OxPeace 2017: Sovereign Terrain? Explosive Remnants of War

Fifteen to thirty percent (15-30%) of armaments fail to function when deployed: these include missiles, rockets, shells, mines, bomblets and carrier munitions. Direct violence does not fully cease - and, perhaps, conflict transformation cannot truly begin - until the explosive remnants of war (ERW) are cleared away. ERW may problematise a nascent state's monopoly on violence. ERW are commonly associated with Cambodia, Laos, Angola, Mozambique and Bosnia-Herzegovina; it somehow escapes attention that countries such as France (1st World War) and the UK (the Blitz, Falkland Islands) also possess enduring ERW problems. In this talk I will outline some of the conceptual and practical difficulties regarding the clearance of ERW and reflect on the implications for states and populations in transformation. Examples will be drawn from many different sites ofconflict in the last 100 years.