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Full-Text Articles in Defense and Security Studies
Georgia, Country Profile
Georgia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Since Georgia claimed independence in 1991 from the former USSR, periods of war and unrest have disrupted the country, particularly within the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. During these conflicts all sides emplaced mines in both regions. Landmines and other explosive remnants of war also remain following the withdrawal of Russian forces after the USSR dissolved.
Serbia And Montenegro, Country Profile
Serbia And Montenegro, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro has faced many political and social difficulties since the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 18 September 2003, the then-unified country of Serbia and Montenegro acceded to the Ottawa Convention, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2004. In June 2006, Montenegro declared independence from Serbia. Montenegro subsequently acceded to the Convention as a separate country; Serbia remained bound by the original agreement. Both Serbia and Montenegro are party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, having assumed the obligation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Though a ratification bill was …
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Shortly after Bosnia and Herzegovina’s declaration of independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in March 1992, the country broke into conflict that lasted three years. A peace agreement ended the conflict in 1995, but the country had already become littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance. Today BiH is the most mine-affected country in Europe, with an estimated 1.3 million people, roughly one third of the population, living in 1,366 mine-impacted communities. The latest government statistics disclose that there are more than 12,000 locations requiring clearance. The country’s goal of being mine-free by 2009 set by the National Mine …
Ukraine, Country Profile
Ukraine, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Under the brutal control of the Soviet Union during World War II, the terrain of present-day Ukraine was littered with minefields and munitions depots. When the Soviet Union disbanded into independent states in August 1991, the newborn Ukraine inherited the burden of Soviet munitions and mines. In February 1999 Ukraine signed the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention but waited to ratify the law, seeking international assistance for the four-year stockpile destruction deadline. In May 2005 the parliament in Kiev unanimously ratified the decision, President Viktor Yushchenko immediately signed it and the United Nations approved Ukraine's membership to the Convention. Ukraine became …
Albania, Country Profile
Albania, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
For many citizens of Albania the current mine problem is a haunting reminder of the Kosovo Crisis of 1999. Upon returning home after an evacuation of the Albania- Kosovo border area, residents discovered the border polluted with mines and unexploded ordnance.
Croatia, Country Profile
Croatia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On 25 June 1991, Croatia became an independent nation. Serbian and Yugoslav forces soon invaded the country, with the area known as Slavonia being a major battleground changing hands frequently throughout the conflict. The Dayton Peace Accords in November 1995 ended the fighting and Slavonia returned to Croatia on 15 January 1998. In 2003 Croatia applied for European Union membership and in 2004 received official candidate status. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader stated that 2007 is a critical year if Croatia wishes to become an EU member. While not directly included in these discussions, Croatia’s substantial mine-affected areas are seen as …
Armenia, Country Profile
Armenia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Armenia has been gaining strength since recovering from the 1988 Spitak earthquake, the collapse of the Soviet government and Turkey’s trade embargo. The country experienced economic depression in the 1990s but the government turned the economy around, creating positive growth rates from 1995 to 2006. As a member of 35 international organizations, Armenia is moving out of the post-Soviet era and onto the international stage. Part of becoming a modern nation is removing all possible threats to development. Landmines and unexploded ordnance are a threat to every aspect of development in Armenia.
Belarus, Country Profile
Belarus, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
An heir to massive Soviet stockpiles of anti-personnel mines and other munitions, Belarus has been actively facing its extensive explosive legacy through significant destruction of this explosive ordnance. Belarus is also affected by unexploded and abandoned ordnance left in large part from heavy fighting between German and Soviet troops during World War II and, to a lesser degree, minefields laid by both sides. Additional explosive remnants of war come from World War I and the 18th and 19th century's Napoleonic wars.
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
From 1988 to 1994, Azerbaijan was engaged in an armed conflict with its neighbor Armenia and armed forces of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire was negotiated in 1994, but a peace agreement is still underway. During the conflict, both sides used landmines. Forces from both Armenia and the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh currently occupy about 20 percent of land within Azerbaijan, making demining difficult in those areas.
Chechnya, Country Profile
Chechnya, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
More than a decade of conflict between Russian armed forces and Chechen separatists has left Chechnya polluted with landmines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded bombs. Although clearance has been limited, organizations such as UNICEF have brought victim assistance and mine-risk education to Chechnya and its neighboring regions.
Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Country Profile
Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
<-Ten years after gaining independence, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia faced the uprising of an armed group of ethnic Albanians demanding greater civil rights. The hostility between the ethnic Albanians—who called themselves the National Liberation Army—and the Macedonian government lasted seven months and ended with the signing of the Framework Agreement in August 2001. This conflict, in addition to World Wars I and II, left Macedonia with contamination from landmines and other explosive remnants of war along the northern borders with Kosovo and Albania and the southern border with Greece. In September 2006, five years after the end of the internal conflict, Macedonia completed landmine clearance and continues to work towards clearance of other ERW.
Nagorno-Karabakh, Country Profile
Nagorno-Karabakh, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On the border between the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, gunfire can be heard on a daily basis. These occurrences, along with the presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance, are reminders of the long-standing tensions between the populations of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and the country of Azerbaijan.
Israel, Country Profile
Israel, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Again at the heart of Mideast conflict, Israel has received international attention not just because of persistent landmine and unexploded ordnance contamination in the region, but also because of military operations in southern Lebanon. Recent attention has underscored the need to address the threat posed by landmines and other explosive remnants of war; perhaps one important way to address this would be the signing of international agreements prohibiting the use of indiscriminate weapons.
Afghanistan, Country Profile
Afghanistan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Afghanistan's landmine contamination began with the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989. Pro-Soviet Afghan-government forces continued contributing to this landmine, unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war contamination during the next three years. Factional fighting from 1992 to 1995, resistance to the Taliban from 1996 to 2001 and the 2001 US-led invasion added to the problem. Not only does this contamination injure or kill more than 100 Afghans a month, it also impacts the reconstruction and development of the country into an economically and politically stable nation.
Vietnam, Country Profile
Vietnam, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Long after the Vietnam War's end, remnants of the conflict remain in playgrounds, schools, farms and roads. Over 30 years have passed, but abandoned ammunition and unexploded ordnance—known as explosive remnants of war—have taken the lives of thousands of civilians. Once a week, a person in central Vietnam is killed or injured by an encounter with UXO. Vietnam is one of the most ERW-contaminated countries in the world, with abandoned explosives such as old bombs, artillery shells, grenades and other munitions left over from past wars. The country has an estimated 350,000 to 800,000 tons (317,515 to 725,748 metric tons) …
Chechnya, Country Profile
Chechnya, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
For the past 10 years, a violent conflict between the Russian military and Chechen rebels has resulted in accusations of kidnapping, rape, looting and other atrocities from both sides. Instances of violence constantly plague the Chechen population, including accidents involving unexploded ordnance and landmines.
Cambodia, Country Profile
Cambodia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Cambodia is one of the countries most heavily contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance, a result of nearly three decades of conflict. The nation was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and through the 1960s and 1970s Cambodia was involved in the Indochina Wars, seeing significant bombing. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge occupied Phnom Penh, taking over every town and city; they were not entirely removed from Cambodia until 1999. Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978 displaced the Khmer Rouge; the Vietnamese occupied Cambodia for 10 years, which invoked almost 13 years of civil war. Pol Pot, leader …
Iraq, Country Profile
Iraq, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Decades of internal conflict, a history overtaken with war and a delicate new government put Iraq in the midst of an explosive-remnants-of-war situation that is worsening as the security situation continues to deteriorate. The country's unstable nature poses a challenge for organizations that wish to provide much needed humanitarian assistance. Conflicts between ethnic and political parties, the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the more recent U.S.-led invasion in 2003 left the country's 169,234 square miles (438,314 square meters) riddled with landmines, unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance.
Guinea Bissau, Country Profile
Guinea Bissau, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Past wars continue to haunt Guinea Bissau as remnants from previous conflicts are a constant reminder of what the country has undergone. Though the Liberation War lasted 11 years and finally ended in 1974, neighboring Senegal's internal conflict and Guinea Bissau's own civil war near the Casamance region would leave behind uglier scars.
Kosovo, Country Profile
Kosovo, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
From 1998 to 1999, an internal struggle known as the Kosovo Conflict caused Kosovo, a U.N.-administered province of Serbia, to become littered with mines and unexploded ordnance, including cluster-bomb units. Since the conflict ended, mines and UXO have claimed hundreds of victims in Kosovo. Today, very little of the original contamination remains thanks to the success of Kosovo's excellent mine-action program.
Lebanon, Country Profile
Lebanon, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Lebanon has suffered from decades of conflict and periods of foreign occupation, leaving the country riddled with landmines and other explosive remnants of war. In July 2006, the country found itself at the center of international attention with the start of a 34-day conflict between Israel and the militant Shiite group Hezbollah, which operates out of the southern part of Lebanon. Of particular concern has been the reported use of cluster munitions by the Israel Defense Forces—who launched strikes on positions in southern Lebanon suspected to be occupied by Hezbollah militants—and the lasting post-conflict effects of unexploded submunitions.
Lao Pdr, Country Profile
Lao Pdr, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
From 1964 to 1973, the Lao People's Democratic Republic became involved in the Second Indochina War (known as the Vietnam War in the West) between the United States and North Vietnam. For those nine years, Lao PDR was subjected to the heaviest bombing in world history. U.S. bombing records indicate that there were over 580,000 bombing missions carried out and over two million metric tons (2.2 million U.S. tons) of ordnance dropped on Lao PDR during the conflict.
Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Country Profile
Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The landmine and explosive remnants of war problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a result of armed conflict since 1996. The contamination “extends diagonally from the northwest corner of Equateur province across the center of [the] country through Kasai to the southeast in Katanga province and then north along Lake Tanganyika up to Ituri district along the border with Uganda.” The extent of the contamination, however, remains unknown because acquiring information on mine contamination in the DRC has been difficult due to some areas being isolated by the threat from explosive remnants of war.
Jordan, Country Profile
Jordan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Afghanistan, Country Profile
Afghanistan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Burma (Myanmar), Country Profile
Burma (Myanmar), Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Cambodia, Country Profile
Cambodia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Vietnam, Country Profile
Vietnam, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Laos, Country Profile
Laos, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.
Iran, Country Profile
Iran, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
No abstract provided.