Living
With Landmines analyzes, in
detail, the dangerous misconception that the world's
landmine problem has been solved. It uncovers some
good news, and some news that is very bad indeed. On
the one hand, governments, the UN and a few dedicated
NGOs have devised reliable techniques for cleaning up
the millions of landmines already in place around the
world, and these techniques are safe and effective.
The bad news is that they will never be able to
finish the job. The system now in place relies
entirely on foreign aid for funding and technical
support, but the cleanup effort will take more than a
century. It is inconceivable that the essential
support can be maintained until the job is done.
Living
With Landmines looks in detail
at the de-mining work now underway in Cambodia and
Mozambique through the eyes of those most concerned:
farmers, de-miners, an amputee and a Canadian soldier
seconded as a technical advisor.
Is there a
de-mining technology which will allow faster, more
affordable de-mining under the control of the farmers
themselves? Living With
Landmines suggests that there
is one.
Table
of Contents
Bill Purves,
originally trained as an engineer at MIT, is
currently writing and living in Hong Kong. He speaks
Chinese, as well as French and English, and is the
author of the well-known trilogy about life in modern
China in an era of economic change: Barefoot
in the Boardroom: Venture and Misadventure in the
People's Republic of China, 3
Chinas and China
Knee Deep: On Foot Across the People's Republic.
208 pages,
photographs, bibliography, index
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-174-7 $19.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-175-5 $48.99
Current Affairs
December 2000
