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Highlights the Shangri-la Dialogue, a 2002 conference in Singapore sponsored by the International Instit for Strategic Studies (IISS), which brought together defense ministers from 17 countries of the Assoc of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The importance of the conference in relation to the development of multilateral security in the Asia Pacific is discussed, along with former attempts to unite the region's defense ministers; reasons for the success of the Shangri-la Dialogue; & the key role played by the IISS in promoting multilateral dialogue. Strategic transformations that have occurred since the end of the Cold War are noted, maintaining that the ASEAN Regional Forum is central to multilateral security in the Asia Pacific. It is contended that the ASEAN, formed in 1994, has been successful at working through its agenda & building confidence in the region; however, it currently does not have enough power to influence the primary forces that shape the region's security environment. Suggestions are made for ways to increase the joint power of ASEAN through defense minister forums. J. Lindroth

At a moment when the nuclear nonproliferation regime is under duress, Rebecca Davis Gibbons provides a trenchant analysis of the international system that has, for more than fifty years, controlled the spread of these catastrophic weapons. The Hegemon's Tool Kit details how that regime works and how, disastrously, it might falter. In the early nuclear age, experts anticipated that all technologically-capable states would build these powerful devices. That did not happen. Widespread development of nuclear arms did not occur, in large part, because a global nuclear nonproliferation regime was created. By the late-1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union had drafted the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and across decades the regime has expanded, with more agreements and more nations participating. As a result, in 2022, only nine states possess nuclear weapons. Why do most states in the international system adhere to the nuclear nonproliferation regime? The answer lies, Gibbons asserts, in decades of painstaking efforts undertaken by the US government. As the most powerful state during the nuclear age, the United States had many tools with which to persuade other states to join or otherwise support nonproliferation agreements. The waning of US global influence, Gibbons shows in The Hegemon's Tool Kit, is a key threat to the nonproliferation regime. So, too, is the deepening global divide over progress on nuclear disarmament. To date, the Chinese government is not taking significant steps to support the nuclear nonproliferation regime, and as a result, the regime may face a harmful leadership gap.

Every conflict leaves behind explosive remnants of war (ERW) in lesser or greater quantities depending upon the nature and duration of the conflict and the types and quantities of weapons used. How ERW are dealt with reflects local circumstances and conditions, as well as the influence of international humanitarian law (IHL), the availability of resources and prioritisation choices made by governments, international institutions and agencies. In many cases an initial period of proactive effort is followed, sooner or later, by the adoption of more reactive policies and practices. The duration of the transition period varies from country to country, but in every case a situation eventually arises when the ERW that remain are treated as "residual". In many locations where ERW are found, the items have been exposed to the outdoor environment for many years. The effect of this "ageing" on munitions has not been researched to any extent, and most information on ageing is anecdotal, rather than systematically compiled. Additional information and a robust methodology are required to enable evidence-based planning decisions. The aim of the pilot study was to contribute to increased confidence and efficiency in mine action prioritisation, planning and risk manage­ment decision-making within the mine action programme in Vietnam, by providing information on the effects of and approach to ageing. The authors recognise that the sample of munitions is not large, so summaries and recommenda­tions should be taken as cautious and indicative. This report provides a narrative on the back­ground to the approach to ageing of munitions, the process of the field work/cutting of the munitions, and a description of findings from the analysis of the explosive content by Fenix Insight Ltd and the Weapons Technical Centre, Military Technical Academy, Hanoi, the details of which can be found in the annexes.

The Gaza Strip was exposed to a long term and acute military operation which lasted for 51 days during the summer of 2014. At least 1,473 Palestinian civilians were killed, including 501 children and 257 women. Many fatalities involved multiple family members, with at least 142 Palestinian families having three or more members killed in the same incident, for a total of 739 fatalities. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 11,100 Palestinians, including 3,374 children and 2,088 women, were injured. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) are one of the most vulnerable groups in time of crisis, mostly marginalized and neglected to access emergency services. Handicap International3= supported by DFID, CDC, and RRA has launched an emergency response action in partnership with 4 disability service providers to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable groups affected by the crisis across Gaza Strip. Partners are: Baitona Society for community development in North Gaza, Palestine Avenir for Childhood Foundation in Gaza City; The National Society for Rehabilitation in Middle Area and in Khan Younis; and Society for Physically Handicapped People in Rafah. This report will shed the light on the emergency response action services delivered to the different beneficiaries.

In 2010, at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Vientiane Action Plan was adopted by States parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). Developed in consultation with partners with the objective to ensure e ective and timely implementation of the provisions of the treaty following the First Meeting of States Parties, the Vientiane Action Plan set out concrete and measurable steps, actions and targets aimed to be completed within speci c time frames over the next ve-year period and with de ned roles and responsibilities.

Sudan is an extremely difficult place to run a demining program. Mine clearance agencies face astronomical prices of goods and services, monumental logistical challenges, bureaucratic impediments from government, fraught labor disputes and a deeply embedded political economy of conflict. This multitude of problems has made Sudan one of the most unproductive demining programs, in terms of ordnance or area cleared per US dollar, in the world. This begs the question whether the level of international investment in Sudanese mine action is truly worth it. This paper will argue that in terms of saving lives or increasing access to socio-economic development, much of the money pouring into Sudanese mine action might be better spent in other severely mine-impacted countries. However, other considerations make such a cost-benefit calculation more complicated. There may be a genuine argument for pouring funding into Sudan for the political reasons of supporting the peace between the North and South. The political, economic and social dividends from demining (including increased freedom of movement, return of displaced people and a reduction in perceptions of insecurity) may justify some of the high financial and other costs. That said, donors should not deceive themselves about the limits to mine action's ability play the role of a midwife of peace.

The National Mine Action Plan developed by the Government of Mauritania, written in 2007, to achieve goals and outcomes sought by the Mine Ban Treaty and Ottawa Convention.

From its inspired beginnings in 2001, the Sudan Landmines Information and Response Initiative (SLIRI) has had the potential to become an influential mine action organization with the capacity to use the mine action platform for engaging Sudan's adversaries in a peacebuilding dialogue. It is the only non-partisan indigenous organization in thecountry. Its first location – or Sector Operations Centre (SOC) as the site offices have been called - and the most innovative has been in the Nuba Mountains, where shortly after the cease-fire in January 2002 SLIRI first introduced two offices working in tandem on either side of the conflict line for collecting information about victims and mined areas. Information was collected by pairs of field workers drawn from both sides of the conflict. From the Nuba Mountains, SLIRI expanded, establishing 15 Sector Operation Centres (SOCs) throughout the country as the programme grew, operating simultaneouslyin Government controlled areas and SPLM controlled areas. Its ultimate ambition was to have SOCs in all major areas of the country with sub-sector locations where basic landmine surveys would contribute to protecting the population and to assisting mine clearance in setting priorities.This evaluation report argues that Landmine Action and other associated international partners should take measures to rescue SLIRI from its present decline, to resurrect SLIRI's reputation with UNMAS and to mend fences with the Government as it continues to seek official recognition. The EC continues to actively support registration for SLIRI, a sign that the EC maintains an interest in supporting the SLIRI ideal. The fact that SLIRI no longer functions in the way it was envisaged does not mean it should not do so or that it was not a good idea or that it did not do well. It has done well even if its present circumstances are poor testimony. SLIRI functioned well in Phase I of European Community funding and continued to function well, against some odds, in 2004 duringthe first year of the European Community's Phase II funding. Its accomplishments are considerable especially considering the difficulties experienced in providing data according to UNMAS' standards. A neutral, national indigenous organization is a viable and feasible ideal, and even if these first three and a half years have had disappointments, they have provided lessons for avoiding the risks that a non-partisan, national institution must navigate if it is to serve as a platform for implementing a peacebuilding campaign through mine action.

In December 2005 the European Commission (EC) performed an Assessment Mission with the overall objective of assisting the EC in designing its strategy to support the government of Afghanistan in implementing its Mine Action and Ammunition Stockpile Destruction programmes. The objective of the mission was to sketch out a strategy for landmine and ammunition stockpile destruction and contribute to its implementation.

The formation of an inter-ministerial task force is the first step towards ensuring that the Government of Afghanistan takes responsibility for ensuring Mine Risk Education and disability awaraness and advocacy activities are implemented throughout the country and through Government approved mechanisms.

During the Fiscal Year 2003 Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program Requirements Refinement Workshop, expert deminers expressed a need for a costbenefit and performance analysis for currently available deflagration (burning) and high-order (non-explosive binary mixture) mine neutralization systems, which carry fewer shipping restrictions compared with tradition explosives commonly used for mine neutralization. In response to this request, the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Acquisition Center-Washington, D.C., published a Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) (formerly Commerce Business Daily) announcement (solicitation number W909MY-04-T0003) on 21 January 2004 on behalf of the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Command (CERDEC), Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), Countermine Division, Humanitarian Demining Branch, stating that the government was seeking sources for nondevelopmental, high-order or deflagration mine neutralization systems suitable for use in humanitarian demining operations. U.S. and foreign companies responded to this FBO announcement. In addition to mature, nondevelopmental systems, three developmental systems were submitted for consideration. These newer systems were deemed promising enough to be evaluated for their demining potential. A description of these devices and a summary of test findings are included in Appendix B. Of the mature, nondevelopmental systems submitted for consideration, 6 deflagration systems, which included 7 different devices, and 7 high-order systems, which included 11 different devices, were selected for further evaluation. Although the original intent had been to evaluate only non-explosive binary mixtures for high-order neutralization, two of the seven high-order systems used RDX-propelled shaped charges. A capability demonstration of these deflagration and high-order systems was conducted at a government test facility during the August to October 2004 time frame. This demonstration evaluated only hand-held systems. The results of this mine neutralization capabilities demonstration are the subject of this report.

This document is intended to assist governments, mine action professionals and others to develop national legislation to coordinate and regulate mine action in a country affected by landmines and/or unexploded ordnance (UXO). It identifies the principal elements to be included in such a law and the issues which should be considered in its preparation. The information in this document is based upon the conclusions and recommendations of A Study of National Mine Action Legislation, published by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

During this revised five-year period Strategic Plan the Yemen Mine Action Programme will meet the objective of the Ottawa Treaty and thus become one of the first mine affected countries in the world to make it happen. From April 1, 2009 the Government of Yemen commits itself to use its national human and financial resources in its effort to eradicate and negate the remaining mines and UXOs from the soil of Yemen.

During this revised five-year period Strategic Plan the Yemen Mine Action Programme will meet the objective of the Ottawa Treaty and thus become one of the first mine affected countries in the world to make it happen. From April 1 2009 the Government of Yemen commits itself to use its national human and financial resources in its effort to eradicate and negate the remaining mines and UXOs from the soil of Yemen. This document addresses the Strategy for Mine Action in Yemen from mid 2004 to mid 2009. In line with this strategic plan a reviewed Project Document for Phase II of the UNDP support to the National Mine Action Programme (NMAP) in Yemen was signed in May 2004. A reviewed Cost- sharing Agreement between the Government of Yemen and UNDP was signed at the same time reflecting the mechanism of the Pro Doc. Follow-on revisions of this strategy will be done by the end of 2005 beginning of 2006 and will continue until the Vision (stated below) becomes reality.

In December 2002, Handicap International Belgium, in co-operation with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines' (ICBL) Landmine Monitor research network, began a research project on behalf of the Reay Group, which was funded through the ITF by Canada and the US State Department. The study should provide the ITF, donors, and service providers, with a clearer picture of the state of victim assistance in South East Europe. It is a starting point that should encourage relevant actors, including government authorities, donors, and local and international program implementers, to share information, to make informed decisions on where to direct resources, or to develop new initiatives, that will promote the complete care, rehabilitation and reintegration of landmine survivors. The study objectives are to present a clearer picture of the number of landmine survivors in the region; identify services/facilities for landmine survivors in the region; determine the capacity of existing services/facilities to address the needs of landmine survivors; identify challenges/gaps in providing landmine victime assistance; identify opportunities for regional cooperation in victim assistance; provide an analysis and data for States, donors, and victim assistance practitioners to improve the effectiveness and reach of victim assistance prgramming responses.