Humanitarian Disarmament Movement: An Assessment and Review

Bolton, Matthew Breay; Njeri, Sarah; Benjamin-Britton, Taylor

Abstract

Disarmament has long been a dirty word in the international relations (IR) lexicon. But people have often chosen—for reasons of security, honor, ethics, or humanitarianism—to prohibit or limit certain violent technologies. In the last two decades, the “humanitarian disarmament movement”—a loose coalition of small and medium-sized states, humanitarian agencies, and advocacy groups—have successfully achieved international treaties banning landmines, cluster munitions, and nuclear weapons, as well as restricting the global arms trade. These “New Disarmers” have now set their sights on banning autonomous weapons systems. This chapter introduces, defines and provides historical background on humanitarian disarmament, including its emergence as a transnational advocacy network and community of practice.

Citation

Bolton, M. B., Njeri, S., & Benjamin-Britton, T. (2019). Humanitarian Disarmament Movement: An Assessment and Review. In M. B. Bolton, S. Njeri, & T. Benjamin-Britton (Eds.), Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament (1-24). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27611-9_1

• Publication Date: Nov 13, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 8, 2023
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 1-24
• Book Title: Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament
• ISBN: 9783030276102
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27611-9_1
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-27611-9_1