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Civil Society and Cluster Munitions: Building Blocks of a Global Campaign

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Global Civil Society 2012

Part of the book series: Global Civil Society Yearbook ((GCSY))

Abstract

The international process to ban cluster munitions, often referred to as the ‘Oslo Process’ after the city in which it was launched, is an example of a diplomatic initiative in which civil society played a highly involved role. States remained the ultimate decision-makers, with a Norwegian-led core group of seven states launching the process in Oslo in February 2007, and 108 states signing the Convention on Cluster Munitions in the same city in December 2008. However, civil society, organised under the banner of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), was able to influence many of the decisions along the way, both at the national level and within international negotiations. The entire process, from the formation of the CMC to the signing of the Convention, took little more than five years; it has arguably been one of the most successful civil society campaigns of the past decade.

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© 2012 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Nash, T. (2012). Civil Society and Cluster Munitions: Building Blocks of a Global Campaign. In: Kaldor, M., Moore, H.L., Selchow, S., Murray-Leach, T. (eds) Global Civil Society 2012. Global Civil Society Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369436_8

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