In a conference room in Ottawa, representatives from 121 countries put their names on a document that declared anti-personnel landmines illegal. The Ottawa Treaty, signed on December 3, 1997, required signatories to cease production, use, and stockpiling of the weapons and to clear existing minefields. The driving coalition was led by middle powers like Canada and Norway and a network of non-governmental organizations, notably the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The United States, Russia, and China, which together hold the largest stockpiles of such mines, remained in their seats. They did not sign.
The treaty’s power derived from its categorical prohibition. It rejected the argument that mines were a necessary military tool if used responsibly. The campaign highlighted the weapon's grim legacy: a device that, once buried, cannot distinguish a soldier from a child, and that kills and maims civilians for decades after a conflict ends. By 2023, the treaty had 164 states parties, and stockpile destruction had led to the elimination of over 55 million mines. Casualty rates from landmines and explosive remnants of war have fallen dramatically since the late 1990s.
A common misconception is that the treaty failed because major military powers abstained. Its impact was more subtle. It established a powerful international norm that rendered the use of anti-personnel mines a mark of pariah status. Even non-signatories like the United States largely ceased using them and began funding global demining efforts. The treaty proved that a determined coalition of civil society and sympathetic states could rewrite the rules of war around a specific weapon, creating a humanitarian law landmark through sheer diplomatic pressure rather than great-power consensus.