Peace and Conflict Studies Commons^™

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 …

Improved Anti-Personnel Mine Neutralization Device Test Report, Christopher Wanner

Global CWD Repository

This report describes the results and analysis of the field test of the Improved Anti Personnel Mine Neutralization Device (APMINUD). This is the second test of this equipment and follows a six month design and engineering effort on the equipment to correct and improve upon deficiencies identified in the initial version of the APMINUD.

The APMINUD is a mechanical tool designed to safely detonate antipersonnel landmines as part of a peace time clearance operation. The APMINUD consists of a mobile blast and fragment containment shell, with a mechanical striker inside. It can be used in conjunction with a shielded, all …

The Many Routes To Assassination: Musings On Turkmenistan, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some of the more common psychological routes leading to political assassination.

The Offenses Of Missile Defense System Failure, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the political psychology of analyses of a recent United States testing failure of components of a limited ballistic missile defense system.

Ddasaccident335, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred on land described as “agricultural, soft ground”. The demining group was engaged in Surveys (Levels 1 and 2). He found mines one on each side of the boundary lane and showed these to the supervisor. He was told to move the markers indicating the safe lane. As he turned, he stepped on a missed mine that was between the other two.

Ddasaccident321, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a mined area that had been worked on at the provincial government request since January 10th 2000. The method used was conventional manual demining. At 06:51 “while working in a dense vegetation area, the deminer used a machete to cut some branches “… He dragged the cut branches out and heard a “strange click”. He ran about “15 metres into a cleared area and took cover a few seconds before the F1-grenade exploded”.

When Peacekeeping Is Not Peacemaking: Syrian-Israeli Negotiations At Shepherdstown, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article contrasts peacekeeping and peacemaking not only as distinct denotations but also as functional antitheses.

Ddasaccident264, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The Team Leader could not see any devices and had turned to call the Site Supervisor at 11:50 when a BLU-97 on the other side of the fence detonated. The boy "suffered a cut nose" and the Team Leader "was deafened in his right ear and received minor metal fragmentation… to his lower right calf".

The Role Of Civil Affairs In Mine Action, Cisr

CISR Studies and Reports

The landmine threat to innocent civilians around the world is personally tragic, but it also represents a massive challenge to the development and infrastructure of nations at risk. Landmines have recently been used to target civilian populations and refugees, creating crisis situations regarding agriculture, indirect health consequences, and developmental choices.

Mine action is a series of activities which, taken together, attempt to ameliorate the effects of landmines. Mine action components include landmine clearance, mine awareness, and victim assistance and support activities. These diverse, and sometimes unrelated, operations are undertaken by numerous organizations, which are not typically under the control of …

Assessment Of Rehabilitation Services In Liberia, Usaid-Leahy

Global CWD Repository

From January 15-25, 2000, a three-person, Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF) team, and the USAID/Liberia health officer conducted an assessment of fund activities in Liberia. The purpose of the assessment was to review the status of activities funded under the LWVF grant to UNICEF/Liberia, and to make recommendations concerning possible follow-on activities with additional funding from the War Victims Fund.

Itf Enhancing Human Security Annual Report 2000, Itf-Enhancy Human Security

Global CWD Repository

ITF Annual Report 2000

The Role Of Civil Affairs In Mine Action, Cisr

Global CWD Repository

This study, “The Role of Civil Affairs in Mine Action,” is not intended to be read from cover to cover by most users. It has been researched and written with three target audiences in mind: 1) the Mine Action official who would like to learn more about the application of Civil Affairs capabilities to humanitarian demining activities, 2) the Civil Affairs officer who would like to learn more about challenges and actions within the realm of humanitarian demining operations, and 3) US military officials who have a responsibility for, or an interest in, the proper unit design and uses of …

The Appointment Of General Yaron: Continuing Impunity For The Sabra And Shatilla Massacres, Linda A. Malone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ddasaccident315, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred at 10:45 on December 24th 1999 during the manual demining of power lines between Maputo and Komatiport at the 88th tower about 8km from Moamba Town. The deminer was injured in an area considered to be densely mined during an attempt to enlarge the cleared area from 20 square metres to 40 square metres. While trying to cut some shrubs he made a "false move" and activated a mine outside his lane with his left foot. The mine was outside the "ring" and below a tree.

Developing And Integrating A Lessons Learned Methodology For Humanitarian Mine Action, Cisr Jmu

CISR Studies and Reports

The demand for a centralized lessons learned database has made it clear that there is value in consolidating the experience derived from the numerous de-mining missions by a variety of teams in a variety of countries. Consequently, the James Madison University Mine Action Information Center developed a methodology for collecting, validating, and distributing lessons-learned within the mine action community.

The Revived Peace Agreement In Northern Ireland: Implications For An Applied Political Psychology Of Peace?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes commonly posited psychological phenomena that are allegedly associated with attenuating conflict. The article then considers whether these phenomena are causally implicated in Northern Ireland's improving peace prospects.

Ddasaccident263, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

As the Team Leader was looking for any signs of the benchmark or any other marking from the site, he used a track well used by the locals. This track had hazard warning tape leading down (red and white chevron tape), either side of it forming a corridor. There were no mine signs or any other signs of restricting access and the track was marked in a way that it should be safe to use. The Victim was tasked to park 15 metres down the track and the Team Leader and the Victim alighted from the vehicle. The Team Leader …

Ddasaccident317, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident took place in a mined area 30k North West of Beira along the Beira-Mwanza road. The victim was told by the Deputy Platoon Commander to take a hoe and a garden spade to the place marked with four red sticks and dig it out to find the metal that was making the detector signal. The victim started to dig at the place. He was not wearing protective equipment. After digging for ten minutes, at 06:20 the hoe he was using detonated a Type-72a mine [both 72a and 72b are mentioned in the varied papers].

Ddasaccident316, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a defensive ring of mines laid during 1987. The ring formed part of the protection to Marrumbene Villa. The victim’s partner had marked a signal from his metal detector. The victim went forward and started to probe the ground. The mine was at an angle in the ground. At 11:45 he probed onto and detonated a mine.

Ddasaccident254, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was working in an area of low brush adjacent to a (then) disused farm vehicle track. He was clearing a working lane along a line of PMA-2 mines and his team had found two that morning (one found by the victim). At 11:30 he initiated a PMA-2 by stepping on the mine with his right foot.

Introduction: Conflict Resolution And Social Justice, Richard E. Rubenstein

Peace and Conflict Studies

A daunting obstacle to clarity in formulating ideas about conflict resolution and social justice is the fact that each of these terms has multiple meanings. There is widespread recognition that "social justice" is a multivalent phrase. Commentators since Aristotle have written of distributive, restitutive, retributive, procedural, and relational justice, and each of these types has been further subdivided to reflect differences in social philosophy and in common usage. Less well recognized is the ambiguity of "conflict resolution," a term that refers to a mélange of theories and practices that, although interrelated, do not constitute a cleanly demarcated and coherently defined …

Conflict Resolution And Distributive Justice: Reflections On The Burton-Laue Debate, Richard E. Rubenstein, Frank O. Blechman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

From its inception, the field of conflict resolution has appealed strongly to practitioners, researchers, and theorists interested in social betterment. Most conflict resolvers would probably agree that their efforts are motivated, at least in part, by the conception of a Good (or at least a Better) Society considerably less violent and contentious, more peaceful and cooperative, than the existing social order. Many would also affirm that in order to reach this goal, the sources of violence and contention, which include cultural norms sanctioning or glorifying violence, invidious and discriminatory "isms" (racism, sexism, etc.), gross socioeconomic and political inequities, and …

Why Conflict Transformation Matters: Three Cases, Frank Dukes

Peace and Conflict Studies

This essay begins with an examination of the importance of conflict transformation. The failings of an ideology of management currently dominating the conflict resolution field are contrasted with components of a transformative practice. I then offer three cases from my own experience and draw lessons from them to illustrate the potential of conflict resolution in three distinct areas: fostering community, building a responsive governance, and resolving public conflict. The examples are the following:

• A school redistricting dispute, where a return to the sense of common purpose and community was the primary goal of the convenors;
• A tri-jurisdiction community visioning …

Conclusion, Frank O. Blechman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

We, the editors of this Issue, began by saying that both the concept of conflict resolution and social justice are used in multiple ways. We noted that some forms or definitions of each seemed to exclude the other.

Exploring Deeper Wisdoms Of Mediation: Notes From The Edge, Margaret S. Herrman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

Mediation draws many people into the field of conflict resolution with a promise of rewards like an income stream added to an existing professional practice or agreements pulled from the fires of bitterness and frustration. But for Jim Laue there was more. As a consummate mediator, Jim was equally comfortable mediating technically complex regional disputes, potentially explosive community disputes, and emotionally charged interpersonal disputes. His career began years before a well defined field existed. He came to this work as did others of his and the next generation, determined to address issues of social justice. His mediations during the …

On Advancing Truth And Morality In Conflict Resolution, Louis Kriesberg

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The editors of this special issue have articulated many dilemmas facing workers in the fields of conflict analysis and resolution. One way they characterize the difficulties, described by Arthur Koestler , is balancing between spiritually-directed, but socially ineffective activism like that of a Yogi or acting like a Commissar disregarding the means used in order to achieve desirable socioeconomic transformations. This matter is often argued . Some people assert that a wellmeaning person's actions often result in undesired effects, while the person ready to act brutally provides widespread benefits. On the other hand, others argue that acting harshly in …

Cultural Pluralism, Social Justice, Peter W. Black, Kevin Avruch

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

Jim Laue was a major figure in conflict resolution and he is sorely missed. His absence is particularly regretted because his was a strong voice in discussions over the ethical dimension of conflict resolution, arguing eloquently and passionately in favor of a self-consciously ethical theory and practice of conflict resolution. Sometime colleagues of Laue, our work over the last decade has argued equally passionately (if not as eloquently) in behalf of a self-consciously cultural theory and practice of conflict resolution, (see Avruch and Black 1987, 1991, 1993; Black and Avruch 1989, 1993).

Ddasaccident262, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

After lunch four of the deminers were tasked to build a bridge over a creek to allow better access to the area being cleared. The remaining deminer and the supervisor cleared a one metre wide lane in order to examine a tripwire that had been spotted outside the working area. When they got close to the tripwire the supervisor took over clearance and worked for 20 minutes. Then he "stood up, turned around and requested two more small pickets to mark his lane". While doing this he "lost his footing" and took a step backwards over his base stick with …

Ddasaccident305, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a minefield called Palkie that was laid in 1970s. The contamination was such that a metal detector could not be used in some places and a “clearance by excavation” method was used. In one place where a shell had dropped, the victim was excavating using a Russian bayonet when he initiated a mine.

Ddasaccident404, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A roof of the devastated house is burnt so there were pieces of metal parapets left on sides. Incident was due to a piece of parapet that fell to the ground and activated KB1 cluster bomb. The fallen piece of parapet and the wall of the house took almost all the bomblets [fragments] from KB1. One of them injured an SFOR supervisor in the upper part of his thigh while a deminer was injured under a rib. These were all minor injuries and the bomblets [fragments] were taken out in the hospital. The medic was close to the incident site …