Landmines and Human Security: International Politics and War's Hidden Legacy

By Bryan McDonald

Recounts and evaluates the worldwide effort to ban landmines.

An impressive array of activists, scholars, government officials, journalists, and landmine victims themselves are gathered here to tell the dramatic and inspiring story of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). Organized in the early 1990s, the ICBL is a network of more than one thousand nongovernmental organizations worldwide, working for a global ban on landmines. It was an important force behind the treaty to ban antipersonnel landmines that was signed in Ottawa in 1997, and which led to its being awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, along with its coordinator.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791463095
• ISBN13: 9780791463093
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Well Written and Enlightening

Editors Richard Matthew, Bryan McDonald and Kenneth Rutherford have assembled an interesting series of articles on the enduring legacy of anti-personnel landmines. Human security is an increasing concern in today's world and landmines have a major affect on human security. Forewords from some prominent people in the world, such as: HM Queen Noor, Sir Paul McCartney, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy and US Senator Patrick Leahy, lead the reader into Part I, which looks at the global landmine problem. Part II looks at the Treaty to Ban Anti-Personnel Landmines, commonly referred to as the Ottawa Treaty and the part played by various Non-Government Organisations in giving the necessary backing that has seen over 150 nations sign this treaty. Part III examines related issues to the APLM Ban, demining operations and assistance to the victims of landmines. Part IV concludes the discussion with a look at what implications the success of the mine ban treaty has. Recently, a large number of governments have signed a similar treaty in Oslo, outlawing the use of Cluster Munitions, using the Ottawa Treaty as a model. I found this book interesting as it also looks at the perspective of those countries who have not signed the Ottawa Treaty and their reasons for non-signature. The book examines the rationale of their decisions and asks if the reasons can be justifiable. This book was written in 2004, some seven years after the signing of the Ottawa treaty and it looks at how effective the treaty has been. For anyone who has an interest in humanitarian landmine clearance operations, this is an interesting book. It has articles by noted people in the anti-personnel landmine ban campaign; including Dr. Kenneth Rutherford, who lost both his legs in a landmine incident in Somalia; as well as Ms. Jody Williams, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner, for her work in the APLM Ban Campaign. Well done to the editors and contributors.