Shortly after the somber 1000-day anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration reversed course on longstanding U.S. landmines policy. Nearly 30 years after the landmark Mine Ban Treaty, the United States agreed to provide anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine to support their continued efforts in the war against Russia. Despite the widespread domestic and international criticism, the Biden administration doubled down and just twelve days later agreed to a second tranche of landmines to Ukraine.
How did we get here? How could the Biden administration backtrack efforts made to commit the United States to the global prohibition of anti-personnel landmines?
In April 2021, the Biden administration announced it was undertaking a comprehensive review of U.S. landmines policy, resulting in the June 2022 Biden landmine policy. The policy committed the United States not to develop, produce, or acquire anti-personnel landmines; not export or transfer anti-personnel landmines, “except when necessary for activities related to mine detection or removal, and for the purpose of destruction;” not “use anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean Peninsula;” and not “assist, encourage, or induce anyone, outside of the context of the Korean Peninsula, to engage in any activity that would be prohibited by the Ottawa Convention,” among other obligations. Arguably, the results of the Biden review led to a policy that is more in line with global norms and standards on these weapons.
However, Biden’s decision to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine violates the administration’s own policy, breaches the norms and standards of the international community as set by the Mine Ban Treaty, and stands in stark contrast from previous U.S. policies. For nearly 30 years, the U.S. military has undertaken operations without antipersonnel landmines and has incrementally moved closer to joining the majority of the world in prohibiting their use. The United States last deployed anti-personnel mines in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991. Since then, the United States has not used landmines, with an exception made for the use of a single antipersonnel mine in Afghanistan in 2002.
U.S. officials often argue that the hold-up for the U.S. joining the Mine Ban Treaty is the use of landmines in the Korean demilitarized zone, for which the United States claims it needs an exception. However, those mines are no longer under U.S. authority as they were turned over to South Korean forces and do not prevent the United States from joining the Mine Ban Treaty.
So where are we headed? The U.S. approach to the issue long seemed erratic, with seven different landmine policy issuances since 1996, each containing both small advances and continued steps backwards. President Trump’s first term gives us some insights on where U.S. landmine policy is headed in the next year.
In January 2020, the Trump administration released a new U.S. landmines policy that allowed the production and use of antipersonnel landmines for future conflicts. The policy rolled back decades of U.S. practice and approach, isolated the United States and put American servicemembers and civilians around the globe at risk. The Trump memorandum replaced President Obama’s June 2014 policy, codified in Presidential Policy Directive 37 (2016), which announced that the United States would no longer produce, acquire, or replace antipersonnel mines, and, like the Biden policy, would no longer use antipersonnel landmines anywhere in the world except for the Korean Peninsula. It also pledged – outside of Korea – not to assist or otherwise encourage other countries to engage in activities prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, to destroy any landmine stocks not required for the defense of South Korea, and to work towards U.S. accession to the Mine Ban Treaty.
The Trump administration, by contrast, allowed for the use of “non-persistent” landmines (those that have self-destruct or time-sensitive self-deactivation mechanisms) in any area, not limited by geographic location. This meant that landmines could be used by U.S. forces – with a decision by the combatant commanders – in any area where they were deemed necessary. Notably, the Trump administration’s characterization of mines as non-persistent was artificial, as there have been and will inevitably be failures in the technology. These mines come out of U.S. stocks that were last produced in 1997, and at nearly 30 years old, their failure rates are unpredictable and often unknown. In the field, an anti-personnel landmine cannot distinguish between a soldier and a child. And when discovered, whether the mine is set to self-destruct in less than a month or just a few days, while active these weapons are deadly to whoever finds them.
The Trump administration’s policy was not only out of step with international norms and U.S. policy of the prior 20 years, but with our NATO partners as well. One hundred and sixty-four States have ratified the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits the stockpiling, production, transfer and use of landmines in all circumstances as well as assistance with these prohibited acts.
The decision by the Biden administration to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, coupled with the return of the Trump administration in January, places the United States on a trajectory that is even further out of step with the majority of the world, gives impunity to other States to use landmines, and puts civilians, U.S. servicemembers, and other innocents at risk. While the Biden administration argues that the short-term impact of this transfer will help the Ukrainians against Russian aggression, the long-term impact of these transfers is something Ukraine, and others, will have to live with for years to come.
Biden’s Disturbing Legacy on Landmines
By Rachel Stohl
Conventional Arms
Shortly after the somber 1000-day anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration reversed course on longstanding U.S. landmines policy. Nearly 30 years after the landmark Mine Ban Treaty, the United States agreed to provide anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine to support their continued efforts in the war against Russia. Despite the widespread domestic and international criticism, the Biden administration doubled down and just twelve days later agreed to a second tranche of landmines to Ukraine.
How did we get here? How could the Biden administration backtrack efforts made to commit the United States to the global prohibition of anti-personnel landmines?
In April 2021, the Biden administration announced it was undertaking a comprehensive review of U.S. landmines policy, resulting in the June 2022 Biden landmine policy. The policy committed the United States not to develop, produce, or acquire anti-personnel landmines; not export or transfer anti-personnel landmines, “except when necessary for activities related to mine detection or removal, and for the purpose of destruction;” not “use anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean Peninsula;” and not “assist, encourage, or induce anyone, outside of the context of the Korean Peninsula, to engage in any activity that would be prohibited by the Ottawa Convention,” among other obligations. Arguably, the results of the Biden review led to a policy that is more in line with global norms and standards on these weapons.
However, Biden’s decision to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine violates the administration’s own policy, breaches the norms and standards of the international community as set by the Mine Ban Treaty, and stands in stark contrast from previous U.S. policies. For nearly 30 years, the U.S. military has undertaken operations without antipersonnel landmines and has incrementally moved closer to joining the majority of the world in prohibiting their use. The United States last deployed anti-personnel mines in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991. Since then, the United States has not used landmines, with an exception made for the use of a single antipersonnel mine in Afghanistan in 2002.
U.S. officials often argue that the hold-up for the U.S. joining the Mine Ban Treaty is the use of landmines in the Korean demilitarized zone, for which the United States claims it needs an exception. However, those mines are no longer under U.S. authority as they were turned over to South Korean forces and do not prevent the United States from joining the Mine Ban Treaty.
So where are we headed? The U.S. approach to the issue long seemed erratic, with seven different landmine policy issuances since 1996, each containing both small advances and continued steps backwards. President Trump’s first term gives us some insights on where U.S. landmine policy is headed in the next year.
In January 2020, the Trump administration released a new U.S. landmines policy that allowed the production and use of antipersonnel landmines for future conflicts. The policy rolled back decades of U.S. practice and approach, isolated the United States and put American servicemembers and civilians around the globe at risk. The Trump memorandum replaced President Obama’s June 2014 policy, codified in Presidential Policy Directive 37 (2016), which announced that the United States would no longer produce, acquire, or replace antipersonnel mines, and, like the Biden policy, would no longer use antipersonnel landmines anywhere in the world except for the Korean Peninsula. It also pledged – outside of Korea – not to assist or otherwise encourage other countries to engage in activities prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, to destroy any landmine stocks not required for the defense of South Korea, and to work towards U.S. accession to the Mine Ban Treaty.
The Trump administration, by contrast, allowed for the use of “non-persistent” landmines (those that have self-destruct or time-sensitive self-deactivation mechanisms) in any area, not limited by geographic location. This meant that landmines could be used by U.S. forces – with a decision by the combatant commanders – in any area where they were deemed necessary. Notably, the Trump administration’s characterization of mines as non-persistent was artificial, as there have been and will inevitably be failures in the technology. These mines come out of U.S. stocks that were last produced in 1997, and at nearly 30 years old, their failure rates are unpredictable and often unknown. In the field, an anti-personnel landmine cannot distinguish between a soldier and a child. And when discovered, whether the mine is set to self-destruct in less than a month or just a few days, while active these weapons are deadly to whoever finds them.
The Trump administration’s policy was not only out of step with international norms and U.S. policy of the prior 20 years, but with our NATO partners as well. One hundred and sixty-four States have ratified the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits the stockpiling, production, transfer and use of landmines in all circumstances as well as assistance with these prohibited acts.
The decision by the Biden administration to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, coupled with the return of the Trump administration in January, places the United States on a trajectory that is even further out of step with the majority of the world, gives impunity to other States to use landmines, and puts civilians, U.S. servicemembers, and other innocents at risk. While the Biden administration argues that the short-term impact of this transfer will help the Ukrainians against Russian aggression, the long-term impact of these transfers is something Ukraine, and others, will have to live with for years to come.
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