This chapter traces the way in which the destruction in the Vietnam War became a springboard for a renewed humanitarian disarmament discourse. Two major campaigns against particular weapons were waged in this period: the ‘human rights in armed conflict’ initiative spearheaded by states in the Non Aligned Movement through the UN General Assembly, and the ICRC-led campaign to further develop international humanitarian law by limiting or even prohibiting the use of weapons considered by many to be indiscriminate. Although neither campaign was ultimately successful in that no weapons were banned as a result, both campaigns are important instances of attempts to use humanitarian arguments to constrain development and use of weapons. The final section of the chapter analyses the Convention on Conventional Weapons 1980, arguing that it constitutes the first humanitarian disarmament instrument of the post-Second World War era. Although certainly a compromise in terms of its limited scope and reach, it stood as testament to the humanitarian disarmament work of the preceding decades and it set the stage for future breakthroughs.

The chapter explains the background to, and the key elements of, the Convention on Cluster Munitions 2008 (CCM) and examines some of the parallels between this treaty and its immediate predecessor, the Anti-personnel Landmines Convention. It argues that while the CCM is a consolidation of humanitarian disarmament in some important respects, its negotiation, formulation and implementation reveal some complexities in the theory and practice of humanitarian disarmament. The chapter explains how the way cluster munitions are defined in the treaty has essentially reversed the burden of proof in terms of showing unacceptable harm being wrought by a weapon. In this respect, the treaty is a significant advance in the practice of humanitarian disarmament. However, it is also troubling in some respects most notably its weak provisions on user state responsibility and more onerous obligations being placed on victim states. More than ten years on from its conclusion, it is not clear that it has been a resounding success in terms of on-going use of cluster munitions and the slow rate of clearance of unexploded munitions.