The Landmine Ban at a Crossroads: Strategic Retreats and Treaty Breaches

Mine Ban convention logo

On April 1, 2025, Finland’s Prime Minister announced the country’s intention to withdraw from the international treaty banning anti-personnel land mines. Contrary to the date’s association with pranks, this declaration is no April Fool’s joke. Historically, wars have compelled states to suspend, derogate from, or even terminate treaty obligations. In many cases, the erosion of treaty commitments becomes visible first on the battlefield before formal withdrawals are announced.

AJEYE LELE

Decoding Strength, Exposing Dragon: How Real is China's Military Power? Part-I

AI Generated: Representational Image

This is a two part article. The first part focuses on the current state of China's military capabilities while also exposing the vulnerabilities undermining its strategic ambitions. 

The age-old adage coined by Deng Xiaoping, "hide your capabilities, bide your time," appears to have subtly evolved into a contemporary mantra: "show your capabilities, let everyone speculate." This paradigm shift was strikingly evident in the recent alleged unveiling of China’s elusive sixth-generation fighter jet, purportedly the first of its kind in the world.

ABHISEK PANI

"Russia Accused of Using WWI-Era Chemical Weapon in Ukraine"

"Russia Accused of Using WWI-Era Chemical Weapon in Ukraine"

February 05, 2024
Newsweek

Russian forces pushing their grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine "appear to be" resorting to World War I-era chemical weapons in their bid to dislodge Kyiv's defending units, according to the latest battlefield update from the Institute for the Study of War.

Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesperson for the Tavria Ukrainian military group operating on the southeastern front line, said on Tuesday that Russian forces had been using "K-51 grenades with chloropicrin" in their attacks on Kyiv's positions.

CSIS: "Information Pollution and What It Means for Arms Control"

CSIS: "Information Pollution and What It Means for Arms Control"

January 31, 2024
CSIS logo

Over the past decade, Russia has stepped up its disinformation campaigns to erode trust in arms control across the nuclear, chemical, and biological domains. The new era of rapidly disseminated disinformation poses significant challenges to U.S. national security and, more specifically, to arms control verification and compliance. In this polluted information environment, offense is king.

"How Russia turned America’s helping hand to Ukraine into a vast lie"

"How Russia turned America’s helping hand to Ukraine into a vast lie"

March 30, 2023
WP logo

Information is the world’s lifeblood. It pulsates in torrents of facts and images. We are swamped with it.

But information can be poison, a dangerous weapon. Disinformation, or organized lying, can be used to wage political warfare. As the historian Thomas Rid wrote in “Active Measures,” his book on the subject, disinformation can weaken a political system that places its trust in truth. “Disinformation operations, in essence, erode the very foundations of open societies,” he wrote.

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