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Unit 9Humanitarian Arms Control I – Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions
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  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Historical overview of international humanitarian law and weapons rules
  3. 3. Anti-personnel landmines
  4. 4. Cluster Munitions
  5. 5. Follow-up initiatives and challenges
  6. 6. Resources
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A soldier is carefully handling a landmine partially buried in the ground, using a metal detector and tools. The surrounding area is grassy, and a warning sign in the image reads: All explosive devices are dangerous. Do not approach them. Do not touch them.

Above: Soldier carefully handling a landmine.

Ivanov Vadim | Dreamstime.com

Humanitarian Arms Control I – Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions

Anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions have been banned for their harmful effects on civilians. Treaties such as the Mine Ban Treaty (1997) and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008) focus on human security, requiring weapon clearance and victim assistance, and inspiring broader humanitarian disarmament efforts.

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Chapters

  1. 1. Introduction

  2. 2. Historical overview of international humanitarian law and weapons rules

  3. 3. Anti-personnel landmines

  4. 4. Cluster Munitions

  5. 5. Follow-up initiatives and challenges

  6. 6. Resources

Learning Objectives

Anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions have been banned due to their devastating impact on civilians and the fact that they hinder post-conflict recovery. In the 1980s and 1990s, many civilians were killed or injured by landmines that were remnants of Cold War-era conflicts. This humanitarian crisis prompted a global campaign to ban landmines that shifted the focus from state security to ‘human security’ and led to humanitarian arms control. The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) followed. These treaties ban entire categories of weapons due to their human impact and they require clearance of contaminated areas and victim assistance. They have also inspired efforts to control small arms, nuclear weapons and other means of warfare, thus advancing humanitarian disarmament.

After completing the unit you will be able to:

  • identify the key features of humanitarian arms control;
  • distinguish between traditional arms control and humanitarian arms control;
  • apply a humanitarian framework to analyse conflict and emerging weapons issues;
  • understand current challenges to the consolidation and strengthening of humanitarian arms control.

Credits

  • Prof Margarita Petrova profile image

    Prof Margarita Petrova

    INSTITUT BARCELONA D'ESTUDIS INTERNACIONALS (IBEI)

    Margarita Petrova is an assistant professor at the INSTITUT BARCELONA D'ESTUDIS INTERNACIONALS (IBEI) where she teaches courses in International Relations and International Peace and Security. She holds a PhD degree in Government from Cornell University and her doctoral thesis, "Leadership Competition and the Creation of Norms: A Cross-National Study of Weapons Restrictions," received the 2008 Helen Dwight Reid award for best dissertation in international relations, law and politics from the American Political Science Association. Margarita's main interests are in the area of international norm development, ethical and legal issues in international relations, security studies and arms control, and transnational activism and NGO advocacy.

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Disclosures

Content Warning

This learning unit may contain audio-visual material or texts, which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Funding

This Learning Unit was produced with financial assistance from the European Union. The contents of this Learning Unit are however the sole responsibility of the author(s) and should under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

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Preferred Citation

Prof Margarita Petrova, "Humanitarian Arms Control I – Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions" in EUNPDC eLearning, ed. Niklas Schörnig, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Available at https://eunpdc-elearning.netlify.app/lu-09/, last modified 22 May 2025

Editorial Note

This is a beta version of the learning unit, which is regularly optimised. Please report any factual errors or discrepancies to the publisher. (support(at)nonproliferation-elearning.eu). Please note that although the original text was written by the authors, the video production and simplifications were carried out by PRIF.

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.