This book provides a detailed history of the global movement to ban anti-personnel landmines (APL), marking the first case of a successful worldwide civil society movement to end the use of an entire category of weapons. In March 1995, Belgium became the first state to pass a domestic anti-personnel landmine ban. In December 1997, 122 states joined Belgium in signing the comprehensive Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Treaty. The movement to ban landmines became a turning point in global politics that continues to influence policy and strategy decisions regarding weapon use today. Disarming States: The International Movement to Ban Landmines describes how non-government organizations (NGOs) brought the landmine issue to international attention by forming the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The author presents new information gleaned from interviews and intensive research conducted around the world. The critical role of mid-size states—such as Austria, Canada, and Switzerland—recruited to back the movement's goals is examined. The book concludes by examining how NGOs affect the international political agenda, especially in seeking legal prohibitions on weapons and changes in states' behaviors.

Collects new insights on current security problems, especially those related to arms control and disarmament. Contributors argue that the cooperative efforts of NGOs and middle powers have positively impacted the use of child soldiers, the employment of cluster bombs, landmines, nuclear weapons, and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. In doing so, they conclusively show that global players other than superpowers can create alternative and effective solutions to enduring security problems.

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.