My RECENT BOOKS
Political Minefields
Thousands of people around the world are maimed and killed by landmines and unexploded ammunition every year. In this travelogue through Iraq, Laos, Cambodia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and New York City, the author searches for solutions to the landmine crisis and emerging autonomous weapons. He tells stories of the deminers, paramilitaries, journalists, mercenaries, diplomats, aid workers, and campaigners in and among the minefields. It is a must-read for those working to alleviate the devastation of war. Foreword by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate Jody Williams.
Imagining Disarmament
This book explores the global politics of disarmament through emerging international relations (IR) theories of discourse and imagination. Each chapter reflects on an aspect of contemporary activism on weapons through an analogous story from literary tradition, including 1001 Nights, Don Quixote, Lysistrata and The Tempest. The book draws on ethnographic fieldwork in communities affected by weapons and disarmament advocacy at the UN and calls for a re-enchantment of IR, alive to affect, ritual and myth. Foreword by Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament
The humanitarian disarmament community—a loose coalition of activist and advocacy groups, humanitarian agencies and diplomats—have successfully achieved international treaties banning landmines, cluster munitions and nuclear weapons, as well as restricting the global arms trade. This edited volume showcases interdisciplinary research by scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the dynamics and impact of the new global activism on weapons. Foreword by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate Jody Williams.
Foreign Aid and Landmine Clearance
In the decade following the Ottawa Treaty's ban on anti-personnel mines, governments spent over $3 billion on clearing up and mitigating the security threat of mines, cluster munitions and other unexploded ordnance in the world's current and former war zones. However, the flow of cash into regions dominated by violent social structures raises numerous political issues. Through detailed archival and field research, this book explores the politics behind the allocation and implementation of foreign aid by the US and Norway for demining in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Sudan.
From Militarized Mission to Global Solidarity
A World War II veteran, Charles D. Neff’s early missionary work in Japan and South Korea was entwined with US military expansion. But encounter with local converts and skeptics challenged his sense of cultural superiority. Later work in the Philippines, India, Nigeria, Liberia, and Kenya confronted him with the realities of poverty and armed conflict. Deeply affected, he founded several humanitarian organizations. His courage to resist structures of inequality led him to voice unpopular opinions on sexism, racism, imperialism and the nuclear arms race. His strident call for global solidarity remains as important today as when he first voiced his prophetic challenge.