Ploughshares Monitor articles from June 1996

Ploughshares Monitor archives from June 1996

It's the law (World Court rulings on nuclear weapons are ignored by most nations).
June 1, 1996... Democracy, it is often said, is the worst form of government, except for all the others. It might likewise be said that using the judicial system to resolve controversial issues is the worst way to practise democracy - but, at least some of the...

International law versus the bomb.
June 1, 1996... In a landmark decision, on 8 July 1996, the highest court in the world, the International Court of Justice at The Hague, responded to the UN General Assembly's request for a ruling on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons with...

Warmth not war (demilitarization in Mali).
June 1, 1996... President Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali sealed the peace between warring factions in his country in March by the symbolic destruction of a huge pile of light weapons in a bonfire. According to an InterPress Service report, the destroyed weapons...

Jordan's "peace dividend".
June 1, 1996... In the best Orwellian tradition, King Hussein of Jordan's reward for his work for peace will be tanks and advanced fighter aircraft from the Pentagon. In January, the US government announced it will provide Jordan with a military aid package...

Recycle, reuse, resupply (new uses for artillery shells).
June 1, 1996... What do you do with one million surplus howitzer shells? If you are the US Army you think of recycling them as battlefield "resupply projectiles," for firing to front-line positions to provide troops with both blood and ammunition supplies. ...

Landmine abolition: a small step forward at Geneva.
June 1, 1996... May 3, 1996 witnessed the conclusion of the First Review Conference on Certain Conventional Weapons which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious and Indiscriminate, Protocol II on landmines, booby traps, and other devices. Is the new...

Feeding the tigers: the push for Canadian military aid sales in Asia.
June 1, 1996... This past spring newly built Canadian patrol frigates visited the Asia-Pacific region for the third consecutive year to promote Canadian naval equipment to potential military customers. The tours by the frigates, which contain some of the most...

Airshow Canada: Canada's Pacific arms show.
June 1, 1996... In 1997, Abbotsford, British Columbia will once again host Airshow Canada, the biennial civil and military aerospace trade show adjunct to the Abbotsford International Airshow. Little known in this country, Airshow Canada is now the fourth...

Low-level flying on the increase: campaign for Innu rights continues.
June 1, 1996... "I plead for the Innu people," declared nine Innu supporters, when asked to plead guilty or not guilty to charges arising from their peaceful protest against low-level military flights over Innu lands. Nine Innu supporters were arrested in...

Post-cold war conversion: looking at the broader picture.
June 1, 1996... When the Soviet Union collapsed and the East-West confrontation ended, there were predictions of a huge and long-awaited "peace dividend." It was hoped that military spending and weapon stocks could be reduced, military research and arms...

Making peace work: the role of the international development community.
June 1, 1996... The difficulties in managing the transition from war to sustainable peace have become the welcome focus of many conferences and studies in the 1990s. This slim, readable volume provides an excellent review of the current state of the art of...

Light weapons and international security.
June 1, 1996... Even though small arms and light weapons do the lion's share of the damage in most current wars, they have to date received relatively little attention from the international arms control community or diplomacy. That deficiency, however, is now...

Deep water, deep danger: nuclear warships in British Columbia.
June 1, 1996... This 20-minute video provides viewers with a rare look at the testing of US nuclear submarines at the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges (CFMETR) located in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island. The video outlines the many...