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581. Military Operations: Information on U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf War (GAO-02-1003)

Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The utility of land mines on the modern battlefield has come into question in recent years, largely because of their potential for causing unintended casualties and affecting U.S. forces' maneuverability. These concerns were raised during the Persian Gulf War (August 1990 to April 1991). In the Gulf War, the Department of Defense (DOD) deployed over 580,000 military personnel and a wide array of conventional weapons and munitions that it had designed and acquired primarily to fight the Soviet Union. The munitions used by these forces included several types of land mines and represented the largest U.S. combat use of its newer aircraftand artillery-delivered scatterable self-destructing land mines. Since the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, DOD has been reviewing war plans to ensure that the military services are ready to meet future U.S. national security needs. This effort includes plans for the use of land mines. U.S. Gulf War experience documented in DOD after-action and lessons-learned reports provides insights concerning land mines.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Persia

582. A Framework for Lasting Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Crisis Situations

Author:
Lotta Hagman and Zoe Nielsen
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants are crucial to achieving a lasting peace. While there has been a good deal of international focus of disarmament and demobilization, more analysis and resources are needed in reintegration. DDR programs should be part of an overall integrated recovery strategy that encompasses economic development, security sector reform, the integration of refugees and internally displaced persons, and justice and reconciliation. An effective strategy must take the regional dimensions of the conflict into consideration. Political will and national buy-in are essential to the success of DDR programs. Ex-combatants must be ready to disarm and return to civilian life and the government and communities must be prepared to accept them. The role of the international community can only be to facilitate this process, for example by encouraging the inclusion of DDR programs in peace agreements, and providing money and support for planning, national awareness raising campaigns, and reinsertion packages for ex-combatants. International actors can also monitor programs to ensure that all ex-combatants are treated equally regardless of former affiliations. Strategic planning for DDR can and should start prior to the actual peace agreement in order to establish a division of labor, develop networks and expertise, as well as build confidence and ensure local ownership. A broad-based national commission that ensures the equal treatment of all groups is likely to be the optimal mechanism for planning and implementation. For successful implementation of DDR programs, it is crucial to seek a balance between managing the often very high expectations of ex-combatants and addressing resentment of “favoritism” among the rest of the population. Flexible programming and an effective public information campaign are key in achieving this goal. Issues that require additional consideration include the ambiguous status of female ex-combatants who have not necessarily carried weapons, the role of dependents, health issues such as the spread of HIV/AIDS, funding processes, and coordination priorities.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Peace Studies

583. Thoughts Before Yet Another NATO Summit

Author:
Jeffrey Bialos
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
A significant NATO Summit is approaching. The United States and its European allies are at a crossroads. NATO is expanding to embrace former members of the Warsaw Pact. The future role of NATO as a military alliance in the 21st century remains under discussion. Will NATO truly be given tangible new missions and really act out of area, and what force structure will support its strategic objectives? Will the United States and its European partners bridge the gap over how to fight the war now underway? Will the widening gap in military capabilities between the United States and its coalition partners be addressed, and will there ever again be coalition operations with U.S. participation under NATO command? Are Europe and the United States “de-coupling,” with the creation of “Fortress Europe” and “Fortress America” in defense? There is an opportunity to seize the moment, and act on these vital issues.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe

584. Shining a Light on Small Arms Exports: The Record of State Transparency

Author:
Maria Haug, Martin Langvandslien, Lora Lumpe, and Nic Marsh
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
The proliferation of small arms and light weapons directly enables a horrifying number of deaths and injuries around the world each year, and it poses a grave threat to the stability and development of many countries, as well as to the success of UN-mandated peace operations. One of the most meaningful and straightforward initiatives concerned governments could undertake is to provide full unilateral transparency around the small arms shipments they are authorizing for import or export.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

585. Making Global Public Policy: The Case of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Author:
Rachel Stohl and Edward Laurence
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
In the Programme of Action, agreed at the July 2001 UN Small Arms Conference, national governments adopted a wide-ranging set of commitments which, if implemented, would aid greatly in preventing and reducing the negative impacts of these weapons. In an extensive review, this paper reveals that states, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have taken up this challenge in a broad series of meetings, programmes, and policies. Individual states are enacting new laws, building needed capacity, and funding projects in affected states. UN agencies are engaged in various activities in support of the Programme, while the UN Secretariat is carrying out the tasks assigned to it in this document. At the same time, regional IGOs are taking action loosely based on the Programme. And NGOs, both global and local, have embarked on specific programmes and awareness-raising initiatives, empowered by the mandate contained in the Programme.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

586. Politics from the Barrel of a Gun: Small Arms Proliferation and Conflict in the Republic of Georgia

Author:
Spyros Demetriou
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Over ten years have elapsed since the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991. Radical transitions from one political system to another are by definition conflict-prone, involving fierce competition between differing visions, fluid political affiliations, social activism, power vacuums, and severe economic crises—if not collapse. In such contexts of instability and uncertainty, the recourse to armed violence—as a form of expression and an instrument of power—is an attractive option. The collapse of the USSR engendered a radical transition culminating in the creation of 15 internationally recognized states. Although for the most part surprisingly peaceful, the transition to independence in four states—Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Georgia—was marked by widespread violence.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
Moldova, Soviet Union, and Georgia

587. Stray Bullets: The Impact of Small Arms Misuse in Central America

Author:
Camilla Waszink, Robert Muggah, and William Godnick
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
This paper provides a review of the impact of small arms and light weapons in Central America in the years following the end of the armed hostilities of the 1980s and early 1990s. In this instance, 'Central America' refers to the Spanish-speaking countries of the isthmus—Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
Central America

588. Biotechnology and the Future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Author:
Jean Pascal Zanders, Frida Kuhlau, and John Hart
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The spectre of the deliberate use of disease in war has long haunted humankind. The biological warfare threat became more realistic after the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Not only did the terrorists demonstrate that they were prepared to murder large numbers of people indiscriminately, they also exposed the vulnerability of many societies. The sense of vulnerability was increased by attacks in the United States with letters containing anthrax bacteria, which killed several people and infected many more. Against this background the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) convened in Geneva on 19 November 2001. One of its main tasks was to evaluate the functioning of the treaty in the light of scientific and technological developments. Biotechnology has expanded rapidly in the past three decades—offering the prospect of a better quality of life—but it can be applied to design new types of biological weapons (BW). This raises concern as to whether the BTWC is sufficiently comprehensive to cover these developments.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, New York, and Washington

589. Iraq: 10 Years After Gulf War

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Ten years after the Gulf War, U.S. policy toward Iraq continues to suffer from an overreliance on military solutions, an abuse of the United Nations and international law, and a disregard for the human suffering resulting from sanctions. Furthermore, Washington's actions have failed to dislodge Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

590. Fourth Freedom Forum Cosponsors Conference on Averting Nuclear Anarchy

Author:
Joseph Rotblat
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
On March 31 the Fourth Freedom Forum joined with the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to sponsor a one-day conference at the University of Notre Dame on the crisis in nu;clear arms control and the need for greater efforts to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons. The conference featured a keynote address by Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Joseph Rotblat. Other speakers included Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.; former ambassador Thomas Graham, MIT research fellow Lisbeth Gronlund, former assistant secretary; of Defense Sarah Sewall, and Forum president David Cortright. Remarks of some of the speakers follow.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States