Part of the Solution: Exploring Armed Non-State Actor Commitment to and Compliance with an Anti-Personnel Landmine Ban
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Existing international legal arms control regimes exclude the participation of armed non-state actors, creating a situation where they cannot independently commit to those regimes, experience no sense of legitimate obligation where they do formally apply, face no credible group-level enforcement mechanism, and are not rewarded for compliance. Yet in some cases armed non-state actors do willingly make unilateral arms control commitments. One example is the 54 armed non-state actors who have, in parallel to the Ottawa Treaty regime, renounced anti-personnel landmines through a formal and monitored mechanism created by the international non-governmental organization Geneva Call. Why have some armed non-state actors committed themselves to and complied with this total anti-personnel landmine ban that generally exceeds their preexisting legal obligations? This study explains why and under what conditions armed non-state actors make this commitment. Employing a mixed research methods approach that utilizes statistical analysis of all armed non-state actors engaged by Geneva Call prior to February 2019 on the issue of anti-personnel landmines and four critical case studies, the research demonstrates how armed non-state actors have instrumentalized their commitment to the Geneva Call mechanism as a conciliatory signal to credibly convey their good faith intent toward and interest in a negotiated settlement. The findings expand and enrich previous research on armed non-state actors and highlight how bilateral peace negotiations may contribute to humanitarian commitments that mitigate violent impact on civilians even if a final peace agreement is not readily accomplished. Further, it identifies a window of opportunity for securing this commitment to anti-personnel landmine renunciation and recommends investment in the capacity needed to capitalize on these moments.
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Copyright © 2022 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
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jansen-partofthesolutionexploringarmednonstateactor.pdf | 2023-05-05 | Public | Download |