held in Vienna from 25 September to 13 October. As a matter of urgency, it was considered imperative that Conference addressed the shortcomings of the original IWC, and specifically Protocol Two. At the Conference, Austria stated that it had renounced APM use, in the face of mounting pressure from NGOs, and had destroyed existing stocks. Germany had also taken similar steps, together with France stating that it, too, had decided to ban APM production and would destroy all existing stocks. 71 However, it should be noted that the primary objective of the Review Conference was not to bring about a ban on these weapons, so much as to limit their use. The consensual opinion was that, by placing constraints on use, the effect would be ameliorated. Issues covered included matters of scope, duration of unmarked minefields, anti-detector mines and restrictions on transferability. However, acting under what the UKWGLM report on Vienna concluded was ‘ ...[T]he façade of a humanitarian treaty’ 72 certain producer states were eager to find exemptions for their own scenarios, and consequently for their landmine systems. With various factions pursuing vested interests, it was perhaps inevitable that the Conference would adjourn without consensus regarding the way forward. Conversely, as an exercise for co-operation between NGOs, the ICRC and UN agencies, Vienna had proved to be a most viable proposition. NGO press conferences convened, and, despite being excluded from most of the (state-level) sessions, the ICBL were able to pressurise 73 governmental delegates. They were able to do so in a number of useful and effective ways: by producing a twice-weekly newsletter reminding delegates of the human cost of using APMs; by organising public briefing sessions with delegates from India, US, Sweden, and Austria; by showing full-length videos and films on landmines available to all interested delegates; and by organising events in the city of Vienna for the general public. In short, the ICBL used the ‘oxygen of publicity’ to good effect. As a caveat, and one that carried essentially negative connotations, Vienna fell far short of humanitarian requirements; nothing

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___________________________________________________________ of substance had been decided, and that any agreements or tendencies were somewhat fluid in nature. From this standpoint, and in the opinion of the ICBL, there was ‘ ...[E]very reason for continued public and NGO lobbying to change government’s positions.’ 74 Leading up to and continuing beyond the Ottawa Process, there will be an implicit recognition that this guiding principle is a prerequisite, should the aims of the ICBL eventually come to fruition.75 Having established an agenda for action that would take the campaign forward, the ICBL has been instrumental in helping governments to perceive landmine issues as being of the utmost importance; by shrewd manipulation of media and other, pertinent aspects, HECs pointed out that many states were inclined to favour a ‘watered down’ landmine law in line with a predisposition to escape a total ban on these weapons. There appears to be no doubt that the collective voice of the anti-mine lobby greatly influenced the outcome of Vienna, and that states had to seek an adjournment of extant negotiations, to be pursued at a subsequent conference in Geneva. 76 This is a recognition, as Rutherford states, that: The international community has witnessed the coming together of more than six hundred NGOs ... coalescing into a formidable [HEC] actor on this [anti-landmines] issue ... NGOs have encouraged governments to factor NGOs into their diplomatic equations. 77 The opening of the next phase of the evolution of the antilandmines campaign began in Geneva, to discuss ‘technical issues.’ The ICBL, in keeping with its tactic of using high-profile forums to reiterate its message, convened a meeting of pro-ban states during which an agreed framework moving towards an immediate ban, rather than a prevaricatory ‘eventual elimination’ which would still not have addressed the chronic urgency of the use of APMs in a humanitarian context. What was particularly significant about this conference in Geneva, was that, in a totally unexpected change of policy, Canada announced an immediate moratorium on use, production, trade and export of APMs; a Bill calling for a total ban was tabled in Parliament. 78 The rationale for this comes from Canada’s governmental recognition that ‘... international public opinion will not tolerate the indiscriminate violence of landmines ...,’ and


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___________________________________________________________ that ‘the public places humanitarian values above military interests in calculations of international security.’ 79 This landmark event effectively marked the beginning of the Ottawa Process, which will be discussed in depth in the following chapter. Canada’s volte face on the APM issue notwithstanding, and as laudable as this new position was viewed at the time, there was, and still remains 80, the question of how to persuade the US that a total and unequivocal ban on landmines would be the most efficacious standpoint for that country to adopt. From the ICBL’s perspective, having the US on board would amount to a major political achievement, in view of a generally-held acceptance that America had ended the Cold War as primus inter pares, the remaining Superpower, and that the country’s influences at the politico-diplomatic level would be a significant factor in bringing about a global ban on APMs. In other words, the call was for the US to assume the global leadership role that its pre-eminent, hegemonic position suggests as a viable proposition. However, for reasons perhaps best known to the US military-industrial complex and others, this proposition has yet to be adequately realised. 81 As a moot point, it may be argued that the evolving successes of the ICBL would have been strengthened by US inclusion, but perhaps the salient point to reflect upon here is that the campaign, especially the US civil society aspect, had been instrumental in bringing about meaningful change despite alleged governmental obfuscation and recalcitrance. 82 This position remained unchanged despite the fact that, in March 1996, the VVAF sponsored two full two-page advertisements in the New York Times, the first calling on President Clinton to ban APMs; the second, a letter to Clinton supporting the ban by retired General Norman Schwarzkopf, and 14 other high-ranking officers.83 Despite US exclusion, the ICBL’s agenda for a total global ban on APMs was to move inexorably onwards; irrespective of the obstacles that the first Geneva Review Conference presented, a second conference was convened, also in Geneva, from 22 April to 3 May 1996. The expectation was that the formula for a revised Protocol could be achieved, although it was far from certain that this would be the case, largely because several producer states would lobby for what the ICBL considers to be unacceptable conditions on behalf of indigenous manufacturers. 84 Negative connotations notwithstanding, the second round of the Geneva negotiations of the Landmines Protocol opened with amputees in wheelchairs greeting incoming delegates with long-stemmed roses; the

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___________________________________________________________ Swiss aspect of the ICBL had pasted the photograph of a young female victim on to the 500 rose containers, donated by local florists as part of the events planned to dramatise the civilian attrition brought about by deployment of APMs. 85 At the Wall of Remembrance, erected to commemorate the 13,000 casualties sustained since Vienna, and which had a counter that clicked every twenty minutes to add another statistic, NGOs presented the President of the Conference with 1 million signatures collected from people in over 50 countries calling for mines to be banned; in total, 2.6 million such signatures have been gathered, and more were expected to be received for use in future events. 86 Other activities, in keeping with the high-profile nature of the event in Geneva, included a simulated minefield that delegated encountered every day; a mountain of shoes, in front of the Palais des Nations, symbolically representing limbs lost to APMs; a demining exhibition and a campaign vigil at the gates of the UN on the final day. 87 Furthermore, at a campaign meeting held in May of 1996, it was decided to expand the Steering Group membership in recognition of the ongoing growth and diversity of the ICBL as global HEC; new members included the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Cambodia Campaign and Radda Barnen, the Swedish children’s NGO. 88 The review process of the original, 1980 CCW ended with the closure of the second Geneva round of negotiations in May of 1996; however, in view of obstructionist tendencies by certain states (see comments above), the ICBL believed at that time that the so-called revised Landmines Protocol was ‘woefully inadequate,’ and that it would be unlikely to make a significant difference in the battle to end the global mine crisis. However, it is worth mentioning that the campaign had ‘very low expectations from the negotiations,’ and that it had always considered the review process to be a staging post on the way to an eventual ban - in other words, it was not an end in itself, merely an opportunity to promote the campaign’s agenda, that being the primary focus of ICBL activities in and around the Geneva deliberations. 89 Amidst this climate of ‘half measures’ - an attempt by the international community to simply limit the scope of restrictions on APMs - and taking into account Canada’s revised position in relation to these weapons, the ICBL believed that the conditions for realising a complete ban might be put in place. This assertion was supported by information that, prior to the Vienna negotiations, only 14 states had pledged support for an immediate ban; by the end of the second Geneva


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___________________________________________________________ conference, that number had grown to 41. In addition, at close of conference, the ICBL held a joint press conference with the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, and the government of Canada, reiterating its constantly-held belief: only a ban will do. 90 For its part the Canadian government, working with pro-ban states and the Quaker Office in Geneva, outlined broad initiatives to galvanise the proban movement during a meeting of states and the ICBL in the Autumn of 1996 in Canada, hence ushering in what would be termed the ‘Ottawa Process and Convention.’ 91

Conclusions This chapter covered the first phase of the international campaign to ban landmines, concentrating on the roles of civil society and humanitarian epistemic communities. It also included some relatively subordinate input from state level actors, but this was done to indicate the success of a proselytising process necessary for achieving the campaign’s ultimate goals. The chapter set out to explain the forces that have shaped the progress of the movement, and the methodologies used to change the way we think about landmines and, importantly, why a ban on these weapons is necessary. In addition, as I discuss in the section on future research areas, there is a likelihood that the analysis offered here may be useful for exploring other possible areas of arms control, for example the trade in small arms. Having reached a relatively successful degree of progress (recalcitrant states notwithstanding), the next part of this exercise will involve an examination of state-level measures to formulate and implement a document that requires States Parties to cease the production, sale, export, and stockpiling of AP mines, and to destroy existing stocks. This will entail charting deliberations up to and beyond the formal signing ceremony in Ottawa in December 1997, with which Chapter Seven will now engage.

Notes 1

This refers to the fact that most conflicts post-dating World War Two have been of an internal, sub-state nature. As the book indicates

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___________________________________________________________ elsewhere, acceptance of this critical perspective has had an important impact on efforts to universalise the campaign with a view to circumscribing all landmine use, and closing loopholes in international law pertinent to APM deployment. See, for example, the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), which failed to legislate for conflicts of an intrastate nature. 2 See, as examples, regulations respecting the laws and customs of war on land, annexed to the Convention respecting such, the Hague, October 18, 1907, reprinted in ICRC 1989, p 167); the Geneva Protocols of 1949, especially clause IV, dealing with the treatment of civilians. 3 For an explanation of the relationship between antipersonnel weapons technology and destructive capabilities, see, for example, Prokosch, 1995; Zuckerman, Scientists and War: The Impact of Science on Military and Civil Affairs, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1966; Hammerman et al., Human Impact of Technological Innovation on the Battlefield, Historical Evaluation and Research Organisation, report 114, Fairfax, Va: 1985. 4 CARE International, 1996, p 1. Updated analysis, from, for example, the Washington Post dated 29 August 1997, puts the number at 68 countries; the New York Times, of the same date, also arrived at the same figure. The independent, Catholic De Standaard (Belgium) dated 5 December, 1997, however, puts the figure at 70 countries. In none of the above cases, however, are numbers substantiated by lists of affected countries. In mitigation, it is noted that listings are held by reputable bodies such as the ICBL, UN, ICRC, US State Department and OXFAM UKI (details of relevant documents may be found in the book bibliography). 5 To qualify this statement, it is accepted that, for example, France and the Netherlands had a mine problem during and after World War Two, but these nations were able to muster the resources necessary to eradicate these weapons. 6 Frost, 1998, XLVI, p 872. 7 See: CNDR, undated. 8 Haas, Summer 1989. See also: Young, Summer 1991. 9 Short, March 1998, p 10. 10 Excerpt from Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Associated Press (AP), 10 December 1997. 11 Frost, op cit., pp 881-882.


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Ibid., p 881, Fn 26. Ibid., p 873. 14 Linklater, 1998, p 203. 15 Ibid., p 203. 16 Linklater, July 1999, p 474. 17 Price, March 18-22, 1997, p 57, emphasis added. 18 Knox, 1967, p 110. See also: Keane, 1988; Urry, 1981; Neocleous, 1996, emphasis added. 19 See, for example, deliberations entered into at the Lugano Conference of Government experts of 1976, Rogers, April 1993, pp 241-245; Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Landmines Protocol) United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) document A/Conf. 95/15, and correspondences 1-5; International Legal Materials 1534 (1980), cited in, Physicians for Human Rights/Human Rights Watch, 1993, pp 261-318. 20 This refers to the use of APMs on many Cold War battlegrounds, such as Korea, South East Asia, Central America and various proxy wars fought on the African continent. 21 For a fuller explanation of this statement, see chapter dealing with the multidimensional impact of landmines on affected countries. 22 Testimony by Franca Faita, Valsella worker and trade unionist, in New Internationalist, No. 294, September 1997, p 28. 23 Rutherford, 1997, p 2. 24 Faulkner, 1997a, p 18. 25 CNDR, op. cit., undated, p 1. 26 Ibid., p 1. 27 See: Adamson, September, 1994; United States Committee for Refugees, 1995; UNHCR, 1993. 28 Suggested readings on this subject include: Alliant Techsystems, 1991; Jane’s, 1992. 29 CNDR, op cit., p 1. 30 Price, op cit., p 13, referenced from Article 51 of protocol I (1977) additional to the Geneva Convention of 1949, stating: ‘Parties to a conflict must always distinguish between civilians and combatants. Civilians must not be directly attacked and indiscriminate attacks and the use of indiscriminate weapons are prohibited.’ 13

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There is a recognition that, further to footnote 21, states will generally abide by rules and Conventions to which they are legally bound, although those states that have used and stockpiled scatterable systems have abused the letter and the spirit of the law by deploying weapon systems that cannot discriminate between soldiers and civilians. Nor, it would seem, can they retrieve unused or militarily-redundant landmines strewn over a wide geographical area by, for example, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. 32 Extracted from Inderfurth, 1994. 33 Physicians for Human Rights, 1993, p 382. 34 For a more comprehensive discussion on this statement, see: Leahy, 1997, pp 17-21. 35 Baylis and Smith, 1997, p 301. 36 New Internationalist, op cit., p 25. 37 Rutherford, op. cit., 1997. 38 Examples of data compilation and interpretation may be found in , for example, the following publications: United States Department of State 1993; United States Department of State, 1994; International Committee of the Red Cross, 1993; International Committee of the Red Cross, 1997c. 39 CNDR, op cit., p 2. 40 Chronology of the Movement to Ban landmines, found on the WWW at: www.icbl.org 41 This refers to the practice of exporting armaments to underwrite the costs of domestic defense requirements. For further readings on this, see Pilger, 1994, pp 16-17; Buzan, 1987, especially pp 69-111. 42 Ibid., p 2. 43 For a detailed reading of the type of medical problem posed by APMs, and normative considerations, see: Coupland, 1996b; Save the Children (US) Briefing Paper, undated; The Lancet 1995. 44 Williams, J; Landmines Ban: From vision to reality. full text can be found on the WWW, at http:// icbl.org. 45 ICBL, 1994 p 1. 46 CNDR, op cit., p 3. 47 ICBL, 1994, op cit., p 3. 48 A full explanation of the publishing details of this document can be found in the bibliography that accompanies this study.


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The author feels that some qualification may be needed at this juncture to put this sensitive subject into context. The reader may recall, for example, the 1985 ‘Band Aid’ project instituted by Bob Geldof, which used graphic images of starving African children to illicit an emotional response from the general public, the objective of which was to raise funds for famine relief. Furthermore, the ICBL used the (paraphrased) moral slogan ‘landmines cannot distinguish the footfall of a soldier from that of a child’ in much of its campaign literature. 50 CNDR, op cit., p 3. For further readings of literature dealing with landmines and children, the following will be of some use as examples: Save the Children (US), undated; Radda Barnen, Children of War, newsletter No. 3, June 1996; United Nations, 1997, esp. pp 13-14; Human Rights watch Arms Project, 1997, pp 3-4. Note: the study will be returning to questions regarding children and APMs at various points, which will be referenced accordingly. 51 ICBL, 1997j, p 12. Also, according to the Guardian of 31 March 1994, a total of 14 relief organisations issued a statement called for a total, world-wide ban on APMs at the Brussels meeting. See: Ban Urged on AP Mines, p 15. 52 Ibid., p 12. 53 Berrington, 1994, p 17. 54 Donovan, 1994, p 18. Note: Sen. Leahy was, at that time, also acting in his capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the United States Senate. His initial interest in this issue stemmed from his work funding the US Foreign Aid Budget, providing artificial limbs and other, related assistance to civilian victims of mines, which started in 1989. 55 ICBL, 1994. p 2. Found at: vvaf.org/library/chronology94.htm 56 ICBL, 1994 op cit., p 3. 57 Interview with Nicoletta Dentico, Italian journalist and pro-ban activist, Tuesday, 2 September, 1997. Note: Ms Dentico admitted during this interview that the Italian campaign had played heavily on a religiouslyoriented platform, stressing the psychologically-emotive aspect of innocent victims being randomly slaughtered by APMs produced at Valsella. 58 Inderfurth, 1994, p 117.

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Dynes, 1996, p 14. United States, US Department of State, 1993, p 37. There are extensive readings on the landmine situation in Cambodia, of which perhaps the best and most comprehensive is Davies, 1994. Other useful reference material includes: McGrath and Stover, 1991; Mysliwiec, 1988; UNICEF, Cambodia: The Situation of women and Children, Phnom Penh, UNICEF, 1990. 61 ICBL, 1995 op cit., p 2. 62 New Internationalist, op cit., p 13. 63 ICBL, 1995, op cit., p 4. 64 The LSN was founded by Jerry White l and Ken Rutherford, two American citizens who are themselves APM victims. Reference will be made to this organisation later in this text, particularly in the chapter that studies fieldwork interviews gathered in Washington DC. 65 White, 1997, pp 1-2. 66 ICBL, 1995 op cit., p 2. 67 Watson, 1995, p 10. 68 This observation refers to certain aspects that acted as a barrier to the stated objectives of the ICBL, such as : the Convention failed to legislate for internal, sub-state conflicts; it excluded intrusive verification measures and punitive sanctions levelled against transgressors; lack of ratification by majority consent; too many loopholes; the primary focus was on landmine use; it failed to give adequate explanation of tiers of accountability for indiscriminate deployment. For further explanation of these matters, see: Doswald-Beck, 1993, p 274; see also Faulkner, 1997d, p 47. 69 Watson, op cit., p 17. 70 ICBL 1995 op cit., pp 4-5. 71 Ibid., p 5. 72 UKWGLM, 1995, p 2. 73 Note: this is meant in a moral sense; the city of Vienna became the focus of media interest in the issues, which was used by the ICBL to influence delegates through anti-mine events around the main forum, as described later in this chapter. 74 UKWGLM, op cit., p 10. 60


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Whilst it is accepted, with hindsight, that the ban process in still so far incomplete, the ICBL recognises that a universal ban is non-viable without the inclusion of so-called recalcitrant states who have elected to remain outside the process, and that future inclusion will involve much more in the way of diplomatic overtures to improve this situation. Coincidentally, this, and related matters, will be discussed at the appropriate juncture later in this book. 76 Rutherford, op cit., p 21. See also: UKWGLM, op cit., 1995. 77 Ibid., p 26. 78 ICBL,1996a, found at vvaf.org/library/chronology96.htm. 79 Axworthy, 1998, p 448. 80 The US has stated that it will dispense with standard APMs by 2003, with a reservation that ‘smart’ landmine technology will be kept in place. The US position is partly dependent on ‘alternative technology’ superseding the position of mines in the military inventory. 81 This matter will be afforded treatment in the appropriate section of the following chapter, but is worth mentioning here as a significant counterpoint to efforts of countries such as Canada, who do not enjoy the same status on the world stage. Further analysis of this matter is given in chapter seven, dealing with fieldwork studies. 82 See analysis gathered during fieldwork interviews on this matter, which will endeavour to offer greater explanation in the relevant chapter. 83 ICBL, 1996a p 3. Further analysis of this can be found at the New York Times website, as an example. 84 Faulkner, 1997c. p 54. 85 Cantwell, 1996. p 1. 86 ICBL, 1996b, p 9. 87 ICBL, July 1996c, p 2. 88 Ibid., p 1. 89 Ibid., p 1. 90 Ibid., p 3. 91 Price, 1997, p 49.

CHAPTER SEVEN Legal Authority and Ethical Platforms: The Ottawa Treaty Comes to Fruition The Ottawa Process and Beyond In the previous chapter, analysis was undertaken that opened up the subject of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. It did so initially by identifying the nature and scope of the problem that the campaign seeks to address. Quite early in that chapter, it was established that matters at hand would demand a bifurcated approach in chronological context, due to the perception that a clear distinction would have to be made between achievable aims and the methodology employed to bring these objectives to fruition. In so doing, there now rests a recognition that certain clarifications need to be set out. This implicit acceptance is predicated on the agendas of actors at two levels of analysis: the state and its interests, which includes those entities 1 that form part of the structure; and essentially Humanitarian Epistemic Communities, whose agendas may not necessarily (and frequently do not) converge with those of the first aspect. The previous chapter discussed the evolution of the anti-mines campaign up to the Ottawa Process and Convention; the analysis given indicates that State interests clashed with those of the ICBL with regard to ulterior motives, the former attempting to limit legislation on landmines to allow some form of APM trade to carry on. The ICBL, on the other hand, was (and remains) adamant that a total, universal and binding ban on mines should be the final outcome of negotiations, without exception. The ICBL has however recognised that real change can only come about through the intervention of governmental practice, and to a degree is dependent on the political will being present. To put these conditions in place, there is a requirement for international civil society to mobilise the vox populi into an effective force for positive action, which it has done in the years leading up to Ottawa. 2 Having now established that the will of ordinary people has prevailed in bringing forth a mechanism for statesponsored action towards a ban on landmines, this chapter will proceed with an examination of the Ottawa Process and Convention shortly. Before embarking on that section of the study, it is worth mentioning here that part of the text will devote some space to the interest in the mines campaign taken by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the

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___________________________________________________________ ‘[M]other of a future king’ 3 as some would have put it, and arguably the global personality of the 1980s and (especially) 1990s. The inclusion of Diana is important for two reasons: her influence on the lives of millions of people; and her complementary access to, and relationship with, the global media. These thoughts are supported by Ken Rutherford, coDirector of the Landmine Survivors Network and himself a mine victim, who stated: ‘She is the most renowned face in the world and for her to support what we are doing is incredible.’ 4 The final preparatory matter that needs to be mentioned is the award of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to the ICBL and its global coordinator, Ms Jody Williams. It is accepted that the recipients of this particular award have made a contribution to the furtherance of world peace, and that the Peace Prize is in itself a recognition of the importance of this campaign to that end. In a letter to Geir Lundestad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, US Congressman James McGovern (D, Mass.) states that: ...[T]he International Campaign to Ban Landmines represents a dramatic expression of the will of civil society to change international norms. An award to them of the Peace Prize would send a powerful signal that such models for social change are recognized as critical and important as we move into the next century. 5 Congressman McGovern’s statement encapsulates the significance of the ICBL’s position as it has evolved from relatively inauspicious beginnings, to a movement that presently involves hundreds of NGOs 6 scattered across the globe. This evolution will be explored in this chapter, through the process that has resulted in an APM ban passing into international law.

The Ottawa Process and Convention The Ottawa Process and Convention proper can be said to have commenced in October, 1996. 7 This landmark event was put together explicitly to formulate a ‘fast track’ 8 pathway that would result in a global ban, at the first opportunity. (The reason for a quicker solution to the problem stems from the fact that, as the previous chapter was at pains to

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___________________________________________________________ point out, vested interests by certain states meant a ‘watered down’ formula that would merely limit the use of mines, when the ICBL clearly required a total ban.) Held in Ottawa, Canada, from 3rd to 5th of October the title ‘Towards a Global Ban on Landmines: International Strategy Conference,’ the event brought together 50 governments supporting a ban, 24 observer status states, dozens of NGOs, UN agencies, the ICRC, and other international organisations.9 The incorporation of state-level actors, as the previous chapter sought to illustrate, has enhanced the moral gravitas of the campaign, and lent an air of legitimacy to the process which, as the ICBL has accepted, would be to present a compelling argument directed at those actors reluctant to embrace what amounts to an arms-control exercise. As the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister. stated in a press release: Over the last few days, representatives of 70 governments, non-governmental organisations, and multilateral agencies, and private citizens, have told us that this gathering has added greatly to the momentum to ban mines ... [I]f the will is there, and we believe it is, we [the Canadian government] are offering to host an AP mine ban treaty-signing conference in December 1997 as a sign of our commitment to the ban. 10 Minister Axworthy’s words pointed to a belief that a ban remains a workable proposition, and that this undertaking was realisable within a reasonable time frame, to ‘civilize the human condition.’ 11 Furthermore, these sentiments are reiterated by Jody Williams, who said that ‘The primary objectives of the [Ottawa] conference were to develop an Ottawa Declaration, which states would sign signalling their intention to ban landmines, and an “Agenda for Action,” which outlined concrete steps on the road to a ban.’ 12 This chapter will now offer analysis of the agenda, which will be an incremental process taking the campaign to the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa in December 1997, and the subsequent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the ICBL later that month. Outcomes from Ottawa point to three broad agreements by the participants, which will need to be outlined here and which will form the basis of subsequent deliberations as the chapter progresses: x A final declaration agreed by the 50 government participants to conference, recognising the urgent need for a ban on APMs;

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Conference Chairman’s Agenda for Action, which amounts to an outline of actions for achieving an expeditious ban; x The announcement by Foreign Minister Axworthy at the closing session, that Canada was prepared to host a treaty-signing conference, in December 1997. 13 On 1st January 1997, the Swedish government’s unilateral ban on APMs entered into force; 14 later that same month, the ICRC issued a call for the campaign to be stepped up as part of the run-up to Ottawa 1997; the organisation was motivated to issue a major statement because of an understanding that dissemination of factual data relating to APMs would need to reach a wider audience. This included sections of states’ military infrastructures that might not be acquainted with the full impact of mines on civilians, and thereby enhance the case for stigmatisation of these weapons. In broad terms, this entailed an international public advertising campaign to increase awareness. To this end, the ICRC announced that a website (www.icrc.org) would be introduced; this site would take the form of a global database of landmine injuries, founded on information gathered from all available sources. (As Chapter Three discusses, this can be seen as an example of communications ‘networking’ that is a significant facet of regime propagation, and data dissemination practised by HECs). The database carried analysis of reported landmine incidents by country, region, age, gender and status of victims (civilian or military) where known. Furthermore, drawing on its extensive field experience in medical and orthopaedic care for conflict casualties, the ICRC intended to publish, in the Spring of 1997, a global study of assistance needs for mine victims, and in what form that assistance would be. It also intended to produce a short documentary film dealing with the subject. 15 The ICBL, for its part, took to the campaign trail by hosting the 4th ICBL Conference in Maputo, Mozambique (a heavily-mined country itself), in late February 1997. Under the rubric of ‘Towards a Mine-Free Southern Africa,’ 450 participants from 60 countries stated a requirement to create a ‘mine-free zone’ as a medium of publicity. This strategy was underpinned by the conference’s stated aim of ensuring that as many countries as possible were in a position to attend Ottawa as committed signatories to the proposed treaty, and also to reach those elements of civil society as yet unaware of the humanitarian and developmental consequences of mine proliferation. 16 Opening the conference, Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano announced that Foreign Minister Leonard Simpio would state that the country would be


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___________________________________________________________ unilaterally banning all AP mines the following day. 17 The same month, the Austrian government hosted the first preparatory session; the purpose of this meeting was to discuss elements of a comprehensive ban treaty, in which representatives of 111 countries attend. At the sub-state level, the meeting was attended by the ICBL, the ICRC, and UN agencies. As far as the viability of Ottawa was concerned, a number of government representatives expressed significant support for the process, in clear preference to using the Conference on Disarmament. It is noted that even those states that supported working through the medium of the CD did not speak out against Ottawa, doubtless with the realisation that to do so would have incurred a degree of political isolation from what was becoming, at least in normative terms, a landmark event in arms control history. (This is largely in line with Haas’ thoughts in Chapter Three, regarding regimes as vehicles for learning producing convergent state policies). Conversely only four states - Cuba, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and South Korea expressed their ‘legitimate right’ to use APMs. 18 As a stark counterpoint to states eschewing a ban on APMs, Germany hosted a technical meeting from 24-25 April to discuss methodologies pertinent to establishing guidelines for verification and compliance measures, in the event of a ban treaty. In part, this was due to the failures of the past, notably the 1980 Conference on Conventional Weapons. The seriousness of this aspect of Ottawa is reflected in the fact that 120 states attended the meeting, arising from the Austrian government’s ongoing work to that end. 19 Negotiations designed to reflect a more positive position did not confine themselves to Europe, Africa or indeed other countries or regions afflicted with mines; in a move seen as ‘ ...[I]nstrumental in motivating Japan towards a ban on anti-personnel landmines,’ 20 Tokyo held a conference, hosted by the Japanese government from 6-7 March 1997, with the theme ‘What we can do towards a total ban on anti-personnel landmines.’ Partly motivated by a requirement to take Japan on board the ICBL campaign, the meeting was also about persuading the Japanese that the country should ‘ ...[F]ulfil the international role expected of it’ within a wider context, but with the ethos of the ICBL firmly in mind. The conference was further aiming, in the form of a direct challenge, to unilaterally destroy its existing stockpiles of over 1 million APMs, to ban the production and use of APMs (including the so-called ‘smart’ variants), and to redistribute the budget set aside for that production to mine-clearing and development of related technology, in addition to victim-assistance programmes. 21

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___________________________________________________________ At this point in time, with Ottawa less than a year away, the ICBL and interested states parties held a meeting in Brussels, the purpose of which was to assess the state of the Ottawa Process. In a sense, Brussels was about rising to the tremendous public response to the campaign overall, and the fact that the attitudes of ordinary people had ‘caught the world’s governments by surprise, and challenged their sense of a normal diplomatic process.’ 22 From 24-27 June 1997, Brussels was a meeting of great political importance, insofar as governments pledged publicly to support the process, and give a commitment in reality by signing the treaty that would be the outcome of Ottawa. Jody Williams, in her opening statement to Brussels on behalf of the ICBL, articulated the criticality of the conference: The importance of this meeting is clear. We are at the halfway point in the Ottawa Process. Governments have assembled here in Brussels to assess the progress made since the initial challenge by Canada last October to return to Ottawa this December to sign a comprehensive treaty banning antipersonnel landmines ... In short our goal remains the same: The International Campaign to Ban Landmines wants a simple, comprehensive ban treaty with no reservations, no exceptions and no loopholes. 23 Brussels, as well as being a forum for debate at the diplomatic level, was also about reinforcing the role of civil society as an international manifestation of peoples’ desire to do something about problems caused by the presence of APMs. As Minister Axworthy puts it, ‘Various regional initiatives have made a major contribution to the common goal of eliminating these diabolical weapons. The Brussels conference will provide an opportunity to evaluate progress on a regional basis, thus reinforcing action at the international level.’ 24 This point, in relation to the ‘Civil Society-Government Interface,’ and analysis undertaken in Chapter Three regarding Humanitarian Epistemic Community impact at state level, is acknowledged in retrospect by a number of observers, and that some governments strongly support the complementary role of HECs and civil society: ‘With their networks and their ability to move quickly, NGOs have offered … a valuable way to take action quickly.’ 25 This point is underscored by Ken Rutherford, who


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___________________________________________________________ further argues that ‘NGO educational and media efforts work to form and direct public opinion, which in turn, influences national governments.’ 26 As one academic observer succinctly puts it, The term Civil Society is especially apt when referring to the impetus for change in the case of land mines, since it is the political locale self-consciously identified by both the NGO ... community and by governments (whether generously or contemptuously) ... Transnational civil society in this context refers to a set of interactions among an imagined community to shape collective life that are not confined to the territorial and institutional space of states. 27 This ‘influencing’ of national governments may be deemed to have been a success; given that states have the final sanction in bringing major changes to the international system about, certainly by forming a coalition of concerned countries to effect change to legislation on mines, it may be said that: Non-governmental actors played a key role in this coalition. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in particular were [HEC] pioneers in the lengthy effort to raise awareness and break down artificial barriers among the humanitarian, development, and disarmament aspects of this issue. 28 As this and the previous chapter have undertaken to reveal, this process had been of a cumulative nature, and progress in the real sense needs to be set against net gains. Thus far, a number of states and HECs had worked together towards a common set of ideals, namely the banning of landmines on a global basis. The bringing together of state and substate units at international forums had, admittedly, yielded certain results, not the least of which is a determination to foster the conditions necessary to achieve this arms control exercise. Brussels being the latest in a series of meetings and symposia, it had brought the objective that much nearer. During the Final Declaration at the closing of the Brussels conference, a total of 106 states agreed to sign the Declaration and

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___________________________________________________________ proceed with the Ottawa Process; 29 and agreed that the following essential elements would accompany the consensus regarding a total ban on mines: x Encouraged by the work of the Brussels conference; x encouraged further by numerous regional and national initiatives to eliminate mines; x encouraged, finally, by the active support of the ICRC, the ICBL, and other NGOs; x Welcome the convening of an international diplomatic conference by the Norwegian government in Oslo on September 1st, 1997, to negotiate an agreement; x Welcome the work of the Austrian government on draft agreement, containing elements described above for consideration with other relevant matters; x Affirm their objective of concluding the negotiation and signing of such an agreement banning all APMs before the end of 1997 in Ottawa; x Finally, inviting all other states to join in efforts to that end. 30 In bringing the text on Brussels to a close, perhaps the final word on matters relating, and of the future should come from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The next important meeting is planned for September this year in Oslo, where the diplomatic conference will be starting. So the process of formal negotiations can begin and I thank Norway for her readiness to shoulder the responsibility of organizing it. I invite you all to embark on this phase of negotiations with the same unity of purpose which you have shown in the last few days. We owe it to the thousands of innocents who fall victim every year to arrive at concrete results quickly. 31 On the downside, the conference in Brussels suffered - as other before it had - from the absence of the United States in taking a lead in this campaign. According to one influential organ of the media in the interim period between Brussels and Oslo,


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___________________________________________________________ Washington’s negotiators are burdened by the Pentagon’s insistence on two exceptions that could sabotage efforts to negotiate a worldwide treaty [to ban mines]. One would permit continued American use of mines on the Korean peninsula. The other would create a loophole for anti-personnel mines sown in conjunction with anti-tank mines. 32 That many observers in the international community expressed concern about the US position is beyond doubt, and this concern had extended to, amongst others, representatives of the American medical community, who sent an open letter to then President Clinton calling for a change of position by his administration. 33 The position of the US notwithstanding, the Ottawa Process appeared to have gathered its own momentum, and was rolling inexorably towards a positive conclusion. The implications of the US stance, and other recalcitrant states will be dealt with at relevant points in this book, but it is worth alluding to here in order to gauge the response of concerned bodies, and the fact that reference to this occurrence will be made at the appropriate junctures. In preparation for Oslo, the ICRC disseminated a newsletter 34 stating that over 100 states would be gathering in Oslo, Norway, for the Diplomatic Conference hosted by the Norwegian government from 1st to the 19th September, 1997. The purpose of the treaty would be to ban the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of APMs. The ICRC, UN and NGOs would attend as observers. According to the ICRC, three main points would be looked at in relation to the upcoming treaty: first, the importance of arriving at a clear and unambiguous definition of an AP mine; second, the requirement for an immediate and unequivocal ban on the production, transfer and use of these weapons, with concomitant obligations to destroy all existing stockpiles; and finally, to ensure that the treaty is effective, no reservations should be allowed for its provisions. The newsletter also issued an open invitation for all states to attend Ottawa. Before contemplating the intricacies of the Oslo round of negotiations, this point in the chronology of the ICBL, and its efforts to bring about a global ban on mines, was marked by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on August 31st 1997. Dubbed ‘The People’s Princess’ by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, MP, in comments made to the press and television later that morning outside Chequers, the late Diana had

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___________________________________________________________ identified the landmines problem as an area of personal concern, and, being the personality she was, had ‘ ... [B]rought landmines into living rooms across the globe.’ 35 Due to her (often unwanted) elevated position of éminence grise and arguably situated as deus ex machina in respect of the landmines campaign, she found herself in a position to bridge the gap between two different kinds of morality: the one that debates the efficacy of using mines as a regrettable but justifiable weapon of warfare from the safety of unmined territory, and the obverse perspective that issues forth from the collective voice of victims and infested communities alike. The principal problem, it would seem here, is to disentangle (arguably) fanciful media hyperbole from factual analysis whenever discussion of Diana was debated. As an ostensible member of the British Royal family and bearing in mind all the implications of such an association, much has been made, particularly in the popular press, of her often controversial and troubled life. Be that as it may, her status had afforded the oxygen of publicity to what may be perceived as ‘unfashionable’ charitable enterprises. Landmines being the case in point, it is clearly undeniable that her patronage (and arguable role as moral entrepreneur 36) helped to publicise this campaign exponentially, and pushed the issues to the forefront of public consciousness, irrespective of the Princess’ motivations. A survey of press comments during highprofile visits to Angola and Bosnia seems to bear this out: Her visit to Angola earlier this year unquestionably put landmines higher on the agenda and indirectly quickened the movement towards a universal ban. She hopes that this mission to Bosnia will serve to stir consciences of the plight of the victims. 37 Lord Deedes’ 38 comments are echoed by other organs of the press, notably when a landmine victim comments on the input given by Diana: I have lost both my legs and I have testified to the US Senate and spoken to a lot of politicians ... I have met the Princess and she is a real person. She cares about this issue in her heart.


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___________________________________________________________ You don’t come to Bosnia for a vacation. I think most people around the world will see her just as I do. She really cares. 39 Taking the issue of Diana and landmines squarely into the overtly political arena, one journalist wrote the headline ‘In this Accidental Battle of Beauty and the Beast, She Wins,’ 40 comparing the Princess’ visit to Bosnia with that of Richard Holbrooke, who led the latest US diplomatic mission to the Balkans. Whether inadvertently or otherwise, the Princess had crossed the Rubicon that separates real minefields from the political variant, and in so doing opened herself to criticism from indirect and sometimes ‘unattributable’ sources from within, for example, the British political establishment. 41 Unhelpful and perhaps misleading statements aside, Diana’s contribution to the campaign ensured that she will be irrevocably identified with the campaign; as one member of the ICBL steering group put it, All who have worked to eradicate landmines, and to support landmine victims, will eternally be in her debt for her ability to empathise with those who suffer. Her personal strength and bravery in speaking out will be a fitting and lasting tribute. 42 There will doubtless be some detractors who might argue that the Princess was little more than a dilettante who, jaded with the endless round of society parties, paparazzi attention, and glitter of the privileged, sought some kind of refuge in doing good works and being seen with people less fortunate (if that is indeed the word) than herself. That, however, would be to ignore the facts of the matter that, whether by accident or design, Diana had made an impact on the ICBL and its aims, and had brought attention to those oft-forgotten people living in daily contact with landmines. This matter will be taken up in more detail later in this book, specifically in fieldwork studies during interviews with various members of the HEC coterie, media and US government functionaries. The chapter will now move on to examine the Oslo round of the ICBL, which was convened the day after Diana’s death.

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Oslo: Process Formulation In the days immediately prior to the formal convening of the Oslo conference, there existed a belief that certain governments (particularly the US) would attempt to weaken any legislation arrived at by Conference, thereby rendering the whole Ottawa Process effectively watered down. The ICBL’s constant mantra throughout had been, as a reminder to earlier references, ‘ no exceptions, no loopholes, and no reservations.’ It had become clear that some states, in pursuit of vested interests, favoured this ‘watered down’ version of the Ottawa treaty, and would vigorously pursue this line. The ICBL, mindful of this agenda, had cautioned that NGOs and pro-ban governments ‘ ... [M]ust be vigilant in opposing possible efforts to weaken the treaty.’ 43 As far as the US was concerned, policy centred around then President Clinton’s so-called ‘new’ landmines directive, containing basically three elements: x an end to the use of ‘dumb’ mines by 1999, except in Korea; x continued use of ‘smart’ APMs, pending international agreement; x and negotiation of an international agreement to ban APMs. 44 This selective position adopted by the Clinton administration was underpinned by a philosophy that viewed APMs, in certain circumstances, as legitimate instruments of warfare, particularly in an international climate that witnessed (and still does) voluntary abstention from the Ottawa Process by major producer-states. In an interview with Robert Bell, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defence Policy and Arms Control at the National Security Council, it emerged that: There are many, many very important states in relation to this world landmines catastrophe that are not part of this treaty, or at least don’t appear to be willing to join it - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Vietnam, Israel, just to name a few. So we faced the reality that we would have to operate with our military forces in a world in which we would not have landmines and many important states would. 45


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___________________________________________________________ It is not the intention here to dwell upon US policy regarding APMs at great length, but it will be worthwhile mentioning some aspects, as they have some bearing on the deliberations entered into at Oslo. The first point to make deals with US mine policy in South Korea; the assumption is that, with substantial North Korean forces stationed in close proximity to the Demilitarised Zone, barrier-building with landmines provides an effective deterrent, and a measure of security for South Korean and US forces in the theatre. As Chapter Four of this book informs, the prevailing thinking suggests that the enemy’s forward momentum would be disrupted by minefields in the event of a southward-facing invasion. As NGOs and others have pointed out, any net gains to be gathered by this stratagem are likely to be cancelled out, for three main reasons: x Based on the assumption that an invasion by the North occurs, breaching minefields would incur acceptable losses of men; x During the ebb and flow of military activity, the minefields would probably be crossed several times by contesting armies, costing more lives; x The haemorrhaging of refugees from home environs near to minefields would result in an unacceptable loss of civilian life, thereby defeating the object of the minefields as envisaged by military planners. 46 There is no doubt that the arguments both for and against retention of landmine stocks, particularly in relation to Korea, will continue for some time. The US military, as a case in point, appears to have adopted a somewhat schizophrenic attitude, with some senior officers espousing a complete ban, whilst others argue forcibly for retaining these weapons out of military necessity. 47 However, this argument may stay unresolved ad infinitum, due to the currently hypothetical nature of the inquiry, or unless a worst-case scenario evolves and North Korea actually invades the South. Regarding the use of smart technology, and the APM variant thereof, the debate again becomes rather opaque in the sense that disputes over weapon failure rates travel back and forth between opponents and proponents, and is a matter dealt with more appropriately in the relevant chapter. What should not be open to question is that children lack the wherewithal to distinguish between either dumb or smart mines, and the incontrovertible fact that both types can kill equally expeditiously. This argument is substantiated by the ICRC, who in 1996 published a report by a group of military experts calling for an end to mine use, including smart

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___________________________________________________________ mines. These experts, all combat veterans, looked at APM deployment in 26 modern conflicts and concluded: ‘No case was found in which the use of antipersonnel mines played a major role in determining the outcome of a conflict ... The [strategic] effects of antipersonnel mines are very limited and may even be counterproductive [to those deploying them].’ 48 The final point of this short departure from the deliberations in Oslo deals with Clinton’s stipulation that a treaty to ban mines should be negotiated; this being a desired outcome is not in doubt, but, as the New York Times editorial puts it, Mr Clinton has endorsed some useful measures, such as extending a moratorium on American exports ... [B]ut he has also concentrated American efforts on a United Nations Conference on Disarmament that has made no significant progress and by now seems little more than a stalling mechanism. 49 As the above passage professes to illustrate, the Conference on Disarmament would be an inappropriate forum for achieving a ban on APMs, hence the ICBL and Canadian decision to go for the ‘fast track’ Ottawa Process, in the likelihood of achieving their mutual objectives in the fastest time possible. The reasoning that dictated this course of action lies with a realisation that prevarication on so important an issue would cost lives, and needless injuries. Negative connotations notwithstanding, but to be nonetheless borne in mind, Oslo proceeded with the participation of 89 nations with 32 observing; the ICBL was given observer status in the diplomatic conference, with the recognition by conference as coordinator of NGO activities in Oslo. The HEC complement amounted to 225 representatives from over 130 NGOs, from more than 45 states. While it is accepted that the diplomatic-level negotiations conducted between States Parties are of crucial importance to the overall outcome of the treaty, analysis will be afforded here of the equally important role of the HEC, and the activities they pursued during and complementary to the treaty formulation process itself. The campaign’s agenda amounted to holding a four-day NGO Forum from 7-10 September open to diplomats, media and the public; the envisioned purpose of this would be two-fold: first, to examine strategies for banning APMs beyond the expected signing ceremony in December 1997, by ensuring the treaty is universalised, ratified and complied with,


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___________________________________________________________ and second, to ensure that mine action programmes such as demining, mines awareness and victim assistance initiatives become better resourced and fully integrated with other long-term development programmes. 50 In furtherance of its long-term aims, the Forum also hosted workshops on mines-related issues, some never before examined in depth; they included: x The dangers faced by women deminers; x Environmental impacts of mines and demining; x The problems encountered by Chechnya regarding APMs and unexploded ordnance; x Ensuring non-state actors adhere to the spirit of the treaty; x ‘Double-dipping’ - critical examinations of producers engaged in demining; x Stigmatising producers, such as Alliant Techsystems of the US; x Demining technology: big vehicles against toolbox approaches; x Landmine survivors skills training programmes; x Information sharing on victim assistance; x Definitions on APMs and anti-handling devices; x The ICBL: a model for other issues? 51 These, and other related matters would be explored in detail at the NGO forum, together with an understanding that further measures would be adopted. For example, the ICBL put together instruction sheets on how to lobby diplomats. This strategy was viewed as an integral aspect of the ICBL agenda, and included guiding principles on how to approach delegates, based on matters such as shared cultural, linguistic and other common values. It was seen as important to establish a particular delegate’s position on mines issues and, if a variance was discovered, to lobby persuasively towards a favourable outcome. Of perhaps obvious importance was the need to bring about a good working relationship between HEC participant and delegate, closely observing proper diplomatic protocols. 52 Of equal importance was the perception that the media, as an organ that had high-profile access to the public, would be most useful in transmitting the message of Oslo and the agenda of the campaign as a whole. From this perspective, campaigners used varying techniques for influencing reporters and editors alike. The principal guideline was based on the acronym KISS - Keep It Short and Simple. Initially, it was decided to assume that the media knew nothing about the issues, and to work from

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___________________________________________________________ that foundation. In press releases, certain questions would need answers to hand on quite simple matters, and it had been decided beforehand that clear and concise reports would be ideal in this respect. Also, in order to cement an effective working relationship with members of the press, transparency and honesty would undoubtedly be preferable, so if, for example, an activist did not have an accurate answer to hand, the guidelines stipulated that a later referral would be preferable to an inaccurate or misleading statement. Adopting this position, if nothing else, meant that NEC-media interaction was at least built on a measure of mutual trust. 53 The confidence of the media vis-à-vis the objectives of the ICBL and the Oslo negotiations would, in any case, be vital in view of the intransigent position of the US and other states not contemporarily part of the Ottawa Process. Concern about these states’ dealings had been expressed by, amongst others, Jody Williams, who harnessed the press to expose (particularly) US demands in a statement that said ‘There is great concern that ... attempts will be made to meet the unchanging demands of the United States government to weaken the treaty ... [N]ew formulas to accommodate US policy - no matter how elegantly camouflaged - mean gutting the treaty.’ 54 However, due in part to skilful news manipulation, the ICBL was able to subsequently announce that ‘[T[he United States made a statement that because it had been unable to gain any significant support, it was regretfully withdrawing its [alluded to above] proposals.’ 55 That a state with formidable diplomatic and political resources to draw on had failed to realise its ambitions in Oslo is as much a testament to the campaigning skills of civil society’s HEC representatives as to the armoury of negotiating instruments available at the state level. This is due largely to a partnership between states and HECs to effect change in the international system, and that, as Minister Axworthy recalls, is a recognition that humanitarian NGOs ‘ ...are now part of the way that decisions have to be made.’ 56 Axworthy’s comments are redolent of analysis given in Chapter Three, in which the input of HECs - an ‘hospitable environment’ - appears to have been achieved, to the point that due recognition is acknowledged by a high-profile State functionary. These thoughts are further echoed by Jody Williams, who, in a statement to the closing plenary of the Oslo negotiations, believed that ‘Governments have responded to the demands of [humanitarian] civil


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___________________________________________________________ society and have come together with unprecedented speed and produced a treaty that unambiguously bans all antipersonnel mines.’ 57 Reporting by the global media on the Oslo treaty tended to cast the outcomes in a favourable light, albeit with reservations about the US’ unchanged position. The consensus indicated that American recalcitrance amounted to a retrograde step as far as that country’s foreign policy objectives are concerned, and that ‘This is definitely not where the Unites States wanted to find itself: in the middle of a political minefield with the world looking on disapprovingly.’ 58 Nonetheless, Oslo may be judged to have been a success despite perceived drawbacks, with the apparent conclusion that the moral argument had proved to be a decisive factor: ‘Speaking of immoral weapons is truly a contradiction ... nevertheless, it is possible to identify those weapons which are unnecessarily cruel and harmful, especially for a civilian population. [APMs] belong to that category ...’ 59 Carried a stage further, the moral temper of the argument is implicitly interwoven with the seeming magnitude of Oslo’s achievement as an arms control mechanism, which one Scandinavian paper describes thus: ‘“Historic” is the word which many people are using with regards to yesterday’s message that the plenary session of a global conference in Oslo on antipersonnel mines united over a (general) ban on such mines ...’ 60 As Oslo’s deliberations reached their denouement, the Ottawa Process had reached its penultimate stage, and was now in a position to proceed towards the final signing ceremony in Canada. The categories of putative signatory states expected at Ottawa on 3 December 1997 was as follows: 83 countries as full participants in Oslo; and 18 states that did not attend, but indicated that they would attend to sign. 61 In the interim period between Oslo and Ottawa, the ICBL, notably, continued to campaign for an optimum outcome arising from this ceremony. Following Oslo, Canada, from a state-level perspective, introduced a UN resolution supporting the treaty and issued a call for all states to follow suit, which was supported by 127 countries with none voting against, but witnessed 19 abstentions (UNGA Resolution 52/38A refers). Cuba and the US abstained, with Costa Rica absent. 62 The last words on the US position came from President Clinton, who, in response to a question posed by a member of the media at a press briefing at the White House, on the US being ‘in the company of [other non-signatory] states’ replied ‘I wish we could sign the Oslo agreement ... [B]ut we have to have some time to deal with our challenge in Korea ... I

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___________________________________________________________ couldn’t do it.’ 63 Clinton, however, would find himself overtaken by events that reflected an opposite viewpoint by a majority of the world’s nations, and, in the case of the ICBL (and, by implication, civil society) the announcement that the campaign and its global coordinator Jody Williams would be the 1997 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in October. In announcing the award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated: The ICBL and Jody Williams started a process which in the space of a few years changed a ban on antipersonnel mines from a vision to a feasible reality. The Convention ... is to a considerable extent a result of their important [humanitarian] work ... With the governments of several small and medium-sized countries taking the issue up and taking steps to deal with it, this work has grown into a convincing example of an effective policy for peace ... As a model for similar processes in the future, it could prove of decisive importance to the international effort for disarmament and peace. 64 The importance of this award, as the Nobel Committee states, is a reflection of the distance travelled by the ICBL in a relatively short space of time, and is a ‘[T]estament to the power of grass-roots organisations to influence world affairs in the post-Cold War era.’65 In addition to media commentary, statements from nation-level actors and other entities within the international community endorsed the suitability of the ICBL as Nobel Recipient: I am delighted by the news. This is a fitting tribute to the part played by Non-Governmental Organisations in the world-wide struggle against the humanitarian tragedy caused by anti-personnel landmines. The British Government has played an active part in this struggle, both in negotiating an international agreement [to which it is an active signatory] ... and in helping to alleviate the sufferings of the victims. In this, as in so many other areas, we have benefited from the commitment, experience and skills of NGOs. 66


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___________________________________________________________ This well-deserved honour is a victory for every child and mother and for all those vulnerable people who have been killed or maimed by these silent weapons. It also shows that when civil society and nongovernmental organisations come together and work with Governments, a lot can happen in a relatively short time. 67 As much as anything else, this award, and the international recognition that goes with it, stems from [humanitarian] communities of shared knowledge, and the power of public opinion. 68 It would be plausible to state that the ICBL as a constructed international HEC, working in tandem with ‘people power’ in an agenda-setting process, would not have realised its goals in quite the way it has without adopting this methodology. As this, and the previous chapter have set out to illustrate, the harnessing of popular opinion has been a significant factor in the achievements of the ICBL. This meant that the ICBL would now go on to build on its achievements by setting agenda objectives in law, which would in itself be of some historical moment. Given the significance of the US position regarding the Ottawa Process, the American division of the ICBL opted for an educative journey across the United States towards Ottawa, beginning on 23 October 1997. Besides being an information disseminating exercise, it was also undertaken to reinforce the ICBL’s call for a truly global ban, and would be the final North American action prior to the signing ceremony. Starting at the University of California at Berkeley - birthplace of the freedom of speech movement - the ‘Ban Bus to Ottawa’ participated in a number of events, including public rallies, talks with community groups and organising protests at APM manufacturers such as Accudyne in Janesville, and Alliant Techsystems in Minneapolis. 69 The Ban Bus also publicised the 1997 Call For Posters, an international contest open to children and young people designed to encourage visual depictions of a world free of landmines. 70 The primary legislative purpose of Ottawa was to bring about the signing of The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction; in signing the Convention, States Parties declared their intention to put an end to the suffering and casualties incurred by AP

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___________________________________________________________ landmines. Furthermore, the States Parties and other interested bodies also expressed consideration of elements for global action to ensure progress on APM-related matters leading up to Entry Into Force of the Convention, subject to the 40th ratification six months prior to that. 71 Moreover, from a pragmatic perspective, the Convention’s other main objective, outlined in the preamble, was that ‘[The States Parties] determined to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by antipersonnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly innocent and defenceless civilians and especially children, obstruct economic development and reconstruction, inhibit the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons, and have other severe consequences for years after emplacement.’ 72 The preamble goes on to elucidate justifications for the provisions contained therein through the codifications of extant international law, by saying: Basing themselves on the principles of international humanitarian law that the right of parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited, on the principle that prohibits the employment in armed conflicts of weapons, projectiles and materials and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering and on the principle that a distinction must be made between civilians and combatants. 73 Having established the basic objective parameters of this agreement, and without unnecessary discussion of the minutiae, the signing of this document proceeded between 2-4 December, 1997, by 122 countries, with others indicating that they would bind themselves to the deliberations agreed upon. 74 Further to these agreements entered into by States Parties, the Ottawa meeting offered an ongoing programme of close collaboration between multilateral actors in the international system, covering mine-related issues such as aid to mined areas, mine awareness and clearance, and assistance for mine victims. Moreover, there remains an acceptance that some States Parties may require assistance with destruction of APMs held in state arsenals, that being an obligation agreed to under the terms of the Ottawa signing. 75 With regard to compliance mechanisms inherent to the treaty, it was accepted that the implementation of intrusive verification measures


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___________________________________________________________ would be impracticable, and prohibitively costly. In this area, the architects of the treaty have (perhaps naively) come to rely on some degree of transparency, and also being dependent on the stigmatising of APMs as morally abhorrent weapons, and mechanisms that foster cooperation. Rather than construct an international compliance regime, the treaty, under Article 9, requires States to effect national legal, administrative and other relevant steps ‘ ...[T]o prevent and suppress any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention undertaken by persons or on territory under its control.’ 76 As the last quotation demonstrates, some latitude is afforded to States Parties’ willingness to abide by the requirements of the treaty, certainly with reference to compliance measures. Admittedly, this calls into question acquiescence to the letter and spirit of the treaty, underwritten by the effectiveness of its stipulations. This type of analysis also opens up further avenues of enquiry into the validity of the treaty as an example of binding international norms, the universality of the treaty as an arms control mechanism, and whether or not it is a powerful enough statement for the observance of international law. Assuredly, the passage of time will indicate whether or not the requirements of the treaty will be judged as successful. As of now, it would be premature to pass judgement on the effectiveness of this treaty, but some commentary will be essential on pertinent matters which still need to be addressed, certainly within the confines of this book. However, since this part of the work seeks to entertain the positive aspects of this process, matters that may detract from these considerations will be taken up later in the text. This part of the chapter will now deal with matters arising from the Ottawa agreement, and which relate to the validity of the document. Participants in the Ottawa Conference had stressed the need for governments, particularly States Parties, to take the necessary measures for ratification at the earliest opportunity, thereby bringing about ‘Entry Into Force’ and making effective its provisions. In order to do this, states and sub-state actors would undertake specific roles peculiar to their agendas, and which would be, in broad terms, as follows: x Austria: Ratify in 1998 Initiative, using bilateral and multilateral contacts to encourage signatories to ratify the Convention in 1998; x African Topics: African Topics Magazine to produce a special issue on Ottawa, and a journalists’ handbook on the conference, the Convention and the ratification process;

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ICBL: to mount a public campaign called Entry Into Force 1998. To lobby the UN to proclaim the year 2000 as ‘International Year of the Eradication of Landmines’; x ICRC: global promotion and distribution of ratification kits, plus a summary of the Convention for parliamentarians and the general public, and guidelines for state adherence and implementation. The publication of a layman’s guide to the Ottawa treaty; x IPU: circulation of a survey to member states of the InterParliamentary Union, on what parliamentarians can do to ensure the implementation of the landmines ban; x UNICEF: to lobby non-signatories to sign the Convention, and to promote early ratification by signatories. 77 Having established that an instrument of change within the international system had been set in motion, the imperative rested with legal recognition after the fact, and that the viability of the Convention, and indeed civil society to a degree, hinged on entry into force. This is true not just for the purpose of banning landmines and for the future of other possible arms control exercises, for example curbing the trade in small arms, 78 which was discussed at fringe meetings in Ottawa, and was seen as a possible area where lessons learned and arising from the landmines campaign could be applied successfully. 79 In humanitarian terms, using what Joseph Nye calls ‘Soft Power’ 80 there is a perception that cooperative, rather than coercive, methods of persuasion would be preferable in the attainment of normative goals, which would in any case be more conducive to the adoption of ethical principles as a methodology for solving pressing humanitarian problems. In so doing, as a caveat, there is a recognition that in addressing states’ legitimate security concerns, one must take into account the climate of the international system, and that the application of Realist thinking points to a ‘self-help’ mentality bereft of international trust and mutual gain. 81 It is therefore assumed that the Ottawa Process, as a confidence-building exercise, has at least partially succeeded, and that earliest ratification would bear out this assumption. In support of early ratification, on the 16th of September, 1998, Burkina Faso became the 40th state to register ratification of the treaty, a development that ensured automatic Entry Into Force on 1st March, 1999, making the treaty the quickest legally-binding, international contract in history. 82 Whilst it is accepted that the (now internationally legal) treaty falls some way short of being a universal panacea for the problems


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___________________________________________________________ presented by the existence of these weapons, it nonetheless ‘ ... [E]stablishes an important international norm and constitutes a major step towards bringing the landmine scourge to an end.’ 83 It would be true to state, however, that the litmus test of adherence to a treaty binding states to non-use of landmines might be found wanting, should conflict break out involving any State(s) Party, when the exigencies of warfare require an altogether different approach to weapon use. Such speculation is, for the most part, of little relevance here however, but will doubtless be worthy of analysis elsewhere at some point. The momentum to build on the achievements of the treaty come from the self-declared aim of the ICBL to work towards a mine-free world, and that the deliberations in Ottawa and subsequent events are transitional, if laudable, steps in that direction. It should be obvious that entry into force would always be the first priority, but also that other, concurrently subordinate matters would demand attention. As a progressive exercise in arms control, the ICBL had addressed the need to work with nonsignatory states to widen the effectiveness of the treaty and its humanitarian imperatives. Although future positive gains can be viewed as a gradual process, 1998 and onwards marks some significant movement, as: ... [E]ven those who have not signed this treaty have taken positive steps this year, clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of pressure to comply with this humanitarian imperative. Ukraine is starting to destroy its huge stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. Russia has permanently stopped production of “blast” antipersonnel mines. China has indicated that it no longer produces AP mines for export. The United States has stated that it will sign the treaty by 2006, assuming its search for alternatives is completed. The ICBL, while welcoming these signs of progress, believes that any and all countries can and should demonstrate their humanitarian commitment to this issue by signing the Mine Ban Treaty now rather than later. 84 Russia, irrespective of its half-way policy towards landmines, 85 hosted an international conference on landmines in Moscow from 27-28 May, 1998, in conjunction with the IPPNW and the ICBL. The

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___________________________________________________________ conference was attended by over 160 NGO participants from 21 countries, and more than 25 signatory states took part. The result of this gathering is given above, with an additional statement by the Russian government, much in line with US thinking, that it will not countenance full signing ‘until alternatives were developed, and ... the US and China signed.’ 86 Negative aspects aside, the ICBL has always recognised the difficulties presented by recalcitrant or hesitant states, and the most effective ways of taking the message to these countries includes holding conferences and sending delegations to ‘hold-out’ states. In 1998, the ICBL visited, for example, Russia, South Korea, Eastern and Central European states, and former Soviet Republics. 87 The core problems, as the chapter on the evolution of mine warfare explains, amount to the perception that these weapons afford military forces a degree of protection from enemy incursions, that they are relatively cheap compared to many other weapon systems, and that they are the ‘weapon of choice’ for sub-state groups engaged in terrorist or insurgency operations. From the ICBL’s position, these arguments have become moribund given the fact that the military utility of APMs has frequently been called into question, not least by senior officers from several countries’ armed forces. 88 Therefore, the ongoing legacy of the Ottawa Process and subsequent treaty indicates that persuasion and education of recalcitrant states should be part of the proselytising programme of the campaign. Returning to the efforts of civil society as part of this campaign, and being complementary to the thoughts set out above, a major new initiative was launched by the ICBL in June of 1998. It is accepted that observance of the strictures contained in the treaty would be a significant problem to deal with, and therefore the ICBL initiated a civil societybased approach for managing the implementation of and compliance with the treaty. This ‘Landmine Monitor’ was expected to build on the expertise and capabilities of NGOs and global organisations to watch and document the various dimensions of the worldwide problem, which would include use, production, transfer and stockpiling of mines, as well as observing progress of initiatives towards victim assistance and demining. The Landmine Monitor would also collate and evaluate data on the overall progress of the global community in adherence to the treaty, of eventual eradication of the weapon, and assessing the ongoing scale of the crisis. By constructing field research capabilities, a global reporting network and independent database, the monitor will produce annual


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___________________________________________________________ reports to coincide with meetings of States Parties. The aim was to run the project for six years initially, starting from the Entry Into Force start date and the first official Review Conference of the treaty itself. 89 At the State level, it had been agreed that the monitor, acting as a ‘watchdog’ in terms of compliance, would take the form of a ‘twin track’ instrument, that is a mix of disarmament model of an intrusive verification regime and an international humanitarian law model of a factfinding mechanism. Intense deliberations decided on using the provisions of article eight, drawing on important elements of a verification system, whilst keeping focus on a co-operative approach to clarifying what is meant by compliance. Should disputes arise, the Convention allows for provision of fact-finding missions of experts to the territories of disputants to gather and analyse information collected in situ. 90 Furthermore, the incorporation of NGOs into the monitoring process strengthens the effective implementation of the treaty as a continuous exercise.

Conclusions As far as the viability of the treaty is concerned, at least from the question of Entry Into Force and ratifications, 58 countries had completed the ratification process by 7 December 1998, and 133 countries had either signed or acceded to the treaty. 91 By the time of Entry Into Force, on 1 March 1999, 134 states had signed up to the treaty and 65 had signed and ratified. 92 Whilst this had been a remarkable achievement and one not countenanced by campaigners at the start of this process, there remains still the fact that several issues on landmines remain outstanding, not the least of which is how to deal with those devices still in the ground and taking victims with disturbing regularity. In the final analysis, for example, one might question the wisdom of campaigners telling a Cambodian community that a treaty banning mines had been achieved when their fields remain inaccessible due to the continued presence of these weapons. Clearly, the political will (and the requisite funding) to improve this state of affairs deserves to be forthcoming at the earliest instance. As this particular scenario evolves, and the existing problem gradually diminishes and is hopefully removed completely, there will doubtless be a wealth of analysis to contemplate and interpret as the situation unfolds. That, however, falls outside the scope of this study, but

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___________________________________________________________ will be worthy of pursuit at some juncture. In the interim, this book will now move on to analyse those studies undertaken in the field, an exercise that expects to complement and enhance the quality of the data dealing with the campaign from established and widely-available sources, and also to gather personal viewpoints that are relevant to the work as a whole. This will entail looking at the successes that the campaign has enjoyed thus far, and will also take in those considerations that the ICBL and its active supporters have yet to address.

Notes 1

These bodies include national and, in some instances, private organisations, such as State Arsenals, financial institutions that have interests in the armaments business as profit-making ventures, and trades unions whose members rely on the arms trade for jobs. 2 For a clearer meaning of this assertion, it is suggested that the reader turn to the previous chapter, which sets out ICBL activities at grass-roots level, notably In Italy, Geneva and Vienna. It also alludes to the position of the Church, itself a medium of influence within the population at large. 3 Whitlam, 1997, p 43. 4 The Independent, 9 August, 1997. 5 Canada.1997b, p 1. 6 According to the ICBL, the campaign now has over 1,000 NGO members in 56 countries. ICBL, Landmines Update, No. 15, June 1997b, p 3. 7 ICBL, 1996a, p 6. From: www.vvaf.org/library/chronology96.htm A more explicit explanation of this event can be found in ICBL, Landmine Update No. 14, November 1996, pp 1-2., with relevant retrospective analysis in ICBL, 1997f, pp 2-3. 8 The use of this phrase is instructive, insofar as negotiations of this type are usually conducted through the UN Conference on Disarmament (CD), but there is a belief within the ICBL that the CD’s processes are too slow and would guarantee that to use this organ meant a ban would be years away. See Taylor, 1998, pp 194-195. 9 ICBL, 1996d, p 1. 10 Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1996, p 30.


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Excerpt of news statement by L. Axworthy, DFAIT, No. 96/41, 5 October 1996, p 1. 12 Excerpt from Williams: Nobel lecture acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 10 December 1997. 13 ICBL, 1996a, op cit., p 7. 14 Ibid., p 9. 15 ICRC, 1997a. 16 ICBL, op cit., p 2. 17 Ibid., p 2. 18 Ibid., p 1. Note: the exclusion of the four recalcitrant states is of some importance at a future, post-Ottawa time. As the text will go on to illustrate, the problem of non-signatory states poses problems to this day with regard to the so-called ‘universality’ of the Ottawa Treaty. This significantly includes the US, who would be expected to take a leadership role, but has effectively failed to do so, in a scenario that elements of the US press state should begin with ‘A simple renunciation of land mines would give the United States a strong platform from which to persuade others.’ The Washington Post, April 14, 1997. For an overview of the US press’ opinion on American policy see, for example, The Boston Globe, 10 January 1997; the Houston Chronicle, April 7, 1997; St Louis PostDespatch of the same date; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4 April, 1997. 19 ICBL 1997j, p 14. 20 ICBL, 1997a, p 1. Source: www.icbl.org 21 Ibid, pp 2-3. 22 Handicap International, 1997, p 3. 23 Ibid., pp 20-21. 24 Canada, 1997a, p 3. 25 Report, An Agenda for Mine Action, Ottawa, Canada, 2-4 December 1997, p 31. 26 Rutherford, 1997, p 24. 27 Price, Summer 1998, p 615, emphasis included. 28 Taylor, Spring 1998, p 193. 29 ICBL, 1996a, op cit., p 4. 30 Handicap International Report, op cit., pp 88-89. 31 Ibid., p 91. 32 The New York Times, August 26, 1997. Note: further analysis of the US stance will be dealt with later in this chapter.

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Physicians Against Landmines, New York Times, 30 July 1997. ICRC, 1997d, p 1. from: www.icrc.org 35 LSN, 3 December, 1997. 36 It is noted that some of Diana’s detractors (for example, Peter Viggers, MP) may perceive her to be have been acting with ulterior motives in mind, and that doing ‘good works’ on behalf of the world’s disadvantaged suited other purposes. However, it is further noted here that the ICBL and pro-ban advocates adopt a less cynical viewpoint in respect of her efforts for the campaign. 37 Deedes, 1997, p 3. 38 Lord Deedes is former editor, The Daily Telegraph. 39 The Independent, 1997. 40 Husarka, 1997. 41 See, for example, the Leader comment in the Guardian, Wednesday, January 15, 1997. 42 ICBL, 1997c, p 3. 43 ICBL, 1997j, p 17. 44 Human Rights Watch Arms Project/VVAF, July 1997, p 2, emphasis added. 45 United States, 1997, p 3. 46 ICBL 1997j, pp 22-23. Note: the US position on Korea stimulated much global debate, and commentary may be found, for example, in the following selected newspapers: United Kingdom Daily Telegraph, 18 September, 1997; Germany, Stuttgarter Zeitung, 19 September; France, Le Monde, 19 September; Italy, Il Foglio Held, 19 September; Belgium, La Libre Belgique, 22 September; Russia, Kommersant daily, 18 September; and Australia, Melbourne Age, 22 September. 47 Human Rights Watch Arms Project/VVAF, op cit., especially pp 1-6. 48 ICRC, 1996b, p 7. Note: the group of military experts were retired officers from Canada, India, Philippines, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, UK, and Zimbabwe. 49 New York Times, 1997a. 50 ICBL, 1997j op cit., p 2. 51 Ibid., p 2. 52 Ibid., p 4. 53 Ibid., p 5. 54 ICBL, 1997d. 34


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ICBL, 1997h. ICBL, 1997e, p 2. 57 ICBL, 1997j. op cit., p 67. 58 Sterling, 1997. 59 La Prensa, 1997. 60 Dagens Nyheter, 1997. 61 UN, 1997, p 11. 62 Human Rights Watch, 1999, p 4. 63 Clinton, 1997, p 7. 64 Norwegian Nobel Committee, in: Goose, S, 1998, p 2. 65 Priest, 1997, p 1. 66 Comments by former New Labour Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, MP, in: Acronym Institute, 1997, pp 54-55, emphasis added. 67 Ibid., p 55. See also statements by other actors that echo the same sentiments in this journal. 68 Haas, 1989, pp 377; 399. 69 Note: the ICBL has demonstrated some concern about the activities of APM producers, and what are perceived as their apologists within the military apparatus of the US. The producers include those companies who, as an exercise in semantics, state that they ‘do not produce landmines,’ but in fact manufacture component parts that make up the complete weapon. Targeting, for example, included Alliant Techsystems, a parent company of Accudyne, and a firm that received prime Pentagon contracts worth US$ 336,480,000 from 1985 to 1995. Source: Human Rights Watch Arms Project, Exposing the Source, Op Cit., p 13. Mention of APM producers is also generously afforded in the HRWAP publication A Deadly Legacy, which is mentioned elsewhere in this book. 70 ICBL, 1997k, pp 1-2. 71 Canada, 1997c, p 1. 72 Atwood, 1998, p 7, emphasis included. 73 Ibid., p 7, emphasis included. 74 Taylor, 1998, p 189. 75 Georghiades, pp 57-58. 76 Atwood, op cit., p 7. 77 Canada, DFAIT, op cit., pp 2-3. 78 See, for instance, the Small Arms, Big Problem, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January/February 1999, which devotes most of its analysis to 56

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___________________________________________________________ this issue area, and which is discussed in the wake of the landmines campaign. 79 Taylor, op cit., p 201. 80 Nye, 1990, pp 153-171. 81 This matter is given greater exposure in the chapter discussing theoretical implications of APMs, contrasted with analysis on the military utility of landmines earlier in this work. 82 HRW, 1999 op cit., p 4. 83 Georghiades, op cit., p 64. 84 Williams, in UN: 1998, p 3, emphasis added. 85 Note: prior to the Ottawa treaty, Russia was on the record as stating that it ‘cannot do without landmines yet’; much of this stance concerns the country’s large contiguous borders with its ‘near abroad,’ namely former USSR satellite states, which, as Chechnya as an example, have been subjected to periods of instability. (source: [email protected] of 14 October, 1997, p1.). 86 IPPNW-ICBL, 1998, p 2. 87 ICBL, 1998, p 1. 88 See: ICRC, 1997c, particularly section entitled: ‘Endorsements by military officers acting in their personal capacity.’ 89 Williams in: UN, 3,2. op cit., p 4. 90 Hajnoczi, T et al. ‘The Ban Treaty.’ in Cameron, Lawson and Tomlin, op cit., pp 301-302. 91 HRW, 1999, op cit., p 2. 92 Acronym Institute, 1999, p 30.

CHAPTER EIGHT Empirical Analyses: Fieldwork Data Gathering and Interpretation Fieldwork: Analysis and Interpretation This part of the book will open up those enquiries conducted in the field, and which will build on and complement analyses conducted in chapters six and seven. Prior to doing so, this text will first offer a rationale for this course of action, and it will also endeavour to meet certain essential needs for a work of this nature. It will undertake to reconcile pertinent theoretical matters principally examined in Chapters Two and Three with empirical, real-time data harvested at point of contact, in the form of interviews and document collection, and which will serve to enhance the qualitative criteria of the work. The expected outcomes of this approach indicate a claim for originality, and a contribution towards a greater understanding of the subject under consideration. This chapter will also implicitly involve some observations discussed in Chapters Four and Five, being as they are of critical importance to the philosophies of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, insofar as both represent the realities of the problem that have a bearing on the humanitarian argument articulated by the ICBL and other, like-minded actors. Fieldwork, as it relates to this book, was completed in two different geographical areas, the United States and Europe. It was seen as important to take this approach for reasons of balance, bearing in mind variable attitudes to landmines. In other words, and addressing the western hemispherical perspective first, the US has had no real modern historical problem with mines, but the epicentre of the ICBL and its agenda has some origins in that country, and is analysed in recognition of the US military’s significant use and production of these weapons. Furthermore, with reference to American experience of APMs in Korea and Vietnam, there rests a compelling relevance to adopting this line of reasoning due to the fact that mines have impacted heavily on both enemy and friendly forces. With regard to conducting studies in Washington DC particularly, it is noted that the principal bodies of the US arm of the ICBL are located there, together with those instruments of government that were also consulted. Furthermore, Washington provided access to research opportunities involving the examination of government documentation relating to US mines policy. Prior to embarking on this

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___________________________________________________________ fieldwork exercise, it was decided that looking at the sub-state and national positions on the campaign would expose areas where governmental and non-governmental policies depart and possibly converge. 1 Recalling the importance of the US as a pre-eminent politicomilitary actor within the international community, and the (arguably) 2 supine attitude it has thus far displayed towards totally eradicating AP mines, also has some bearing on the current and future viability of the ICBL post-Ottawa. The second aspect of the fieldwork programme takes in a European perspective on the subject matter; this would seem an obvious and logical step to take, and indeed there are pertinent reasons to do so, over and above the overtly geographical. The first point to establish here is the British government’s seemingly transparent policy on landmines, which, despite the Blair administration’s close proximity to US security policies in other areas (for example, the apparent positions on the Balkan and Iraqi crises), demonstrates a clear variance of attitude towards APMs. As then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook MP had elaborated, the UK favours an ethically-based standpoint in its dealings with external entities, which includes issues concerning the arms trade. 3 These matters notwithstanding, the UK is a full signatory to the mine treaty and has thus far abided by its strictures. 4 Therefore, any references in this chapter to UK government activity in this area will be taken from sources within the public domain. With further regard to the British ‘Establishment’ perspective, notably the armaments industry, I attempted to procure information on UK landmines from a number of producers, as my first foray into fieldwork data gathering. However, when the subject of mines arose, they declined to take matters further. The British faction of the ICBL is seen to be singularly prominent, not least because some elements (the Mines Advisory Group being a case in point) have influential membership of the ICBL Steering Committee, 5 as founder-member. Significantly, it is some British mine clearance experts that have, conversely, levelled criticisms against the ICBL for failing to address pressing issues of demining and victim assistance, amongst other related matters, to which the text will return as this chapter unfolds. 6 Due to the multidimensional nature of UK fieldwork, both positive and otherwise, data collection will be mostly presented from a written response format, with some analysis being provided through interview or faxed communications. The final

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___________________________________________________________ introductory comments concern the responses provided by the Italian ICBL NGO Manitese, which was instrumental in reversing that country’s (previously aggressive APM manufacturing and export) policy. This is viewed as highly relevant to the aims of this study, particularly as Manitese harnessed the influential instruments of the Holy See, local government and trades unions to focus public opinion and influence national government policy. The methodology that characterises the remainder of this chapter will be as follows: it will begin with an examination of analysis that casts the ICBL in a positive light; rather than delve into a negativistic outlook from the start, taking an encouraging approach will very much follow the theme of the preceding chapters, and will therefore afford continuity to the text. Following on from this, the chapter will adopt the opposite viewpoint by exploring those aspects of the landmines debate that have yet to be addressed. This will be a necessary exercise to invest the book with a sense of proportion, and to ultimately present a rounded picture of what this debate is about. Moreover, examining this aspect of the landmine debate will serve to open up future avenues of enquiry that will require detailed research at some point. Possible areas to look at include development, security, humanitarian aid logistics, and ongoing study of human rights. Significantly, it is further noted that continued analysis of the mine ban treaty may also serve as a model for the putative viability of other arms control mechanisms, with perhaps the most obvious being the trade in small arms. 7 With the above thoughts in mind, the chapter will now conduct fieldwork data analysis, beginning with protocols that will set out the conditions under which interviews took place.

Interview Protocols The interviews were conducted over a period of time beginning in 1997, and completed in stages by the Summer of 1999. The timings were important because of ongoing developments in this issue area, and were also staggered due to commitments by interviewees, which precluded direct access according to the timetable for this work. For example, US studies had to wait until suitable respondents from various NGOs and government departments were all available over a two-week period in June-July, 1998. Some of the contacts were only available by telephone, as face-toface meetings were not possible due to geographical considerations and

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___________________________________________________________ the financial logistics of travelling and related matters. The format used in these cases was a straight dialogue between the author and the respondent, in a ‘question and answer’ scenario. The principal drawback to this method meant that no opportunity to observe the interviewees’ reaction to questions existed, and therefore the responses were of a remote nature. The US stage of interviews presented a much more favourable climate in which to gather data, insofar as dialogue was exchanged on a face-to-face basis. It had been decided by the author that the best approach to this type of questioning would be to adopt an informal line of enquiry, which served to create a relaxed atmosphere that would be conducive to fostering an open and candid discussion. The candidates for interview were selected from a cross-section of NGO representatives and government personnel, according to the following criteria: x Knowledgeable about the issues; x Clearance to speak about the issues; x Access to relevant data; x Available for interview; x Familiarity with the Washington political climate. The interviews were conducted without using tapes or any recording equipment; this was done to enhance an informal setting, and to create a relaxed atmosphere. Questions were put to the interviewees, and notes were made of responses. In this manner, it was possible to elicit candid replies, make eye contact and observe body language. Furthermore, it allowed an opportunity for the author to dictate the pace of the interviews, and therefore for the respondent to provide considered replies. European interviews consisted mostly of telephone conversations, in the manner described above. For the Foreign Office, I provided a questionnaire originally intended for former Foreign Secretary, the late Robin Cook MP to deal with, initially through the office of John Heppell, MP for Nottingham East. However, due to the commitments of Cook, replies were drafted by Tony Lloyd MP, the then Minister of State responsible for the UK position on APMs.. Having now established the parameters of the interview process, this chapter will go on do discuss findings.

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Fieldwork Studies: Results This first part of fieldwork studies will begin with discussions surrounding the rationale for a ban on APMs - in other words, what factors were prevalent when pro-ban campaigners initiated this movement, why it was thought necessary to ban mines, and what philosophical arguments supported a move to eradicate these weapons. From this initially positivist perspective, there will be an implicit acceptance that the interviewees from the NGO sector will display overtly normative sentiments on this issue, and that the individuals contacted from the governmental aspect will adopt a more pragmatic attitude. This is probably to be expected, but it is seen as worthwhile setting out terms of reference from the beginning. To persist with these thoughts for a moment, and to contextualise individual responses, the assumption here is that actors may give variable responses to specific questions according to learned or innate value judgements, and that the positions of some actors will be more sensitive 8 than others. The final introductory point to make here is that some responses will be necessarily unattributable; when the interview process was about to commence, this was a qualification offered and in some cases taken up by the respondent. Where this occurs in the text, it will be suitably noted. When the ICBL was first mooted in the late 1980s to early 1990s, the disparate individuals who recognised that a problem was evolving with AP landmines were motivated to do something about it, in recognition that the effects of these weapons had been obscured by Cold War realities, and that the end of that epoch had revealed the true extent of the chronic catastrophe resulting from unconstrained use. From these revelations arose the perception that a stark dichotomy existed between the observance and application of humanitarian principles, and the military-industrial argument supporting the efficacious nature of landmines as a utilitarian weapon system. What developed from this basic premise amounted to a philosophical proposition adopted by the nascent ICBL as a cornerstone of future advocacy, in that the prosecution of warfare is not without limit, and that issues like proportionality and discrimination are of paramount importance. Naturally, when contemplating matters of such intellectual moment, abstractions including ethics, morality, humanity and related themes will find themselves situated at or near the centre of the enquiry.

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___________________________________________________________ When preparing to defend a moral standpoint, the ICBL has had to reconcile certain factors central to the position adopted by the defence community, which have a direct bearing on outcomes. For example, and taking in realist tenets discussed in Chapter Two regarding security and survival, there is the vexed struggle of humanitarianism juxtaposed with jobs amongst defence sector workers. Seen from the NGO perspective, this argument is reduced to ‘conscience versus mortgages’ 9 and the fact that these people have families to support. This issue is further complicated by the politicisation of domestic economic affairs, and the dynamic that links jobs to votes, as Buzan explains: Military procurement decisions can make a big impact on patterns of employment and income in specific electoral districts or constituencies. Whether in terms of new investment and new jobs, or the maintenance of existing plans or jobs, such decisions cannot avoid entanglement in the political process by which individual politicians and political parties seek to enhance their electoral appeal. 10 While this argument may have its persuasive aspects from a defence-oriented angle, it by no means presents an irrefutable logic that has universal applications. As a case in point, the management at Italian mine producer Valsella had to face the wrath of outraged workers unwilling to ignore the consequences of APM deployment, and who ‘ ...[A]cted as conduits [inside the Valsella factory] for the anti-APM campaign.’ 11 Moreover, the reasoning of defence personnel may be confounded by the apparent ‘Damascene Conversion’ of an erstwhile prominent APM producer, Vito Fontana of Technovar Spa, who now advocates for a total ban on mines. 12 According to Signor Fontana, he ‘[S]truggled with [his] conscience, but soon realised that a total ban was the only answer.’ 13 However, in mitigation, it is noted that persons may assume the luxury of a moral position if, like the Valsella workers, alternative employment is readily available within easy travelling distance. 14 This in not included to cast doubt on the veracity of the Valsella workers’ position, but neither should it be dismissed as being of no consequence in all cases. The basis of the Valsella workers’ discontent with existing company policy on disposition of its products, irrespective of job security,

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___________________________________________________________ rests with a realisation that the manufactures they produced for external use had inhumane applications, and that the victims resulting from their labours are ordinary people like themselves. When presented with the distressing evidence of mine deployment on innocent civilians, the workforce demonstrated an emotive response, psychological reaction, and the attentions of the local priesthood. Given the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy, it is perhaps not surprising that some disquiet would surface in a deeply religious community. 15 This ethos of religious intolerance towards an indiscriminate weapon is not confined to one country alone. Elements of the Roman Catholic diaspora elsewhere have reiterated the message coming out of Castenodolo (where the Valsella plant is situated) that landmines ‘ ... are intolerable on religious grounds; even the Pope has declared APMs as immoral weapons.’ 16 Religious overtones have been demonstrated by the Red Crescent input into the ICBL, which, if anything, points to a multi-faith support for the aims of the campaign. Paraphrasing Jody Williams, one interviewee noted the role of religious belief in a ‘new paradigm’ of ascendant civil society, interlinking peace movements and religious communities together with first-hand testimonies of landmine survivors that, working in tandem, had established a powerful impact on global consciousness. 17 It is also acknowledged by some aspects of the ICBL that the input of religious groups has been important in reaching consensus about the aims and objectives of the campaign, and that the church and other religious groups can extend a certain moral authority in dealings with defence functionaries and the apparatus of the state, 18 which is acknowledged by one relatively highly-placed interviewee in the US National Security Council, who alluded to the work of church groups as ‘significant’ to the ethos of the ICBL. 19 The general consensus observed during the interview process about the interconnection between religion and secularism, which in all instances was volunteered without prompting, indicates a strong sense of the moral capital to be made from identifying the campaign with religion and its links to the community at large. As responses have suggested, there is a view that landmines are inherently ‘evil’ 20 and that religion has perennially placed itself on the side of goodness, decency, and moral rectitude. Looking at the nature of the anti-APM campaign from this angle, it is therefore entirely logical that the ICBL would find a natural ally in religion, and that adoption of Realist principles in the conduct of

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___________________________________________________________ human affairs and particularly regarding weapons use is ‘morally reprehensible.’ 21 What religion has been able to show is a relationship between moral leadership as demonstrated in spiritual affairs and the people, to identify with the aspirations of civil society and condemn APMs as inhumane weapons. This relationship with the people extends beyond religious faith within the orbit of the mine campaign; the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was, if campaigners and others are to be believed, 22 the personification of a special affection between ordinary people around the world and an individual elevated through marriage to the higher ranks of the Establishment. According to one interviewee, Diana ‘bridged the gap between security and humanity’ and ‘touched lives through care and compassion.’ 23 Whether by accident or otherwise, Diana’s input to the campaign had become something of a cause célèbre that was duly noted by the political establishments of the international community, to the point that ‘Diana and public opinion couldn’t be ignored.’ 24 In their dealings with the media, the ICBL showed a level of political maturity when it came to ‘marketing’ the Diana Factor; the US State Department noted this during analysis of the ICBL, observing that she had ‘been quite influential in bridging the gap between the problem and the public,’ 25 a valuable commodity for the programme of the ICBL. Moreover, as a quintessential ‘newsworthy’ personality, Diana’s walks in the minefields of Angola and Bosnia displayed a ‘vivid imagery’ 26 and that subsequently the importance of Diana as a vehicle for information dissemination was ‘essential.’ 27 This last remark seems to be broadly in line with much of the prevailing thinking about Diana’s role in this campaign, although one experienced commentator downplayed this aspect of the campaign, stating that she was ‘sensitive politically,’ 28 and that the NGOs themselves played a far greater role in the campaign. It is unclear what the source meant by this, and declined to elaborate further. This may possibly refer to the British establishment view that she was meddling in matters incompatible with her position, as mentioned previously, and that therefore the US political community would be disinclined to embrace such manifest controversy too closely, irrespective of her evident popularity in that country. The apparently symbiotic relationship between Diana and the media, when measured against the value of such an event to the ICBL, had been of seemingly inestimable worth to the campaign. As one

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___________________________________________________________ commentator put it, in offering a (paraphrased) opinion of the dividends to be gained from high-value publicity, that News is the same as entertainment; a constant barrage of information flits across television screens, which means that attention spans can be quite limited. Because Diana was subjected to a disproportionate amount of airtime, the public gained access to the issues at relatively great length, and were educated about the seriousness of the subject. 29 As a bonus, the ICBL received a substantial amount of free publicity, in addition to co-opting a pre-eminent celebrity onto the campaign. Political sensitivities and the pressures of ‘duty’ notwithstanding, Diana was nonetheless seen by some as an independent woman; that she and the media as an oftentimes uneasy partnership boosted the campaign exponentially, and that she was indeed the (arguably involuntary) figurehead of a global movement to ban these weapons. 30 This, perhaps artificial status had other spin-offs relevant to the campaign, in that Diana was instrumental in attracting otherwise disinterested attention to and identification with the campaign, certainly from people in a position to make a difference, and who, as one interviewee ventured to (seemingly cynically) suggest, ‘wanted to bask in the reflected glory.’ 31 Another, unwanted aspect of the so-called ‘Diana Factor’ that added to the impetus towards a ban on mines was her death in Paris; this event, coming as it did immediately prior to the Oslo meeting, ‘put pressure on some (unnamed) people, because of the sentiment generated.’ 32 Taking the inference to a logical conclusion, this would probably allude to those elements that did not favour a ban on these weapons, and would not therefore welcome the edifying interest that this matter generated. Negative consequences aside, what is undeniable is the belief that Diana genuinely ‘reached out in a concerned way - one that could not be misconstrued as false or photo-opportunistic.’33 However, as one commentator has observed, all may not be as it seems:

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___________________________________________________________ Diana needed the [landmine] campaign and vice versa. Obviously, she focused public attention on the issue, but this coverage was very emotion based, not pragmatic at all, and really for the media it was all part of the superstar circus. For example, after she gave the opening address at the MAG-organised conference on 12th June, 1997, at the Royal Geographic Society the media began packing up immediately to leave, creating much noise and disturbance during a presentation by Ken Rutherford of the LSN. Now his testament is what I believe the media should have been reporting. In Angola, during her visit in 1997, the clinic where she was famously photographed with the amputee teenage girl, has received many visits, but not a single penny in funding. Incidentally, the girl Diana was photographed with did not lose her limb to a mine, but from shrapnel from an air-delivered iron bomb. 34 Diana’s influence on this campaign, whilst being of some importance, may not have had the same impact as, for example, the inclusion of the Canadian government in this process. The ICBL had always recognised the highly-significant incorporation of state-level actors into the movement, bearing in mind that entities from this stratum of the international system would be instrumental in determining the viability of the efforts to ban mines. In some instances, particularly when asking respondents about the main points regarding a ban on APMs, the work of the Canadian government was viewed as crucial, especially the input provided by Foreign Minister Axworthy; ‘He helped legitimise the ICBL at State level. Prior to this the campaign had been largely NGOoriented, and was, whilst making some progress, hamstrung by a lack of governmental support.’ 35 This broadly bears out analysis extrapolated on this matter in Chapters Six and Seven, and which was given suitable coverage there for the reasons given here. The legitimacy of the Canadian position was also crucial at the level of geopolitical discourse, in that the argument put forward by, for example, Finland that Realist principles are paramount in national survival terms, the Canadians have reiterated the message of the

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___________________________________________________________ ICBL that humanitarianism should come first. This, of course, is stated in the context that Finland has a long contiguous border with Russia, and Canada does not. However, in the voice of the ICBL, the Finnish argument is ‘ludicrous’ as modern technology has overtaken the efficacy of mines as a defensive weapon system, thereby consigning these devices to a redundant state. They are seen as a ‘cost effective’ way of securing borders, which amounts to ‘doing things on the cheap.’ 36 What is of further moment regarding Canada is the fact that the country had taken a lead, due in no small way to the efforts of Axworthy, and that a ‘powerful [G8] country’ was involved, which obviously extends a certain gravitas to the legitimacy of the ICBL. 37 This statement is given some credence by the US governmental apparatus, a member of which is on the record as stating that Senator Axworthy (and by implication, the Canadian government) ‘brought this ban about,’ 38 as the fact that the treaty signing ceremony was held in Ottawa testifies, along with analysis given in the previous chapters. The moral imperative that forms the basis of the ICBL’s motivations is, in the final analysis, about real people having a measure of control over their lives, an ideal often denied due to the presence of AP mines. It is about empowering individuals and communities to exercise values inherent to society, and about the practice and execution of international norms and laws. Furthermore, it is concerned with protecting the weak, the old, the young and the disenfranchised from the privations of an indiscriminate weapon. The general consensus revealed during fieldwork interviews indicates that APMs provide a ‘clear violation of human rights,’ 39 that they incur a sense of ‘moral outrage’ 40 regarding the plight of victims, and that they cause ‘superfluous injury and death to civilians.’ 41 The ostensibly unavoidable outcome of excursions into human rights violations, whether real or otherwise, is a tendency to reduce people (in this case the victims of mines) to statistics. It is accepted in this scenario that equating deaths and injuries to a mathematical expression is useful for supporting the claim of human rights infringements, and that the quantities of mines strewn across the world, whether accurate or imagined, put the scale of the ongoing problem into perspective. However, the ICBL has had to work within these parameters in order to help get the message across, and to convince the public that the problem is not merely localised and is therefore deserving of greater attention. In fieldwork discussions regarding the legitimacy of APMs as ‘usable’

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___________________________________________________________ weapons of warfare, and the normative considerations that arise to refute any such legalities, the general consensus points to attrition rates amongst civilians as a yardstick for opinion forming. 42 The authority for delving into statistical minutiae in support of a claim comes, in this instance, from observations of international law, unnecessary suffering, and the dangers posed by mines to indigenous peoples and aid workers alike. The Save the Children USA interview referred to this, pointing out that their staff working in the field have had to run the same risks as the people they were expected to help, and that the risk factor was, and remains, quite significant. 43 (This, incidentally, applies particularly to individual demining operatives, who acknowledge that one deminer is killed, and two seriously injured, for every 5,000 landmines cleared.) 44 Taking this example, it may be seen that while statistics do not always provide interesting reading, they can nonetheless reveal disturbing facts that enhance the gravity of a given situation. Assuming that providing ammunition (sic) in furtherance of international law and ethical propositions is one matter, but the dilemma confronting those who wish to enforce the Ottawa treaty and its provisions amounts to something else altogether. The ICBL and its adherents would accept that there is a disparity between the requirements of the treaty and its universal application; problems will still bedevil the letter and spirit of the treaty, for example with Serbian military personnel and irregulars laying minefields in Kosovo, 45 a subject as relevant today as it was during fieldwork studies undertaken in the Summer of 1998, particularly as one respondent said that she interviewed a Serb soldier laying mines in Bosnia, and he ‘didn’t care about any treaty’ 46. As the subject initial respondent here was keen to assert, there is a clear requirement to stigmatise the producers of mines in order to maximise the ban treaty signed in Ottawa, which may also serve to limit the demand side of the traffic in mines, particularly regarding those users who remain non-signatories to Ottawa and are not producers themselves. 47 What the ICBL will continue to work towards achieving is a truly universal ban; however, this is a far from realisable objective at this time, as many non-signatories are major producers themselves, and as such are outside the process that holds signatories to account for noncompliance. Looking at the problems from this perspective, it is ‘very important to keep the ball rolling - plenty of exposure in the press and media, in specialist academic publications and medical journals on an ongoing basis.’ 48 Moreover, in commenting that the treaty is a far from

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___________________________________________________________ perfect document, the ICBL and its supporters nonetheless believe that it is a step in the right direction, despite the activities of guerrillas and other sub-state actors not party to the process. 49 As stated earlier in this chapter, fieldwork will comprise of essentially two principal parts, that is the positive outcomes of the ICBL’s campaign, and the aspects that invite detractors. While the text has yet to seriously deal with negativistic argument directed at the campaign from without, it has attempted to look at those points that the movement itself has identified as problem areas, and which it is actively seeking to resolve. The major issue area as yet not covered in this chapter is the position of the US; because of the importance of this to the thus far incomplete work of the ICBL, relevant fieldwork analysis may offer an appreciation of the forces that have shaped this position. Initially, the role of former President Clinton will be examined in greater detail than was covered in other chapters. As former Chief Executive of the US government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, it fell to him to put forward a rationale for US intransigence, and subsequently to clarify any misperceptions that may arise. Clinton’s ‘new’ landmine policy discussed earlier in this book, whilst appearing to suggest that the US may be moving towards a ban, actually succeeds in obfuscating the issue and evading any meaningful overtures towards this end. The reasons for this curious, apparent volte face in policy can be found in analysis of information gathered at interview, citing the President’s ambiguous relationship with the military as an area of some concern. Given the well-publicised contretemps between Clinton and the military regarding the acceptance of gay and lesbian people into uniform, and further suggesting that the President’s lack of military experience and allegations of ‘draft dodging’ in the 1960s sits uncomfortably with some, it is perhaps unsurprising that his credentials failed to find acceptance by the Pentagon. He was also perceived to be conspicuously weak on defence affairs, a failing that further compromises his standing in defence circles. 50 In order to gain some credibility with the armed forces, particularly the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Clinton had taken a more pragmatic position and acceded to the Pentagon’s view that some AP mines, particularly the ‘smart’ variant, and mixed AT/AP mine configurations should be withheld from proscription. The exemption of Korea as a ‘mine free’ area has also caused problems; the American public understand this area, mostly due to the fact that many veterans of that conflict are still

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___________________________________________________________ alive, including people in positions of some influence and obvious electoral power. 51 In order to be seen as ‘progressive’ in its policy on landmines, whilst at the same time evading a total ban called for by the ICBL, the Canadian government and over 120 other states, the Clinton administration had introduced the concept of ‘alternative technology’ as a method of finding a way out of the current impasse. However, as some observers have commented, taking this approach to what should be a simple, straightforward ban on mines begins to encroach into the area of ‘dual use’ technology. 52 The problem with this issue area is a recognition that the ostensible distinction between a mine and, for example, an ‘area denial’ weapon becomes blurred; microchips that have a number of separate applications such as for washing machine programs can also be integrated into ‘smart’ mine circuitry. This scenario finds the argument about what a mine actually is straying into a semanticised cul-de-sac, inviting comparisons with the complicated deliberations over dual use technologies for biological weapons. As a result of the varied applications for multi-purpose microchips, the producers do not know what their products are being used for. 53 This, in turn, poses ongoing problems for the ICBL’s putative landmine monitoring regime; it will serve to complicate the processes by which anti-landmine campaigners establish end-user applications, thereby undermining the Ottawa treaty’s directives on verification and enforcement of procedures. The Human Rights Watch Arms Project has shown a degree of concern in this matter, as they are engaged in monitoring developments in individual states and reporting results for the next five years initially. As a representative has stated, there is a clear need to expose the sources of ‘rogue’ technology, which has in the past yielded good results, for example the statement by electronics company Motorola that it had ceased production of circuitry for APMs and would no longer express an interest in that area.54 A noticeable aspect of fieldwork analysis is that, due to the pressures generated by the ICBL, and its subsequent success in achieving a ban on APMs, certain elements of the US politico-military establishment have shown variable attitudes to the issues involved. The inclusion of APMs as a viable weapon system within the US military inventory certainly has its supporters; proponents of retention believe that these devices ‘were very important’ for US forces engaged in the Persian Gulf War, and that they ‘play a vital role’ in delaying an attacker, allowing defending forces to regroup. 55 However, the paucity of argument

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___________________________________________________________ presented by retention advocates founders on the counter-argument carefully constructed at the behest of the ICBL. They firmly believe that the Pentagon ‘would not engage with the issues’ until placed on the defensive by the ICBL, 56 allied to the fact that several senior military officers, including Gulf War Commander General Norman Schwarzkopf, have openly advocated a ban. 57 Inconsistency of military views has been noted by various aspects of the ICBL, citing that no rationale exists that justifies continued use of these weapons, 58 a point remarked on by Congressman Jack Quinn (Democrat), normally a ‘hawk’ in military terms but one who has stated that APMs ‘are not necessary - they compromise the safety of US troops, and breach codes of humanitarian conduct.’ Furthermore, APMs are ‘losing their military utility, although the US doesn’t care to admit that mines are redundant.’ 59 Opinion emanating from the State Department is that the US has to reconcile and interpret superpower responsibility, balanced with normative matters. One possible measure, apparently, would be the institution of a Landmine Elimination Act put to Congress. 60 This may be a possible avenue to pursue in the future, encouraged by lobbying from decorated Vietnam Veterans, amongst others, who support the call for a ban on mines by the US. 61 The US military and their defence contractor contacts, seemingly lost in the face of the moral argument presented by the ICBL, have attempted to consistently influence policy by maintaining that mines have a definite role in present and future defence planning, despite evidence that mines adversely affect friendly forces. The argument put forward by contractors within the US military-industrial complex is seen as ‘disingenuous,’ in that modern breaching methods have rendered APMs ‘a small nuisance’ 62 which casts doubt on the reliance of minefields in the Korean DMZ. Furthermore, apparently only 15 minutes at most of battlefield time would be lost to breaching operations. 63 Besides, and looking at this area from a tactical viewpoint, persisting with minefields in Korea presents a potential humanitarian calamity-in-waiting for refugees and militaries alike, particularly during the ebb and flow of hostilities in and around the DMZ and further afield. Whilst argument and counter-argument must remain in the realm of mere speculation during peacetime, there remains a case for mine removal in Korea when judging possible gains and losses. From the viewpoint of some NGOs, the Korean example is at best morally unsafe; it is an ‘unworkable precedent, 64 and

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___________________________________________________________ ‘does not take into account human suffering and the impact of these weapons.’ 65 Thus far, this chapter has put forward several ideas that would support the ICBL as a viable arms control regime; it has done so by drawing on the expertise, experience, and subjective perspectives of individuals with interest in this subject. As analysis indicates, there are areas where opinions converge, even among disparate actors such as the NGO community and the apparatus of government. Realistically, however, it would perhaps be tantamount to charges of supreme optimism or overweening imprudence to suggest that consensus exists in every area. Each group interviewed has its own agenda to pursue; for the campaigners, normative issues dealing with the moral dimension, the indiscriminate nature of the weapon and the well-being of human beings is of supreme importance. For the machinery of the state, these matters must be balanced against specific interests that fall within its orbit. In the case of the United States, this entails observance of the burdens (and benefits) of superpower responsibility, and assumption of a global leadership role in the so-called ‘New World Order,’ even if this means disagreement with the majority of other, state-level actors on arms control, notably on National Missile Defence. Returning to analysis of the campaign to ban landmines, this movement has attempted to achieve as near perfect as possible an objective in an imperfect world. It had done so in the belief that to do nothing would contribute to the existing situation, and that more lives and communities would be devastated if allowed to continue. In so doing, the ICBL and its associates have been exposed to criticisms that question the credibility of the campaign, including the worth of its achievements thus far. Ordinarily, in the light of the ICBL’s patently remarkable progress, any objections may be dismissed as being of little or no consequence. However the seriousness of the charges certainly warrant investigation, a point that will be taken up in the remainder of this chapter. Moreover, the further rationale for looking at the campaign from a different and perhaps pejorative perspective is to test the hypothesis that the ICBL ‘ ...[H]as not reduced the land-mine casualty count by one leg or restored one acre of land to the population.’ 66 Moreover, as one respondent put it, in answer to a question about whether the ban could be ‘maintained indefinitely’ replied that ‘I cannot answer this as I do not recognise that a ban exists in any practical sense.’ 67

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___________________________________________________________ Another point to be examined concerns the allegations that the ICBL, in furtherance of its known objectives, has wildly exaggerated the gravity of the problems posed by APM use, including the numbers of mines currently in the ground and protracted timespans claimed for rates of clearance. This will inevitably take in related issues of development at the national and regional levels, which Chapter Five cites as being compromised due to the presence of minefields. However, the salient aspect of this part of the chapter will be to examine the claim that the ICBL has indeed secured a ‘global ban’ on landmines, including criticisms of matters that arise from this claim by the ICBL. It is to these issues that the text will now turn. According to one observer, There is no universal, global call-it-what-you-will ban on landmines. Firstly, the world’s three major land military powers have not acknowledged the ban. Additionally, the remaining permanent members on the UN Security Council have reserved the right to deploy landmines or other designated area denial munitions in “extreme circumstances”. This is hardly a ban. Secondly, the question fails to definitely differentiate between the landmine and convertible ordnance (submunition). What is it exactly that has been banned? 68 The suggestion here is that an element of confusion regarding ends and means exists within the anti-mine lobby, which is further exacerbated by a seemingly cynical and ill-thought-out strategy of how to meet the ICBL’s stated objectives. The source provided some input into this area of investigation, and arrived at the following conclusions: However, principal reasons for this political ban is a blatantly pressure group-inspired action as a result of high-profile activity by the anti-war/disarmament lobby, with no detailed understanding as to the nature of what the ban was supposed to achieve, or direction as to how it should be policed. Certainly it is a noble cause, but discredited by those who are diametrically opposed to the concept of war for any reason and thus

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___________________________________________________________ cannot objectively consider all the factors brought to bear by this issue. Thought (1): Would we sacrifice UN soldiers on, say, a mission to Bosnia, against, for example, extremist Serbs, by denying them a weapon system that could improve their chances of survival, or even protecting an ethnic enclave against superior odds? [How] could that argument be defended in the Commons under New Labour? Thought (2): Now that we have ‘banned’ landmines, why are the Serbs laying them by the thousand in Kosovo and why is nothing being done to bring these ‘criminals’ to justice? Indeed, it appears that the UK ‘area denial’ [JP 233] weapon is being used extensively in the region under our new ‘committed to ethical foreign policy’ government. 69 (emphases included) The first point to remark upon is the seemingly questionable viability of the Ottawa Treaty itself; the ICBL, amongst others, has quite unequivocally stated that the landmine ban is not of itself a truly ‘universal’ document, in that many of the major producer nations (see relevant comment in previous chapters) remain outside the Process, thereby rendering the campaign effectively devalued as an arms control exercise, whether acknowledged or not. The respondent quoted above casts some doubt on the effectiveness of the entire operation, including comments about commitment by signatories to apparently legally-binding strictures in the treaty. Analysis of these comments raises further questions about what a mine actually is; for example, remarks on the ordnance used to prosecute the Kosovo conflict refer to the use of ‘area denial’ weapons, which is viewed by some as a bowdlerised, manipulative episode of semantically-engineered obfuscation designed to release certain weapon systems from the constraints of the treaty. In other words, by giving these devices another classification, it is possible to avoid proscription. It is, apparently, inevitable that governments will seek to circumvent the pronouncements of Ottawa, in furtherance of other objectives, and that the treaty is ‘not the be all and end all.’ Those instruments that brought legislation into being, either directly or

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___________________________________________________________ indirectly, have ‘got it badly wrong,’ and that Ottawa is useful in a narrow sense, insofar as it provides for the elimination of those weapons that are landmines, without really coming to terms with so-called ‘hybrid’ weapons, such as modified ATMs or AVMs. 70 These weapons, together with other ordnance including cluster munitions and area denial systems, have not been comprehensively addressed in the Ottawa text, largely due, according to one source, because the MOD ‘have got what they want’ and are averse to giving up any weapons without a protracted and difficult struggle. 71 The same source states that the ICBL committed a ‘tactical error’ in constructing a workable definition of those armaments earmarked for proscription. Considering the public’s perception of what the Ottawa Treaty is believed to have achieved, these loopholes have tended to obscure exactly what has been banned, and in no way has reality met expectations, as recent developments in Kosovo have shown. This point has been taken up with some force by the founder and former Director of the Mines Advisory Group, who now heads an organisation calling for a transparent and accountable arms trade. 72 He states that the UK’s strategy in Kosovo, along with most of its NATO partners, ‘ ...[was] in danger of breaching the terms of the Ottawa Treaty which it ratified less than a year ago.’ 73 McGrath’s assertion follows the UK government’s signing and ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of AntiPersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction, which is more widely known as the Ottawa Convention or the Mine Treaty. What McGrath seems to infer here is that the UK, as an integral and important member of NATO, is allegedly in breach of the Mine Treaty in a number of ways, which are as follows: the British Army, in accordance with the directives set out in the Ottawa document, has destroyed its stocks of APMs; the Royal Air Force, conversely, has not. Due to internal pressure to reverse the Ottawa decision, McGrath believes, explains why there has been a ‘delay’ in declaring the destruction of RAF landmine stocks. Further to this, and given the prominent combat role of RAF aircraft over Kosovo, it would be reassuring for the government to issue a statement confirming that RAF landmines (for example, the Hunting Engineering HB876 ‘area denial’ weapon) is banned and not available for deployment by NATO aircraft. 74 According to a senior Minister of State within the UK government, in a written response to questions put by the author about the weapons used by the RAF in Kosovo, ‘None of the weapons used by UK

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___________________________________________________________ forces during the Kosovo bombing campaign are prohibited under the Ottawa Convention, or any other international law. This includes the RBL 755 munition, referred to in media coverage.’ 75 It is accepted here that the UK government may be indulging in semantics, but, as the Minister has taken pains to stress, ‘The terms of the Ottawa Convention are clear: States Party to it will never, under any circumstances, use anti-personnel mines. Any such use, whether or not in an emergency, would be a flagrant breach of the Convention.’ 76 The point to emphasise here is that the UK, which does not face imminent danger of attack by an outside power, can feel disposed to issue such statements, notably the use of whether or not in an emergency with equanimity. What is interesting about the response of a senior United Kingdom representative is the apparent distinction between AP landmines and ‘area denial’ weapons, and the possible future scenarios for deployment: Within the confines of international law, UK forces deploy the most effective available weapon systems in a given operation. Future use of area denial weapons will depend on the nature of operations our forces find themselves involved in. Other governments are likely to take a similar approach. 77 Whether or not the UK government perceives a difference between APMs and area denial/area impact weapons is superfluous, given that the characteristics of both in certain ways display similar effects, and both, as news footage from Kosovo shows, are equally lethal. McGrath also comments on admittedly unsubstantiated reports that UK Special Forces are training and operating with KLA fighters, which under the terms of the Ottawa agreement is illegal as the KLA are known to use, and have large quantities of, antipersonnel mines. 78 This is clearly, if true, a most unsatisfactory state of affairs, and one which goes against both the letter and the spirit of the Ottawa accords. It may well be, when human rights investigators (including weapons experts) have completed their tasks in Kosovo, that evidence is found to affirm McGrath’s disquiet. As he goes on to state, ‘It is important that Canada particularly, as the forceful prime mover of a fast-track landmines treaty, and the ICBL which initiated the whole process, must be seen to tackle this first challenge to the credibility of the Convention directly and

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___________________________________________________________ urgently.’ 79 The irony here, of course, is that whilst measures are being taken to eradicate the landmine menace, news reports continue to comment on the plight of yet more landmine victims amongst the returnees in Kosovo, including very young children. Looking at the ICBL, adverse reaction to the motivations of mine ban campaigners themselves have surfaced in recent years, including observations that personal opportunism has played a significant part in the process, and that altruism hides an agenda concerned with ‘Publicity, career advancement, money and votes’ 80, aside from the purely humanitarian considerations that the campaign has based its programme on. Some demining experts, in a position to offer knowledgeable analysis on these revelations, appear to agree: ‘Of course, the professionals of the aid world have jobs to keep, and these jobs are not in minefields. I would estimate that for every European mine clearer, there must be 40 or 50 antimine lobbyists.’ 81 From a practical viewpoint, there exists a degree of discomfort on the positions of recalcitrant states referred to elsewhere in this book. The non-inclusion of states including the US, China, and FSU sends ‘the wrong signal’; it is ‘massively detrimental’ to the mine treaty, because it leaves the door open for the introduction of weapons that exhibit similar properties as APMs; it also does not allow for sub-state actors to embark on the process, for instance rebel or insurgent groups operating outside the recognised state system. 82 Assuming that the ICBL recognises the need for state-level action in this arena, then the position of non-signatory nations may be viewed as devaluing the treaty further. The ICBL has recognised that this is a major problem area, not least because the US, as a ‘top target’ for campaigners, is unlikely to meet its self-imposed deadline of 2006 for disposal of APMs, which some will interpret as being counterproductive. 83 From the UK government’s position as State Party to Ottawa, there appears to be some sympathy to this question of recalcitrant states: Of course we would like to see more countries adhering to a ban, including major players such as the US, China and Russia. We shall continue to press as many countries as possible to adhere to the Convention, while pressing for the widest possible ban through all appropriate international fora, including the Conference

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___________________________________________________________ on Disarmament in Geneva. Our goal is the total elimination of these weapons. 84 The question remains: if, as Realism would have it as outlined in Chapter Two that the autonomy of the state is inviolable, and that legitimate national security concerns are of paramount importance, can this be achieved? Clearly, with many major states either unable or unwilling to embrace the Ottawa Convention, the implementation of a socalled ‘global’ ban on landmines is an unlikely prospect. As the UK government goes on to state, there will ‘hopefully be a significant reduction in this trade [on APMs],’ 85 which is not quite the same as proclaiming a universal, binding ban on landmines. However, it is infinitely preferable to have some kind of treaty, rather than the total absence of such. Throughout this book, and particularly in Chapters Six and Seven, the ICBL has consistently highlighted the need for action to relieve the suffering caused by landmines which Chapter Five addresses. Based on analysis given in that part of the book, it seems clear that direct, concerted and immediate action be brought to bear on the problems caused by APMs in the ground. The frequently-repeated message emanating from actors such as the UN, Red Cross, the ICBL and various governments stresses the gravity of what has been called ‘a humanitarian catastrophe,’ and one that demands swift remedial action to spare populations from future landmine victimisation. As laudable as this enterprise undoubtedly is, mines are expensive and dangerous to remove which requires high funding levels to achieve the desired objective. According to the former head of the UN Demining department, global mine clearance would cost an estimated ‘US$200-300 billion’ 86 to achieve, a figure that should probably be treated with caution, but the project would nonetheless be financially demanding. Recalling Jefferson’s earlier critical remarks, the issue of funding for mines-clearance programmes appears not to have been addressed to any great degree. The Ottawa treaty ‘doesn’t get one mine out of the ground; anyone who thinks otherwise is naïve,’87 is a comment that echoes Jefferson’s sentiments. That may be, although one commentator believes that the situation is improving, as the UK DFID recognises that indigenous mine-clearance programmes, linked to developmental projects and peace-building initiatives, is a way forward. He also states that skills transference and an evaluation exercise of local

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___________________________________________________________ mines action groups have been seriously underfunded, a scenario described as ‘not good enough.’ The UK government has initially set aside £6 million for mine-related projects, with £10 million earmarked for the next fiscal year, compared with £5 million allocated by the departed Tory administration. Whilst this is clearly an improvement, it is nonetheless described as a ‘drop in the ocean’ from the world’s fourthlargest economy. 88 One presumes that the political will to meet the financial realities of this type of undertaking is absent, considering that there was ‘ ... plenty available for Kuwait to demine after the Gulf War,’ 89 but equally recognising that Kuwait has the marketable resource endowments to meet the costs, whereas a country such as Cambodia depends largely on external bodies for assistance. In other areas of the world, where mines cause problems as difficult to countenance as Cambodia or Kosovo, the same situation exists, as one source puts it: The lack of effective response from governments or the international community causes anger among these [Central American] communities, festering reminders of years of conflict. Yet mine clearance needs money and this has not been made available in sufficient quantity to make a difference. In Nicaragua, the Western Hemisphere’s second poorest country, it was three years after the cease-fire until the government requested assistance from the OAS to locate and neutralise minefields. A short-lived operation there to clear some of the estimated 116,000 landmines deployed during the war simply ran out of money. In Nicaragua, the clearance operations begun there in 1993 were suspended owing to lack of funds. 90 The question of funding, rather than just talking about it, is a perennial problem that the world would be wise to take seriously soon. Otherwise, the initial problem that the ICBL and others alerted the international community to, namely the victims of an indiscriminate weapon system, will continue to expand the casualty statistics. According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the UK has met its international obligations in this area, firstly by doubling its funding

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___________________________________________________________ commitments as at FY 2000, and by contributing 15% of the cost of the EU’s mine action programme. 91

Conclusions This chapter has attempted to convey some of the positive aspects of the campaign to ban landmines, with viewpoints from various interested parties to this issue area. Much of the text concerned itself with the progress of this enterprise as, implicitly, the power of civil society to deal with state-level actors as the arbiters of meaningful change within the global political system. Adopting a patently moral position, the ICBL and its associates have brought about a remarkable transformation in arms control mechanisms, to the point of brokering a treaty through the good offices of the Canadian government, and bringing over 130 states on board. It has done so by utilising various channels to work through, by networking, by harnessing the power of the media, and subsequently by alerting the general public to the gravity of the chaos caused by APMs. It also had Diana, Princess of Wales, who proved to be extremely useful to this end. On the negative side, the ICBL clearly has some pressing matters to attend to, which should receive adequate attention in order to realise the full potential of this undertaking. To ignore the criticality of these matters would effectively devalue the Ottawa treaty and the efforts of those who took this campaign that far, in addition to consigning mineafflicted populations to an uncertain future. This, however, falls not to the ICBL alone; governments should also share the burdens as much as the plaudits, which effectively entails providing the financial wherewithal to clear the minefields permanently.

Notes 1

Note: see chapter three for the theoretical argument regarding, particularly, Krasner’s definition of regimes, which mentions the convergence aspect of actor’s expectations as they apply to regime formation and viability.

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___________________________________________________________ 2

It is noted that whilst the US has thus far indicated non-signatory status with regards to the mine treaty, it has in the past adopted export moratoria, and also made expertise and funding available for mineclearance programmes. 3 Whilst this issue may be of peripheral interest to the aims of this study, it is noted that the UK government has attracted much criticism for apparently straying from its ethical policies. For background information on ethics, arms sales and the government, see, for example, Black, I and Fairhall, D, Analysis: The arms trade, The Guardian, Thursday, 16 October 1997, p 17. 4 Note: as a caveat, the British government reserves the right, in ‘emergencies,’ to review its policy on APMs in situations where the security of the armed forces may be compromised. As Paul Jefferson states in his article in the Wall Street Journal of October 15 1997, p 22, criticising the ICBL, this makes ‘perfect common sense.’ Moreover, some doubt is still entertained regarding the UK government’s ethical foreign policy, as (particularly) Rae McGrath intimates later in this chapter. One may also wish to refer to comments made by a UK Minister of State below, which appears to refute the point about use in an emergency. 5 According to Tim Carstairs, MAG has since resigned from this position, as stated in an interview, 24 June, 1999. 6 A major critic of the ICBL is Paul Jefferson, a former British Army veteran and humanitarian NGO and commercial mine clearer. 7 This subject has been already explored in the wake of the mines ban, but may be seen as particularly problematic for a multitude of reasons that are outside the parameters of this study. However, the issues are dealt with in the January/February 1999 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, entitled Small Arms, Big Problem. Readers with access to the World Wide Web may wish to peruse this area at site www.bullatomsci.org 8 This observation refers particularly to US government employees, who may not have the same flexibility of response as, say, a Save the Children respondent. 9 Interview, O’Bryon, L, former Associate Director, Jesuit Refugee Service USA, Washington, DC. 25 June, 1998. 10 Buzan, B, 1987, p 101. For further elucidation on this subject, see Kaldor, M, The Baroque Arsenal, London, Andre Deutsch, 1982; Reiss,

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___________________________________________________________ E, The Strategic Defense Initiative, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992, p 11. 11 Interview, N Dentico, Journalist and NGO activist, Italy, August, 1997. 12 Ibid., see also The New Internationalist, Trail of Terror, issue 294, September, 1997, pp 28-29 for more analysis of this matter. 13 ICBL, 1997g, p 6. 14 Dentico, op cit. 15 Ibid. 16 Interview, M Wareham, Senior Advocate, Human Rights Watch Arms Project, 30 June, 1998. 17 O’Bryon, op cit. 18 Interview, M Vitagliano, Assistant Co-ordinator, US Campaign to Ban Landmines, VVAF, 30 June, 1998. 19 Interview, A Witkowsky, Director, Defense Policy and Arms Control, National Security Council, the White House, 6 July, 1998. 20 See comments earlier in the introduction of chapter two of the book on the issue of whether mines are ‘evil,’ which is contentious at best due to the argument that inanimate objects should not be invested with abstract human qualities, despite the charge by authoritative sources that these weapons are ‘pernicious.’ However, it is accepted that the campaign has sought to cast these devices in a negative light from the outset, which may inevitably invite ‘bad’ connotations. 21 O’Bryon, op cit. 22 I would refer the reader back to comments made by Tony Blair, MP, on the morning of Diana’s death, in the previous chapter 23 Interview, J White, Director, Landmine Survivors Network, 23 June, 1998. 24 Witkowsky, op cit, emphasis added. 25 Interview, D Skopec, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Jack Quinn, 29 June, 1998. 26 Interview, T O’Donnell, Legislative Director, Congressman Lane Evans, 1 July, 1998. 27 Ibid. 28 Interview, D Priest, Pentagon reporter, the Washington Post, 2 July, 1998. 29 Skopec, op cit.

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Interview, J Dec, Associate director, Save the Children USA, 26 June, 1998. 31 Wareham, op cit. 32 Ibid. 33 White, op cit. 34 Interview, G Goldsworthy, Director, International De-mining Group, June, August, 1997. 35 O’Bryon, op cit. 36 Dec, op cit. 37 Vitagliano, op cit. 38 Witkowsky, op cit. 39 Vitagliano, op cit. 40 Witkowsky, op cit. 41 O’Bryon, op cit. 42 Ibid. Note: this area of concern is consistently referred to in all fieldwork interviews, and is a reflection of the attitudes of interviewees towards the central matter of mine victims. 43 Dec, op cit. 44 Doucet, 1993, p 311. 45 Wareham, op cit. 46 Priest, op cit. 47 Ibid. 48 Ibid. 49 O’Bryon, op cit. 50 Interview with a congressional aid within the US State Department, who exercised the prerogative to remain unattributable in this instance. 51 Ibid. 52 Witkowsky, op cit. 53 O’Bryon, op cit. 54 Wareham, Op cit. 55 Witkowsky, op cit. 56 Priest, op cit. 57 O’Bryon, op cit. 58 Dec, op cit. 59 Skopec, op cit. 60 Ibid. 61 Wareham, op cit.

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O’Donnell, op cit. Priest, op cit. 64 O’Bryon, op cit. 65 Dec, op cit. 66 Jefferson, 1997, p 22. 67 Goldsworthy, op cit. 68 Ibid. 69 Ibid., 70 Interview, R Lloyd, Co-ordinator, United Kingdom Working Group on Landmines, Summer 1999. 71 Ibid. 72 Note: reference is made to this organisation and its founder at the end of the bibliography. 73 McGrath, 1998, p 1. 74 Ibid., pp 2-3. 75 Letter to J Heppell MP, from T Lloyd MP, then Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 17 July, 1999. 76 Ibid., p 2. 77 Ibid., p 2. 78 McGrath, op. cit., p 3. 79 Ibid., p 1. 80 Goldsworthy, op cit. 81 Jefferson, op cit., p 22. 82 Lloyd, R, op cit. 83 Ibid. 84 lloyd, T, op. cit., p 1. 85 Ibid., p 2. 86 New York Times Magazine, 1994, p 29. 87 Lloyd, R, op cit. 88 Ibid. 89 O’Bryon, op cit. 90 Goldsworthy, 1998, p 2. 91 Lloyd, T, op cit., p 3. 63

CHAPTER NINE Concluding Remarks: Progress or Retrogression and Possible Futures Conclusions: A Review of General Arguments This book has put forward major aspects of the threat posed by antipersonnel landmines, and centrally what the international community has devised to eradicate the problem. It has done so by initially examining the theoretical perspectives found within the academic discipline of International Relations, primarily to reach an understanding of how the existence and use of these weapons can be explained within the global polity, but more importantly concerns the formation of structures to deal with the problems. What is evident is that competing viewpoints disagree significantly, particularly on the prominence of different actors within the international system. The book has concentrated on the ICBL as actor, taking in its philosophies and the role of civil society relative to statecentric worldviews. By doing so, the work analysed normative considerations including the moral dimensions of the debate, humanitarian principles and also scrutinised the question of security from the personal through to the international. Chapter Two opened the book proper by discussing explanations provided by Realism; a prima facie investigation would suggest that, because this type of ordnance is compatible with realist preoccupations of security and survival, notably of the state itself, then logically Realism should present an ‘open-and-shut’ argument that precludes any other theoretical variant. Considering that several major and militarily-powerful mine-producing states, including the United States, China, and India have not banned these devices, the Realist position appears to hold some credence. 1 Moreover, in the 1999 Kosovo conflict, mines have been used extensively and still present a clear danger to military and civilian personnel alike, as news broadcasts have indicated. It should be remembered here that these incidents have happened despite the Ottawa Process and Convention, and that the majority of countries in the world are signatories. Taking matters up to the present day, and in keeping with these observations, the same (or similar) scenario has unfolded in Afghanistan post-9/11, and subsequently in Iraq during the Second Gulf War as the latest episode of the unfolding War on Terror described by President Bush.

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___________________________________________________________ Despite the apparent suitability of Realism as an explanation for the forces at work in this area of inquiry, subsequent analysis of Liberal Pluralism demonstrated that the Realist paradigm has not offered an allencompassing rationale for the emergence of the ICBL as a significant actor. Indeed, Realism cannot seemingly account for the ethical/moral platform that the ICBL has utilised to launch its campaign, nor can it adequately interpret the cooperation between state and non-state actors to achieve a ban on landmines. The section dealing with Liberal Pluralism has advanced the proposition that the NGO community, incorporating grass-roots organisations networking at the global level, has challenged the state to bring forth change to security postures at the governmental level. Admittedly, the inclusion of the late Diana, Princess of Wales was a significant factor 2 in this process, and one that could not have been foreseen at the start of the research for this book. From the author’s viewpoint, both Realism and Liberal Pluralism have shown some quite relevant theoretical thinking on the subject of the anti-mines campaign, but neither appear capable of offering a rounded picture of this phenomenon. Therefore, to give the book what it lacks, analysis of Globalism/Structuralism was undertaken. As the chapter progressed, the perspective under discussion promised a fundamentally different view to consider. This alternative to the previous theories, taking in Marxist philosophies and class-based issues, posits that the economic realities of haves and have-nots impacts heavily on the global South, where the problems posed by APMs are apparent and (until the advent of the anti-mine lobby) largely unaddressed. This indicates a wider appreciation of the dominance-subjugation condition endured by the South in favour of the industrialised North, which, as the text endeavours to explain, would not countenance a tragedy of this severity. Even allowing for the political will being present, it is noted that the North has the resources to eradicate a problem of this nature, while the poorer nations of the South do not. Furthermore, the section noted the input given by the armaments industry, and that this sector is largely situated in the industrialised nations, driven by the need for profit, and that the products generated are a cause of the dilemmas confronting those states bedevilled by the scourge of APMs. The closing comments in Chapter Two expressed a degree of dissatisfaction with mainstream IR theory; in order to furnish the book with a fuller theoretical account of the mines campaign, I elected to explore thinking on the formation of regimes. Taking this route would

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___________________________________________________________ serve three purposes: first, it would act in support of, and add to, analysis covered in Chapter Two; second, it would provide a theoretical basis for those matters covered in Chapters Six and Seven primarily, but also to fieldwork analysis in Chapter Eight; and finally, the objective would be to enhance our understanding of this area of academic study and the arguably unique 3 achievement of the campaign to ban landmines. The ICBL is a collaborative project between politicians, NGO activists, humanitarianists and what might be termed ‘ordinary’ people. Whilst the backgrounds and professional lives of the dramatis personae may differ markedly, each has been drawn together in a common purpose - to rid the world of a weapon that is an affront to decency and moral principle. Long before the ICBL set to work or was even thought of, scholars like Krasner and Ruggie, inter alia, had embarked on learned investigations of this subject. Indeed, the chapter had borrowed from these two academics in consideration of a workable definition of regimes. Using these as a foundation for the text that follows, the chapter opened up intellectual inquiry into the minutiae of regime formation and propagation, subsequently applying analysis to the landmines campaign. At the sub-state level, acknowledgement is given to the contribution of Humanitarian Epistemic Communities - coteries of experts in a given field of inquiry, capable of pedagogic input to a general learning process, that in turn acts as a catalyst for policy transformation amongst (inter)national decision makers. Notably, in a normative sense, the phrase ‘moral entrepreneurship’ is often mentioned, which again emphasises the humanitarian nature of the anti-mine epistemic community. This is seen to be important because of the realities of mine infestation, and the requirement to stigmatise these weapons in the public consciousness. As the chapter goes on to elucidate, this has been a cumulative process towards change in the international system, to adopting a ‘new multilateralism’ that incorporates decision-makers and civil society in a partnership for mutual gain. The culmination of this proselytising process has resulted in a treaty that espouses a form of arms control endorsed by politicians, NGOs, the public and, significantly, prominent members and ex-members of military establishments. Chapters Two and Three dealt with the theoretical aspects of this debate; the book subsequently moved on to discover the realities of landmine evolution as a weapon system, which were discussed in Chapter Four. This part of the text sought to explain that APMs, in an historical context, were primarily devised to act in a defensive capacity as a security

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___________________________________________________________ guarantor for troops in the field. Up to the 1960s and the Vietnam War, this trend largely continued unchanged, as part one of the chapter demonstrated. It is with the second part of the chapter that most analysis was undertaken, because the advent of remote, ‘scatterable’ minelaying systems was perceived to present a direct threat to non-combatants in a non-discriminatory manner. The chapter also analysed the types of mines currently in service, their operational functions and, from an historical perspective, the trend towards greater destructive capacity. Besides looking at more conventional variants of landmines, the chapter notes that the introduction of area denial, or area impact weapons shows a tendency to blur the distinction between accepted mine systems and what have been termed ‘hybrid’ devices. These weapons present problems for international law governing proscription of landmines, in that they exhibit the accepted characteristics of landmine systems, yet are not classified as such by definition. For the purposes of the mines treaty, bowdlerised terminology renders the document less than watertight, and opens up the way for non-discriminatory weapon systems to be used with impunity. Latterly, this has come to attention in the recent war in Kosovo, where systems like the RAF’s JP233 ‘runway busting’ munition has been deployed. Also, it calls into question the quasi-moral rationale for using cluster weapons in pursuit of ‘terrorists’ amongst civilian communities, again notably in Afghanistan and latterly in Iraq. The theme of primitive and later-generation APM systems was taken up and expanded on in Chapter Five, which deals with the impact of these weapons on victimised countries. This chapter is relevant for the overall aims of the book, in a number of ways. First, as Chapter Three elucidates, there is a requirement to establish the veracity of ‘truth’ claims for the purposes of the ICBL, and, subsequently, for the application of expert knowledge to the national policy-formulation process. Secondly, it is seen that analysis of the impact of mines on national cohesion (or indeed lack of it) describes the extent of the problem in real terms. The chapter attempts to support these assertions with evidence of the multidimensional nature of mine infestation at several levels, which when put together indicate the severity of this problem. Thirdly it is from this particular aspect of the chapter that the ICBL’s ethos is drawn, notably the ethical standpoint that the campaign professes to advocate. The chapter is divided into sub-headings that examine the wideranging nature of APM attrition in detail. Starting with a general discussion, the text moves on to analyse the medical perspective,

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___________________________________________________________ particularly the effects of mine detonations on the human body. Further emphasis is placed on medical infrastructures in the global South which cannot absorb the scale of landmine injuries as comfortably as, say, an industrialised nation. Moreover, given the ersatz condition of social security institutions in developing states, attention is given to the paucity of life chances for a mine victim. From an economic viewpoint, there is no indication that improvement is in sight. Landmines paralyse economic activity, especially in those countries that have endured large-scale mine warfare. From the rural to the urban, high-value assets have been singled out for attack. often not to destroy but to deny use by the enemy. In some cases, notably states like Cambodia and Angola, the legacy of mine use extends beyond the prosecution of hostilities, and continue to affect those areas which may be ostensibly at peace. Leading on from this observation, socio-cultural activities have not been spared the privations of extensive mine deployment. Part of the anti-mine lobby’s agenda has been to bring attention to this area of concern, in an effort to illustrate the scope of APM infestation within afflicted communities. The weapon has destructive capabilities that carry far beyond any perceived military utility, to the point that people’s everyday activities have been severely disrupted. In some countries, for example Asian societies such as Laos and Cambodia, personal security has been compromised due to landmines. Amputees are poor marriage prospects; they are deemed to be incapable of supporting a family, are unemployable, and must take their chances on the margins of societies with minimal or non-existent social security provisions. Society at large must also bear the burden of landmines, which includes what Pilger refers to as ‘population control’ by minefields, lack of communication between communities and disruption of the democratic process, as comments on Angola in the chapter testify. Even the dead have not been spared, as mines make visits to family or community burial plots hazardous. The hazards of warfare are often exemplified by the plight of refugees and internally-displaced persons, as the recent Balkans conflict has amply demonstrated. Landmines exacerbate the plight of these peoples for several reasons: assuming that a given conflict has ended, then repatriation is often the overriding concern. However, as the chapter illustrates, the return journey is frequently made worse by unmarked minefields, and the certainty that returnees will not know if their homes and fields have been mined in their absence. Naturally, with a cessation of hostilities, refugees may not wish to wait until areas have been declared

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___________________________________________________________ safe to enter, as several weeks, months or years in camps will provide the impetus to return home. Besides the logistical problems presented by the mass movement of peoples, aid agencies face major impediments to safe repatriation directly due to unmarked minefields and transportation routes. As this section of the chapter shows, incidences of mine victimisation tend to rise significantly with the resettlement of refugees, thus adding to an already parlous state of affairs. The chapter concludes by looking at the link between landmines and the fear that they generate in people. This is a particularly relevant area of investigation, as the chapter outlines, bearing in mind the manufacturer’s aim of demoralising troops in the field by producing weapons that aim to injure, not kill, thus providing a detrimental psychological effect on the unfortunate’s comrades. Of course, this applies equally to non-combatants as military personnel, certainly in the context of landmines used as weapons of terror. For those communities engaged in subsistence farming, for example, fear of mines is set against the imperative to provide food for the community’s needs. Moreover, it would seem that fear of mines can be aggravated by the problems of amputation and subsequently reduced life-chances. At this juncture, the book moved on to discuss the formation and evolution of the ICBL. Chapters Six and Seven deal with this matter in depth, which is central to the work as a whole. The work deals with the formulation of mechanisms designed to ultimately eradicate an entire weapon system, which in itself would be an achievement of significant proportions. Therefore, the chapters sought to analyse the methodologies and related considerations that foster this ideal. The rationale for breaking this area of study into two chapters was to initially look at the progress up to the Ottawa Process, mostly from a sub-state approach. The second part would take up the process with the inclusion of governments, notably Canada initially. This is viewed as an effective approach to this part of the study, as it invites comparative analysis of the two areas of study. Chapter Six introduces the ICBL as an arms proscription regime that has adopted normative precepts with a strong humanitarian bias. It has done so in the belief that APMs are indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction in slow motion, and operate in contravention of customary laws of war. Furthermore, the campaign has expressed concern at the geographical spread of these weapons, allied to the scale of fatal and nonfatal injuries incurred through contact with these devices. Moreover, the campaign has demonstrated its displeasure regarding the fact that these

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___________________________________________________________ weapons infest those countries least able to deal with the problems they present. With a clear agenda to pursue, the ICBL has harnessed elements of civil society and the authority of humanitarian epistemic communities to embark on the proselytising process, with a view to bringing change to the international system, and a reversal of government policy on landmine production, sale and use. Much of this process involved incorporating the input of humanitarian NGOs, religious organisations, the UN, Red Cross and Red Crescent and the general public. Also, the campaign had utilised the media to generate the ‘oxygen of publicity’ to reach as wide an audience as possible, and employed advances in information technology and communications. With the formation of the ICBL Steering Group in 1992, a quite wide-ranging coalition of interest groups had formed a coterie that was to be the foundation of an enterprise that would eventually comprise over 1,000 NGOs in what had become a truly global undertaking. With prominent members acting as moral entrepreneurs, these bodies had found themselves in a position to bring about meaningful change in the global polity, and influence at the state level of analysis. As a loosely-federated agglomeration of disparate entities, the ICBL had avoided the pitfalls of top-heavy bureaucracy and was in a position to adopt a flexible approach to its stated objectives. The core strength of the organisation was further enhanced with the appearance of several publications produced by member bodies, adding authority and moral wherewithal in the face of resistance to change by decision-makers in government. The campaign further benefited from the inclusion of amputees at forums across the world, people who put a human face to the tragedy of landmine victimisation, and relate the associated traumas through the presentation of personal anecdotal evidence. Much of the credit for this should rightly be accorded to the Landmine Survivors Network, whose directors are both victims of mine incidents. The culmination of endeavours by sub-state groups was the inception of the Ottawa Process and Convention in October 1996, a ‘fast track’ initiative that aimed to bypass the cumbersome and protracted deliberations undertaken by the Conference on Disarmament. 4 The most notable achievement of this Process was the inclusion of states into the deliberations, in recognition of the importance of these actors towards change within the international system. These, and related matters are dealt with in Chapter Seven, which details the progress towards

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___________________________________________________________ formulating a treaty that would achieve, as near as practicable, a truly global ban on AP landmines. Notable observations in this chapter include the prominence of high-level decision makers such as Lloyd Axworthy and Patrick Leahy, each of whom was (and still are) important members of their respective governments. Moreover, the leadership provided by Canada and other states like Belgium and France set in train an impetus that other nations felt morally bound to emulate. Working in tandem with NGOs and other, non-state entities had enabled these actors to move towards an eventual ban on mines, taking in preparatory conferences at Geneva, Brussels and Oslo. Brussels was significant because 106 states committed themselves openly to the Process, partly in recognition of public response to the campaign, and subsequent demands for a ban. In this sense, Brussels was about hearing the voice of civil society, and acting accordingly. It is noted here, however, that the position of (particularly) the US remained outside the Process, a factor that would undoubtedly influence the relative success of the enterprise. It is inevitable that the role adopted by the late Diana, Princess of Wales would figure prominently in the book, and thus it transpired. As supporting evidence in the text illustrates, her inclusion lent the campaign a vital element towards recognition of the objectives, insofar as wherever she travelled, the media would be in close proximity to report on her activities. Her death, as unfortunate as that event turned out to be, provided the anti-landmine campaign with a continued high profile, although with hindsight it would perhaps be preferable if she had lived to continue her work. Certainly, an enduring legacy of Diana’s work with (in this case) charitable causes is her identification with mine victims, and the grafting of a human face onto the misery that these weapons invite. The award of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to the ICBL and its global co-ordinator and ‘moral entrepreneur’ Jody Williams of the VVAF, may be seen as a vindication of the campaign’s efforts to date, and lends an air of legitimacy to its espoused cause. From a publicity viewpoint, it certainly enhanced the profile and objectives of the campaign. It is judicious that this award arrived shortly before the Ottawa signing ceremony, which was the culmination of years of work, and which was without precedent in the arms control arena. The process achieved entry-into-force with the 40th ratification by Burkina Faso on the first of March, 1998. To date, over 150 states have signed the treaty, and more than 130 have achieved ratification. As part of an ongoing

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___________________________________________________________ programme, and with a view to expand on the achievements of Ottawa, the ICBL launched a major initiative, the ‘Landmine Monitor,’ which is a civil society-based approach to managing the implementation of and compliance with the treaty. The thinking behind this undertaking is to build on the expertise and capabilities of NGOs to watch and document the issues of landmines globally, the objective of which is to move towards eventual and total eradication. The penultimate chapter deals with fieldwork studies, which were mostly conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, with some analysis gathered from sources in mainland Europe. I decided to take this approach for reasons of balance; the intention had been to discover any variable attitudes to the overall problem of mines, and to reflect the fact that the US part of the ICBL was concentrated in Washington, DC, making studies there logistically favourable. Moreover, and bearing in mind the US position on the mines treaty, interesting comparisons between the UK and the US could be arrived at. Finally, the decision to visit Washington was admittedly influenced by the US position on Ottawa discussed in Chapters Six and Seven, underwritten by American politico-military status in world affairs. US research concentrated on two principal areas of study: the NGO community and government, although some lesser input was provided by the media. It was anticipated that this approach would reveal positive and negative attitudes to Ottawa, and that the government would couch its responses in relation to US interests abroad, whilst nongovernmental research would adopt an overtly normative position. As analysis in the chapter shows, opinions broadly follow this line of reasoning. The US government persists with the belief that mines still possess some military utility, despite the argument put forward by proban advocates. It should also be remembered that, with reference to former President Clinton, he did not apparently enjoy perfect relations with the military, yet has tended to follow the Pentagon’s stance on landmines. However, it will be interesting to see what altered positions, if any, Bush adopts on the landmines issue at some point, and in the context of his clear departure from policies associated with the previous administration. As matters stand, and recognising the generous funding extended to the US military-industrial complex for FY 2003-04, the prognosis is discouraging. Scholarly enquiry in the United Kingdom and Europe was primarily directed at sub-state entities involved with the landmines

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___________________________________________________________ debate, although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided valuable data emanating from Ministerial sources. This area of study provided useful analysis of what many would view as negative connotations post-Ottawa, in that the ICBL has attracted adverse criticisms of its aims and objectives, and that the treaty does not address fundamental issues of development, mines clearance, and the requisite funding needed to effect true humanitarian outcomes. As some sources prefer, the campaign appears to have realised less than optimum results. It has not brought the major players on board; the US has failed to show leadership in this matter; the UK government’s ethical foreign policy (as it relates to mines) is alleged to be lacking credibility; and confusion regarding what is - or is not - a landmine continues, as McGrath explains citing the recent Kosovo conflict as a case in point. On a more optimistic note, as analysis of the campaign in Italy shows, the ICBL has made real progress towards achieving positive, state-level inclusion. The conclusions offered above do not realistically offer a utopian outcome; as political realists would perhaps have it, state-centric considerations have prevailed as evidenced by the positions of several major powers on a global landmine ban. Despite the strength of the moral argument advocated by the ICBL and its supporters, significant transnational/global actors remain unconvinced that national security is assured without APMs as a viable military option. Despite the apparent triumphs of Ottawa, the ICBL has to accept that a totally mine-free world, while preferable, is not immediately achievable and that any such undertaking must be considered as ‘work in progress.’ Accordingly, this chapter will shortly offer analysis of what advances, if any, this project has made in the opening years of the 21st Century. Certainly, it is recognised that the ICBL’s campaign is both laudable and necessary, even if labelled as naively Quixotic by detractors. The point is that actual and possible future victims of landmines now have a voice that speaks on their behalf, and that all communities world-wide have a right to a future free of these weapons. How this is to be done remains problematic, as research into this area of study reveals further questions that are as yet unanswered. As analysis shows, there remains ample scope for further investigation of matters relating, and that our understanding of this subject remains incomplete. Having established this to be the case, the book now intends to examine what progress has been made almost half a decade after the Ottawa ceremony.

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Event Analysis: Progress Or Retrogression? According to Graeme Goldsworthy, Operations Director and founder of IDG, an overview of developments in this area over, say, the last five years meet with mixed feelings. On the positive side, the number of countries now on board as signatories has increased to over 130, reflecting the fact that ratifications of Ottawa have also increased. As an encouraging factor, far more than half of the world’s nation-states are now effectively part of the movement. On the downside, as Goldsworthy relates, it is arguable that both the spirit and the letter of Ottawa have been revised or circumvented due to prevailing problems at the state and system levels. For example, IDG’s current remit is to clear 53 already identified minefields in El Salvador, despite Salvadoran government ministers proclaiming that the country is now ‘mine free.’ 5 Moreover, as Goldsworthy further observes, the treaty suffers from structural and other weaknesses that send the wrong signals to Ottawa signatories and outsiders alike. In 2001, and indeed even earlier, disturbing reports began to emerge about renewed episodes of mine warfare in Angola, 6 which is a signatory to Ottawa and has subsequently ratified the document. As landmines cognoscenti well know, Angola is one of those unfortunate countries that cannot readily absorb the human and material costs of yet more APM deployment. Despite a wealth of valuable raw materials, the country has been ensnared within a vicious cycle of low- to high-intensity conflict that has characterised Angola’s history for over four decades. As a textbook case of chronic mine infestation the land should, post-Ottawa, signpost a new direction in mine-free security. Given the fact that the government and opposition, irrespective of who ‘started it first,’ have violated the treaty and placed it in contempt which sends the wrong signal to other, would-be violators. Probably the major implication for adherents of the Ottawa ethos is the question of enforcement; of what use is a legally-binding instrument if its strictures are ignored when circumstances so dictate? At the very least, this places the ICBL shibboleth of ‘A total ban – no exceptions, no excuses’ in danger of incipient moribundity. Observers of the international political scene will doubtless cast a jaundiced eye over these proceedings, notably in recognition of the anarchic nature of global political discourse and the disappointments that one finds there. Those countries that remain outside of the process, especially the United States,

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___________________________________________________________ may indeed cast a knowing glance towards Ottawa, even if non-inclusion (especially by the US) serves only to weaken Ottawa in the long-term. 7 Of some concern to mine ban advocates continues to be the use, including in Kosovo in 1999, and Afghanistan and Iraq currently, of Area Impact Munitions or Area Denial weapons, commonly referred to as cluster bombs. These types of ordnance escaped proscription due largely to matters of legal definition; that is, they do not constitute a landmine because they are not primarily designed to function in quite the same way. 8 This, of course, is pure semantics for obscuring the intended purpose of these devices. Whether they are configured for ‘area denial’ deployment or not, rather than traditional uses for landmines, the end result is the same: they are non-discriminatory weapons that will detonate through the intervention of a human agency, be it civilian or military. These types of weapon, including the RAF’s JP233 ‘runway busting’ munition, and its Israeli variant, carry large quantities of cluster bombs that scatter round about the crater formed by the JP233, and effectively prevent defending forces from filling in the hole and rendering an aircraft runway operational. However, when one conducts operations from 15,000 feet there may indeed be a tendency for inaccurate bombing, which leaves cluster munitions scattered about the countryside. The result is, even after missions have ceased, that these devices remain in live mode for some time thereafter. This, and related areas of scholarly concern have identified notable lacunae that present a thus far incomplete picture of the dynamics and processes at work through several levels of analysis. Clearly, much more research needs to be undertaken to enhance our understanding of these phenomena, and to subsequently use new knowledge to that end. What follows is a tentative step in that direction.

Suggestions for Further Research The book has engaged with a number of issue areas, which have received extensive treatment within pertinent parameters. However, it should be evident that analysis undertaken has opened up other, equally important ideas that are outside the remit of this text. Therefore, the final part of this work will identify, and subsequently give a short review of, those matters thought suitable for future research. They will not be presented in any order of importance, as each has equal merit from a scholarly perspective, and may yield important results at some point.

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___________________________________________________________ First, the issue of future arms control initiatives; given the apparent success of the Ottawa Process and Convention, and the treaty arising from that agenda, some analysts have looked at the trade in small arms, and how this activity might be curbed, or at least controlled. 9 It should also be clear that attempts to establish some kind of regime to oversee this project, and then implement any findings arising, would be at least as problematical as the landmines initiative has demonstrated. There are, however, compelling reasons for exploring this subject, given the fact that small arms are ubiquitous weapons and, as news broadcasts from trouble spots across the world inform us, are in plentiful evidence. Besides, and further to this observation, it will not have escaped the attention of the reader that the US, the most wealthy and powerful nation in history, has its own problems with small arms to address, with the shootings of pupils at Columbine High School one of the latest in a series of arms-related tragedies that continue to occur elsewhere throughout that country. Secondly, and arising directly from matters discussed in this book, there will possibly be a major challenge to mine manufacturers at some point in the future. 10 This may take the form of litigation lodged by mine victims and their legal representatives, with a view to exacting compensation from the makers for injuries sustained in contact with these products. This is quite likely to be a protracted and high-profile affair, which poses interesting questions regarding again arms control, international law, human rights and development, among other considerations, and will doubtless provide some fruitful analysis. Furthermore, it should be interesting to observe the responses of governments as the actions progress, but also noting the Realist prerogative of state sovereignty, or don’t hold your breath. Thirdly, there remains the question of economic development in countries that reported significant to severe landmine infestation, and how these considerations should be addressed. As Chapter Five explains, landmines affect states in ways that go far beyond any perceived military utility, and that national reconstruction (in the aftermath of conflict where landmines have been deployed) would be a difficult and costly enterprise. Areas of interest include: refugee/displaced persons resettlement; rebuilding agricultural infrastructures; establishing social security apparatus; providing mine-free transportation systems; modernising health and sanitation facilities, and so on.

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___________________________________________________________ Further research will be needed in areas that arise directly from the above, notably: the development of export-led growth; the disarmament of civil society (such as weapons amnesty programmes); the policing of international legislation on APM export and use; and the institution of a professional and objective body to oversee mines clearance operations, especially in areas that are resource-rich, which includes access to fresh water supplies, the institution of education programmes, mine-awareness, and sustainable development. As important as these matters are, of equal if not paramount concern remains the ongoing and increasingly hazardous threat presented by cluster munitions. The vexed question of disentangling legal semantics so that these devices may be proscribed in the manner of landmines continues to occupy human rights activists and development NGOs alike. The geopolitical realities of terrorism, whether that concept is tightly defined or not, promise to feature continued use of these types of weapon systems, alongside the so-called ‘low tech’ use of small arms and suicide bombers. The US, and the UK for that matter, insist that they have the right to deploy cluster bombs because to do otherwise equates to fighting with one arm behind the military’s back, a scenario not currently contemplated by either the Bush or Blair administrations at this juncture. As a direct consequence, the movement to stigmatise these munitions in the public consciousness has already begun, and is all the more urgent in the wake of mounting civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. 11 It is, however, accepted that hard factual data on the impact of cluster bombs in, for example, Iraq during and after the second Gulf War suffers from a paucity of information, largely as a result of controls exercised by the military apparatus in Iraq over so-called ‘embedded’ journalists. However, the moral argument suggests that adopting a position of inertia is no excuse in the face of indiscriminate slaughter, and that in the Burkian sense evil is done if good men (and of course women) stand by without taking some kind of action on behalf of the powerless. From the author’s standpoint, this is an area that will be studied and acted upon sooner rather than later. 12 The earnest hope is that the campaign may gather momentum and have an affect; as of now, the situation remains the same and non-combatants continue to be killed and injured unnecessarily. Finally, with these thoughts in mind, there remains the perplexing question of how to strengthen and expand the mine treaty, to

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___________________________________________________________ include those entities that have as yet not signalled a desire to take the process on board. As analysis in Chapter Eight particularly indicates, some major producer states intend to continue the traffic in these weapons in future, and it would be judicious to research possible outcomes of this trend. Moreover, it is noted that some of these states have outstanding local disputes remaining unresolved (notably India, Russia, Pakistan, Korea, China), which makes the case for further studies a compelling argument. To repeat the arguments that run throughout this book, noncompliance by major producers sends the wrong signals to states that may, in the manner of Angola, before the demise of Savimbi, be tempted to abandon Ottawa and return to using landmines in the name of military expedience.

Notes 1

It is also noted that some of these states have security situations to address, and that landmines have a role to fulfil in this regard. 2 The reader should refer to chapter eight of this book to elicit the importance of Diana to the ICBL, as several interviews demonstrate. 3 While this may seem to be a grandiose overstatement, it is hoped that the text will act in support of the claim. 4 For a clearer explanation of this, see: chapter seven, footnote 8. 5 Note: the mine ban policy adopted by El Salvador was enunciated by Vice Minister of External Relations, Rene Eduardo Dominguez, at the first Review Conference of the Ottawa Treaty in Maputo, Mozambique, on May 4th 1999. He stated that ‘Today, we are proudly able to announce that we [El Salvador] are a mine – free country.’ (Quote taken from the Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p 269.) Neither, as Goldsworthy noted, has it returned its Article Seven report on implementing Ottawa’s stipulations. Clearly, in view of IDG’s findings, the information given at Maputo is misleading at best. 6 See, for example, Lokey, J. ‘Angola Shows Ottawa Achilles Heel.’ The Journal of Mine Action, 3, 1, February 1999, p 1. 7 This issue bears some comparison with the demise of the League of Nations in the 1930s partly due to non-engagement by the US. Whilst the two areas of study cannot be contrasted exhaustively due to the widelydiffering nature of their origins, analysis and outcomes, nonetheless

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___________________________________________________________ continued American disinterest in Ottawa send sthe wrong signals to other non-signatories. 8 For a complete definition of a landmine and related matters, see: Cameron et al., To Walk Without Fear: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998, pp 465-466. 9 See: Small arms, big problem, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January/February 1999. 10 Note: this assertion arises from discussions between the author and a human rights organisation in August 1999. The subject matter concerns litigation that will attempt to make mine manufacturers and host governments liable for compensation for mine victims, and will probably be formally lodged with the appropriate authorities later. 11 See, for example, work by the Mennonite Central Committee on cluster bombs, and the continuing debate by the ICBL and others regarding putting together a campaign to ban all CB weapons. 12 See: Faulkner, and Goldsworthy (eds.) The Moral Maze: an exploration of the viability of cluster weapons as legitimate weapons of warfare. Rodopi Press, forthcoming.

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INDEX

Accudyne, 163, 173 ADAM, xvii, 75 Adler, 38, 40, 51, 52, 53, 219 Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines, 136 Afghanistan, xiii, 41, 81, 83, 96, 98, 104, 107, 113, 128, 203, 206, 214, 216, 225 Africa, 21, 23, 61, 64, 149 Alexander Field Marshal, 63 Alliant Techsystems, 27, 82, 84, 139, 159, 163, 173, 219 American Civil War, 59 amputees, 88, 93, 101, 103, 108, 131, 135, 209 Angola, xiii, xv, 23, 41, 97, 98, 103, 108, 128, 154, 182, 184, 207, 213, 217, 225, 231, 235, 237 anti-personnel mines, 49, 70, 77, 107, 132, 153, 162, 164, 194, 222 Anti-Personnel Mines, 4, 81, 110, 128, 163, 193, 220, 221, 222, 224, 225, 228, 233, 234, 235, 237 anti-tank mines, 153 Austria, 133, 165 Axworthy, 3, 33, 39, 40, 48, 143, 147, 148, 150, 160, 170, 184, 185, 210, 219, 221, 227, 232 ball mine, 74 Belgium, xxii, xxiii, 5, 12, 41, 138, 172, 210 Blair, 153, 176, 200, 216 blast mines, 72 BLU-42, 69

Spider Mine. See BLU-43, 69 Dragon Tooth mine. See Bofors, 125 Bosnia-Herzegovina, 21 Bounding mines, 73 Brescia, 121, 129 Brussels, 110, 141, 150, 151, 152, 210, 225 Burkina Faso, xxiii, 166, 210 Bush, 14, 203, 211, 216 Buzan, 7, 11, 27, 30, 81, 140, 180, 199, 221 Cafod, 131 Caltrop, 58, 79 Cambodia, xiii, xxi, 24, 41, 68, 93, 101, 108, 122, 125, 128, 129, 131, 136, 142, 197, 207, 229, 231, 234, 235 Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines, 129, 131 Canada, xviii, xxii, 5, 41, 110, 129, 134, 135, 136, 143, 147, 148, 150, 161, 170, 171, 172, 173, 185, 194, 208, 210, 219, 221, 227, 234 capitalism, 12, 18, 20 Case Institute of Technology, 68 Central America, 24, 27, 30, 113, 139, 224 Channareth Tun, 130 Chaucer Geoffrey, 59 China, xv, 64, 156, 167, 195, 203, 217 Chissano Joaquin, 148 Christian Aid, 130

240

Index

___________________________________________________________ civil society, 1, 2, 15, 25, 36, 39, 40, 41, 44, 51, 98, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 135, 137, 145, 146, 148, 150, 151, 160, 161, 163, 166, 168, 181, 182, 198, 203, 205, 209, 210, 211, 216 Civil Society, ix, 117, 150, 151, 224, 225, 229, 231, 233, 236 Clinton Bill, xxi, xxii, 135, 153, 156, 158, 161, 173, 187, 188, 211, 222, 232 Cold War, 12, 16, 18, 36, 39, 121, 126, 135, 139, 162, 179, 221, 233 Conventional Weapons Convention, 2 Cook, 5, 173, 176, 178, 220, 237 Costa Rica, 161 Cox, 28, 44, 53, 114, 222 Croatia, 21, 41 Cuba, 149, 161 Cut, 66 Cyrenaica, 62 Deedes, 110, 129, 154, 172, 222, 223 Deep Strike, 66, 79 Demilitarised Zone, 156 Department For International Development, xvii Diana, xiii, 5, 18, 19, 29, 145, 153, 154, 155, 171, 182, 183, 184, 198, 200, 204, 210, 217, 226, 227, 230, 237 Directional Fragmentation Mines, 73 Dragon Tooth mine. See Economics, ix, 94 Egypt, 62, 89 El Alamein, 89

El Salvador, xiii, xv, 24, 213, 217, 219 Ethiopia, 96 Europe, 5, 20, 23, 36, 59, 149, 175, 211, 235 FASCAM, xvii, 75, 76 Faulkner, i, vi, xi, xiii, xiv, xv, 3, 26, 27, 28, 82, 110, 111, 139, 142, 143, 218, 223, 224 Ferranti, 75, 81, 84 fieldwork, xxvi, 5, 11, 122, 142, 143, 155, 176, 177, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188, 201, 205, 211 Finland, 28, 30, 37, 95, 184 First World, 12 First World War, 63, 70 Fontana, 180 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 197 Fragmentation Mines, 73, 74 France, 5, 12, 76, 83, 99, 125, 133, 138, 172, 210 Frost, 7, 116, 118, 119, 138, 224 fuze technology, 62, 74, 75, 83 Gard, 50 Geneva, xxi, xxiii, 31, 43, 82, 129, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 170, 196, 210, 219, 221, 225, 227, 228, 232, 236 Germany, xxii, 60, 63, 122, 133, 149, 172 global South, 12, 20, 24, 25, 116, 128, 204, 207 Globalism, viii, 19, 23, 25, 204, 236 Goldsworthy, 81, 201, 202, 213, 217, 218, 225 Gulf War, xxv, 24, 43, 75, 99, 188, 197, 203, 216 Haas, 1, 2, 7, 38, 39, 43, 52, 53, 117, 138, 149, 173, 225

Index

241

___________________________________________________________ Halliday, 20, 28, 30, 225 Handicap International, xvii, xxi, 110, 112, 113, 124, 125, 171, 225 Henry, 59 Hepatitis, 92 Heppell, 178, 202 HIV, 92 Ho Chi Minh, 68 Holbrooke, 155 Holland, 12 Honduras, 24 Honourable Artillery Company, 59 Human Rights Watch, xvii, 22, 30, 55, 82, 83, 84, 110, 111, 112, 122, 124, 127, 139, 172, 173, 188, 200, 225, 226, 230, 232 humanitarian epistemic communities, 2, 4, 19, 38, 50, 51, 137, 209 Impact Fuze, 62 Inderfurth, 123, 130, 140, 141, 226 India, xv, 133, 156, 172, 203, 217 Indo-China, 64 Inhumane Weapons Convention, 132, 235, 237 Internally-displaced Peoples, ix, 103 International Campaign to Ban Landmines, xiii, xvii, 2, 145, 146, 150, 151, 175, 226, 227, 228 International Committee of the Red Cross, xvii, 6, 44, 82, 84, 111, 140, 151, 228, 231 International Demining Group, xvii, 6, 225

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, xviii, 126, 228 international relations, 1, 11, 20, 24, 35 International Relations, viii, xiii, xviii, 3, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 33, 35, 36, 125, 203, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 229, 234, 235, 236 Iraqi Air Force, 75 Iraqi Army, 99 Italy, xxvi, 121, 129, 132, 170, 172, 181, 200, 212 Jaguar, 75 Jefferson, 110, 196, 199, 202, 229 Jody, xiv, xxiii, 4, 15, 19, 29, 46, 117, 132, 146, 147, 150, 160, 161, 162, 181, 210, 219 Kabul, 104 Kampuchea, 93, 231 Keohane, 27, 28, 46, 52, 54, 222, 229 Kfor, xviii, 14 King John, 59 Korea, 36, 63, 79, 82, 95, 139, 149, 156, 157, 161, 168, 172, 175, 187, 189, 217, 222, 231 Kosovo, xviii, 14, 21, 186, 192, 193, 194, 197, 203, 206, 212, 214, 231 Krasner, 2, 12, 28, 36, 37, 51, 52, 54, 198, 205, 229, 230 Kurdistan, 124 Kuwait, 24, 99, 197, 236 Landmine Injuries, 228 Landmine Monitor, xxiii, xxiv, 27, 168, 211, 217, 228

242

Index

___________________________________________________________ Landmine Survivors Network, xviii, 124, 131, 146, 200, 209, 230 landmines, xi, xiii, xiv, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 30, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 50, 53, 54, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 78, 79, 87, 88, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 139, 140, 141, 145, 147, 149, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 156, 162, 163, 166, 167, 169, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 181, 186, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 197, 198, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 223, 226, 235, 236 Laos, 24, 68, 83, 207, 223 Leahy, 3, 7, 40, 42, 48, 53, 123, 129, 140, 141, 210, 230 Lenin, 23 Liberal Pluralism, viii, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 204 Liddell Hart, 61, 81, 230 Linklater, 7, 29, 119, 139, 223, 230 Lloyd, 178 Lundestad, 146 Machiavelli, 14 Major, 130 Manitese, 130, 177 Maputo, xxiii, 97, 148, 217, 219 Marxism, 20 McGovern, 66, 146

McGrath, 4, 40, 80, 82, 84, 110, 112, 142, 193, 194, 199, 202, 212, 231 Medical Action for Global Security, 126 Medico International, xxi, 122, 124 methodology, 6, 11, 35, 42, 57, 60, 73, 79, 80, 83, 90, 104, 110, 145, 163, 166, 177 Middle East Watch, 124 Mines Action Canada, 129 Mines Advisory Group, xviii, 6, 110, 111, 113, 124, 176, 193 Mitterand, 125 Montreux, 29, 42, 220, 223, 228, 233 moral entrepreneurs, 2, 4, 34, 39, 42, 48, 52, 115, 117, 119, 209 Moscow, 167, 228 Mozambique, xxiii, 97, 98, 112, 148, 217, 236 National Missile Defence, 190 National Rifle Association, 119 National Security Council, 6, 156, 181, 200 NATO, xviii, 14, 99, 193 NBC, xviii, 48, 53 neo-Realism, 12, 16 New York Times, xxii, 43, 53, 55, 135, 138, 143, 158, 171, 172, 202, 231, 232, 234, 237 New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines, 127 Nicaragua, xxiv, 24, 197, 219 Nobel Committee, 146, 162, 173, 232 Nobel Peace Prize, xxiii, 19, 117, 138, 146, 147, 162, 210, 219, 221, 233 Non-Governmental Organisations, 4, 162

Index

243

___________________________________________________________ North Africa, 61, 79 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, xviii North Korean Army, 63 Nye, 166, 173, 232 Oslo, ix, xxiii, 52, 152, 153, 155, 156, 158, 159, 160, 161, 170, 183, 210, 222, 227, 228, 230 Ottawa Process and Convention, 1, 2, 15, 17, 18, 37, 50, 115, 137, 145, 146, 203, 209, 215, 234 Ottawa Treaty, xxiv, 5, 171, 192, 193, 217 Oxfam, 128, 129, 130, 220, 231, 233 Pax Christi, 132 Peshawar, 104 Physicians for Human Rights, xviii, 27, 30, 53, 54, 81, 83, 84, 113, 122, 124, 127, 139, 140, 231, 232 Pilger, 102, 107, 113, 114, 140, 207, 232 Pluralism, 16 Pol Pot, 93 Pope John Paul II, 132 Prebisch, 31 Price, 3, 41, 233 Princeton Group, 91, 111 Project Doan Brook, 68 Proximity Fuze, 62 Quetta, 104 Quinn, 189, 200 Radda Barnen, 128, 136, 141 realism, 7 Red Crescent, 45, 181, 209 Red Cross, 43, 45, 140, 196, 209

refugees, 14, 88, 95, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 113, 122, 157, 164, 189, 207 regime theory, 3, 33, 35, 38, 123 Regime Theory, 35 Rutherford, 4, 53, 54, 124, 134, 139, 140, 142, 143, 146, 150, 171, 184, 234 Save the Children, 128, 140, 141, 186, 199, 201, 234 scatterable, 57, 68, 69, 80, 81, 82, 122, 140, 206 Schwarzkopf, 43, 135, 189 Second World, 61 Simpio, 148 socio-cultural, 88, 99, 207 Somalia, 96, 104, 232 South Africa, 36, 97, 131, 133, 172 South Korea, 36, 149, 156, 157, 168 Soviet Union, xvii, 18, 36 Spanish Civil War, 61 Sri Lanka, 149 stake mines, 61, 74 Structuralism, 204 sub-munitions, 71, 74 Sultan Mehmed, 59 Symposium of Military Experts, 43 tank, 21, 59, 60, 76, 79, 153 Tank, 59 Tarzi, 3, 40, 53, 235 theory, viii, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 33, 35, 38, 112, 123, 204 Third World, 12, 26, 27, 112, 116, 220, 224, 232 time fuze, 62 TNT, xviii, 60 Tobruk, 62

244

Index

___________________________________________________________ Tokyo, 149, 227 Tornado, 75 Turkish earthquake, 34 Tutu, 131 Twain, 16 type 72, 71 type 72A. See mine. See

Vietnam, ix, xix, 6, 24, 26, 27, 55, 57, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 74, 79, 82, 83, 124, 156, 175, 189, 206, 223, 226, 229, 231, 237 Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, xix, 6, 82, 124, 226

UNHCR, xix, 45, 113, 122, 139, 219, 220, 236 UNICEF, xix, xxi, 45, 112, 113, 129, 137, 142, 166, 219, 235 United Kingdom, xiv, xv, xviii, 5, 6, 18, 19, 41, 85, 121, 172, 194, 202, 211, 235 United Nations, xviii, xix, 63, 110, 112, 139, 141, 158, 219, 220, 221, 222, 235, 236, 237 United States, xiv, xv, xxiv, 58, 63, 68, 75, 82, 99, 103, 139, 140, 141, 142, 152, 160, 163, 167, 171, 172, 175, 190, 203, 211, 213, 223, 236 United States Department of State, 140 USAF, 68

WAAPM, xix, 68 Washington DC, 142, 175 Westmoreland General William, 67 Westphalia Treaty of, 22 White Jerry, 131, 142, 161, 200, 201, 222, 236, 237 Williams, xiv, xxiii, 4, 15, 19, 28, 29, 40, 46, 53, 54, 110, 111, 112, 117, 118, 132, 140, 146, 147, 150, 160, 162, 170, 174, 181, 210, 219, 233, 237 Jody, 117 Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, 122 World Health Organisation, xix World War One, 59, 79

Valsella, 121, 127, 130, 139, 141, 180 Vatican, xxi, 129, 130, 132 Vienna, 133, 134, 136, 142, 170 Vietcong, 67, 69

Yugoslavia, 13 Zimbabwe, 97, 131, 172

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