Political Minefields - by Matthew Breay Bolton (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Thousands of people around the world are maimed and killed by landmines and unexploded ammunition every year. International law classifies landmines as 'evil in themselves', but minefields are expressions of 'political minefields' that create them and allow them to persist. In this travelogue through Iraq, Laos, Cambodia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and New York City, we follow Matthew Bolton's quest for solutions to the landmine crisis and emerging autonomous weapons. Throughout his journey we meet deminers, paramilitaries, journalists, mercenaries, diplomats, aid workers, and campaigners working in and around the minefields. It is a must-read for those working to alleviate the devastation of war.

Review Quotes

"Matthew Bolton documents his experience working in humanitarian fieldwork, diplomatic settings, and academia. He approaches efforts to eradicate landmines and tackle other problematic weapons through the inclusive lens of human security as opposed to more narrowly focused national security concerns. Bolton examines the "depersonalization of killing" that has accompanied the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones and flags the need to tackle the multiple challenges posed by fully autonomous armed robots. Throughout Bolton emphasizes the role of civil society to show how when ordinary people work together they can achieve extraordinary impact." --Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative, former coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, author of My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winning Path to the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Matthew Bolton takes us on a very readable journey to what in Bosnia we used to call the Dark Side. He starts as an idealistic young aid worker and becomes almost by accident an expert on landmines and the politics of landmine clearance, which is minefield in itself. His account of unsettling experiences in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and South Sudan is a vivid snapshot of the dangerous times in which we live." --Martin Bell, OBE, Former BBC war reporter and independent UK Member of Parliament, UNICEF UK Ambassador, author of In Harm's Way, An Accidental MP and Through the Gates of Fire, published poet.

"Bolton's beautifully written book portends a dehumanized future in which smart weapons stray beyond our control and lack of regulation will be our undoing. Chilling." --Teresa Carpenter, Pulitzer-Prize winner and bestselling author of Missing Beauty and The Miss Stone Affair.

"An interesting philosophical and personal reflection on mines and demining that shows how even the best-intentioned interventions can fall victim to local political and economic forces." --Dr. David Keen, Professor of Complex Emergencies, London School of Economics, author of Useful Enemies: When Waging Wars is More Important than Winning Them.

About the Author

Matthew Breay Bolton is associate professor of political science at Pace University in New York City. He has participated in the global campaigns on landmines, cluster munitions, killer robots and the arms trade. Since 2014, Bolton has worked on the UN and New York City advocacy of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.