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The destructive role that the illicit trade in rough diamonds plays in intra-state and inter-state conflict emerged as a prominent issue during the 1990s as a result of continued conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. In response to the need to regulate the international trade in diamonds used by rebel forces to fuel conflict, nation-states, international organizations, and the diamond industry cooperated in the establishment of a certification scheme to differentiate legitimate diamonds from conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which went into effect in January 2003, was the culmination of that multilateral effort. This article examines the issue of conflict diamonds and the role that the trade in illicit diamonds plays in fueling conflict. The Kimberley Process is analyzed and critiqued as a model for the regulation of "lootable " commodities that undermine international peace and security.

In response to growing concerns over the production, deployment, and use of laser weapons that cause blinding, the international community in 1995 convened an international conference to restrict the use and transfer of blinding laser weapons. The result was the Fourth Additional Protocol to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. In doing so, a significant step was taken towards restricting the intentional blinding of combatants in time of war. This article provides a review of the process by which the Fourth Additional Protocol was drafted and an analysis of its legal impact on the use of laser weapon systems.