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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Ronco, Cisr Journal
Ronco, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
RONCO Consulting Corporation is an international services firm specializing in demining and humanitarian assistance, agri-business, procurement services and private enterprise development. RONCO's involvement in demining evolves from 20 years experience with worldwide development and assistance contracts. RONCO has been operational in Mozambique, Afghanistan, Thailand, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Cuba, Angola, Rwanda, Bosnia and Croatia. RONCO is the only firm in the U.S. that has developed and is successfully using "free running" dogs for mine detection.
Mgm (Menschen Gegen Minen), Cisr Journal
Mgm (Menschen Gegen Minen), Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Founded in Germany in January 1996, by Directors Hendrik Ehlers and Hans Georg Kruessen, MgM, translated to "The Charity of People Against Land mines," has generated much discussion as one of the leading international demining organizations.
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
After Marshal Tito's death in 1980 and the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) divided into five different countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Republic of Macedonia. After having declared its independence from SFRY in March 1992, BiH fought in a war that lasted over three-and-a-half years. This war destroyed families, communities and infrastructure and left the country littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance. After the Dayton agreement was signed on Dec. 14, 1995, the war officially ended and the country was …
Conferences: Who Needs Them?, Dennis Barlow
Conferences: Who Needs Them?, Dennis Barlow
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The global mine action process seems to spawn conferences. During the past three years there have been at least 13 major gatherings which contained in their agendas major activities dedicated to improving demining operations. What have the three years of meetings, issue development, and projects produced? Have the conferences and attempts to frame operators' needs been a wasted effort, characterized by travel boondoggles of innumerable representatives to venues far and wide? Or have they driven real development and positive achievement?
A Squad Of Their Own, Margaret S. Busé
A Squad Of Their Own, Margaret S. Busé
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The first all-female demining team was deployed in Kosovo in late November 1999. Comprised of women refugees who had previously been housewives, they are the first all-female demining ream in the world. In Kosovo's traditional patriarchal society, few women work outside the home and until now, no women worked in this internationally male dominated occupation. The sight of the women deminers, long hair peeking out of helmets, has raised a few eyebrows. As one elderly farmer remarked upon seeing them, "My poor dears, you are so beautiful."
The Munitions Challenge In Albania, Steve Brown
The Munitions Challenge In Albania, Steve Brown
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Political controversy, economic chaos and increasing criminality have faced Albania since its democratic revolution in late 1990. Anti-government demonstrations erupted into violence, which took the form of attacks against state facilities including public offices, schools, factories and military depots. Of particular concern were the attacks against ammunition and weapons storage areas. Over 600,000 weapons and several thousand tons of ammunition and explosives were looted and some 16 ammunition storage areas, known as Hot Spots, were set ablaze resulting in massive unexploded ordnance contamination of the sites and surrounding areas.
Unmik: Mine Action Coordination Center, Christine Brawdy
Unmik: Mine Action Coordination Center, Christine Brawdy
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In October 1999 when Kosovo Forces (KFOR) entered the Province of Pristina, they were immediately confronted with the problems encountered by a population returning through areas contaminated by unexploded, I NATO-dropped, cluster munitions (CBU). NATO advised that as many as 333 areas had been bombarded with such aerial delivered weapons. T hey found the problem extended to more than 600 mine fields left by the Serbian Army (VJ), Police (MUP), and other paramilitary forces. These were principally along the border with Albania and the Federal Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and scattered in other strategic areas on the interior.
A Diary Of Destruction In Bosnia, Oren J. Schlein
A Diary Of Destruction In Bosnia, Oren J. Schlein
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
During the Bosnian war in the early 1990s, Croat, Muslim and Serb forces deployed between 600,000 and one million anti-personnel landmines. This can seem a meaningless figure until you see the effects of both exploded and unexploded landmines. Driving into town from the Sarajevo airport, I witnessed the striking contrast between the beauty of the hills surrounding the city and the pockmarked buildings damaged by relentless shelling during the Bosnian war. The old town has been largely restored to its historical charm, while the rest of the city and outlying areas continue to exhibit the awful blemishes of war. I …
Adopt A Minefield, Cisr Journal
Adopt A Minefield, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The Adopt a Minefield Campaign engages individuals, community groups, and businesses in the United Nations effort to remove landmines around the world. The campaign helps to save lives by raising funds to clear mine fields and by raising awareness about the global landmine crisis.
A Serbian Ghost Town In Need Of Recovery, Sinisa Malesevic
A Serbian Ghost Town In Need Of Recovery, Sinisa Malesevic
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
All sorts of people are hoping for the demining and reconstruction of Dropci, a "Serb village" approximately 45 kilometers from the municipality of Bihac in Unsko-Sanski Canton, located in the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This area was strategically important during the war, and much was done to protect it, which means there are plenty of mine fields. The few hundred people who lived here before the war (1992-1995) have all left.
The Ambitious Challenge Of Adopting A Mine Field, Larry Levine
The Ambitious Challenge Of Adopting A Mine Field, Larry Levine
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Dropci is a tiny, devastated, and currently empty community of family farmers in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Croatia. Its people are still refugees from the war, as the land is strewn with landmines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance. Monterey County, Calif., is known as the "Salad Bowl of the World" for its agricultural abundance, the "Golfing Capital of the World," and the site of the spectacular Big Sur coastline. Dropci and Monterey County are worlds apart. What is the cord that binds these two communities? The Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign, a program coordinated by the United Nations Association …
Belarus, Country Profile
Belarus, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Gomel, Minsk, the capital, and the most heavily mined area, Vitebsk. Many of the officials in Belarus are trying to educate the people and show them the proper way to handle a mine if encountered and more importantly, what not to do. Two non-governmental organizations, the Belarus Support Center for Associations and Foundations (SCAF), and the Belarus Campaign to Ban Land mines (BCBL), are working with the Belarussian government to help promote safety and build solid support centers for the victims of land mines. SCAF, established in 1996, strives to develop the culture and society of Belarus by supporting other …
The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program In The Balkans, Matt Murphy
The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program In The Balkans, Matt Murphy
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
As a result of years of conflict in the Balkans, countless landmines have been laid in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Bosnia-Herzegovina's landmine problem is severe, with an estimated 750,000 landmines and an undetermined quantity of unexploded ordnance infesting some 186 square miles of land. These hidden killers have killed and maimed hundreds, vastly impeded the return of refugees to their homes, and hindered international efforts to help people in the region.
Responding To An Emergency: An Interview With Bob Macpherson, Care, Margaret S. Busé
Responding To An Emergency: An Interview With Bob Macpherson, Care, Margaret S. Busé
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In an interview with The Journal, Bob MacPherson spoke candidly and honestly about the challenges, successes and lessons learned in effectively responding to an emergency situation. MacPherson is responsible for landmine safety and awareness and is the emergency ream leader for CARE. Throughout 1999, he has been in Kosovo coordinating activities so that civilian lives can return to a stare of normalcy. Upon finishing our conversation, he was scheduled to fly to Chechnya to try to coordinate relief efforts for that war-ravaged country.
The Journal Of Mine Action Issue 4.1 (2000), Cisr Journal
The Journal Of Mine Action Issue 4.1 (2000), Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Landmines in Europe and the Caucasus
The Slovenian International Trust Fund For Demining, Stephanie Schlosser
The Slovenian International Trust Fund For Demining, Stephanie Schlosser
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On the web page of The Slovenia International Trust Fund for Deming (ITF) there is an image that, at first glance, could be an advertisement for a toy score. The image is of a child's doll. She appears bright and happy, with red ponytails and yellow ribbons, and a sunny yellow dress. The doll 's eyes glance playfully to one side, as if she is about co join a group of similarly happy friends. Suddenly, the doll's face and body change. With web animation, the doll 's right leg disappears along with her smile. Then you remember, this is a …
The Actuator: Demining Innovations, Lee Felsenstein, Steven E. Saunders
The Actuator: Demining Innovations, Lee Felsenstein, Steven E. Saunders
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
This approach to humanitarian demining differs from generally accepted methodology. It has not yet been tried, and the purpose of this article is to ensure that the general concept is placed in the public domain, where it may be debated and modified without considerations of intellectual property. Interval Research Corporation, where this idea originated, is not in the business of mine clearance, or of manufacturing mine clearance systems, so the idea is being passed along to the community best capable of analyzing it.
Developing New Technology For Humanitarian Demining, Russell Gasser, Terry Thomas
Developing New Technology For Humanitarian Demining, Russell Gasser, Terry Thomas
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Despite the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on high-tech research over the last few years, local humanitarian deminers still use traditional prodders and metal detectors. The biggest recent technical innovation has been mechanical vegetation clearance which was mostly developed in the field and bypassed the research route.
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Azerbaijan declared independence from Russia in 1918, but was incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1920. It again declared independence in August 1991, following the collapse of the USSR. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region is still unresolved after 10 years and Baku has yet to settle disputes with its neighbors over oil rights in the Caspian Sea. During 1988-1994, Karabakh Armenians declared independence and seized almost 20 percent of the country's territory, creating an estimated 750,000 Azerbaijani refugees. As a result of the war, western Azerbaijan is plagued with land mines. Both sides have generally …
Georgia, Country Profile
Georgia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Following the April 9, 1991, independence from the former Soviet Union, Georgia was beset by ethnic and civil strife. The continuing argument over the political status of Abkhazia resulted in war. In September 1993, Georgian forces withdrew from the Abkhazia region. Although Georgia stabilized, South Ossetia and Abkhazia remain elusive. The conflict in South Ossetia has been dormant since spring 1994, but sporadic violence continues between Abkhaz forces and Georgian partisans in western Georgia. Of their estimated population of 5,000,000, Georgia still has about 250,000 internally displaced people as a result of these conflicts. After adopting a new constitution in …
Knights In Armored Vehicles: The Halo Trust In The Caucasus, Richard Boulter
Knights In Armored Vehicles: The Halo Trust In The Caucasus, Richard Boulter
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The demise of the Soviet Union and the resultant rush to establish claims over disputed areas and to assert ethnic identity led to a widespread call to arms. Nowhere was this more the case than in the Caucasus. T he former southern Caucasian "soviets" of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia have all asserted their independence from Russia and all have witnessed bloodshed resulting from inter-ethnic fighting. In the north Caucasus there has been fighting in Dagestan, lngushetia, North Ossetia and most notably in Chechnya. The virtual abandonment of former weapons stockpiles accompanied by some very definite mischief by the departing Russian …
Road Trip With A Minecat, Stephanie Schlosser
Road Trip With A Minecat, Stephanie Schlosser
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In The Journal of Mine Action 3.2, we spotlighted the Compact 230-Minecat, a multi-role platform suitable for both military and humanitarian applications whose primary role is to be a mine-clearance vehicle. Since that article in the summer of 1999, the Minecat has had a proper education, going through a series of tests in various landscapes and in front of rough judges. Landmine clearing is serious business and before a new piece of equipment can be put on the world market, it has to prove itself in rigorous settings. After all, the real customers in the demining marker are those people …
Notes From The Field: Croatia, Marijana Prevendar
Notes From The Field: Croatia, Marijana Prevendar
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, accelerated by the Communist Party's electoral defeat, spurred the Republic of Croatia to declare its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. As a result, forces from the Republic of Serbia, the largest republic in the former Yugoslavia, launched a campaign to block Croatia's drive for independence. The Croatian Serbs, backed by the Yugoslav government and armed with weapons from the Yugoslavian army, started an armed rebellion against the newly established Croatian government in 1991.
Ukraine, Country Profile
Ukraine, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Ukraine has been struggling for its independence from several countries that have tried to consume it and minimize its boundaries. The Bolshevik Revolution prompted the Russian Ukrainians to establish a new republic in 1917 while the Austrian Ukraine waited until a year later to establish their connection with the Russian Ukraine. Ukraine was excluded from much of the decision making during the closing of World War I and Poland was given the land they wished for, Galicia, in 1919. This single act sparked war once again. The war continued as the country itself was thrown into internal turmoil and change …
Slovenia, Country Profile
Slovenia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The Republic of Slovenia is a Central European country about the size of New Jersey, with a population of two million inhabitants. After World War I, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and Slovenia joined the new state, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The people of Slovenia voted for independence and sovereignty at a national referendum held on Dec. 23, 1990, and on June 26, 1991, the Republic of Slovenia proclaimed its independence.