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Introduction to the international arms trade
On 24 July 2007, a French government plane travelling from Tripoli, Libya, carrying five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor landed in Sofia, Bulgaria. The healthcare workers had served eight years in a Libyan prison after being sentenced to death, accused and convicted of infecting children with HIV. The release came after a deal was struck between Libya, the European Union (EU) and France, signalling an improvement in Libya’s ties with the international community. Although, at the time, France and the EU denied any financial compensation had been given to encourage the prisoners’ release, one week later France announced a major conventional weapons sale to Libya, worth a total of $405 million. The arms deal, the first between any western country and Libya since the EU lifted restrictions on arms sales to Libya in 2004, consisted of anti-tank missiles worth $230 million and radio communication equipment worth $175 million. Less than six months later, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi visited France – his first trip to the West since he renounced terrorism and nuclear weapons – and announced a $14.7 billion deal for conventional weapons and nuclear reactors. The deal included Rafale fighter aircraft, military and attack helicopters, air defence radars, patrol boats and armoured vehicles.
These arms deals, and their geo-political significance, likely missed the attention of the majority of the world’s population. While headlines describing the dire threats of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) often dominate the front page of daily papers, conventional weapons deals often escape notice. But these weapons cause a far more deadly and current threat – one responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths a year. Around the globe, people’s lives are being irrevocably changed by the effects of guns, tanks and missiles. The international trade in these weapons is a multi-billion-dollar business engaged in by virtually every country around the world.
While countries have participated in the conventional arms trade for decades, attention to, and the effects of, conventional weapons have been more intense since the end of the Cold War. The fall of the Soviet Union and the end of a bi-polar world resulted in the emergence of new kinds of warfare, namely the move from inter-state to intra-state wars. These conflicts often rely solely on conventional weapons. In many cases, small arms and light weapons are the only weapons used by warring parties, including government armies, paramilitaries, rebel forces and terrorists. Since the early 1990s, increased attention has been given to the tools of this violence, not just the violence itself. Although some criticisms have been levied at the conventional arms trade – many of which we discuss in this book – others argue that the international arms trade is a necessary part of many international security frameworks and an important tool that can be used to create and strengthen alliances, influence state behaviour and contribute to economic stability.1
Still, the dangers and consequences of the conventional arms trade touch every aspect of society – from political to military and cultural to economic – yet, weapons of mass destruction still preoccupy the minds of policy makers and the general public. Further complicating matters is the fact that conventional weapons are essential to national security and are tools of national politics, with legitimate military, police and even civilian uses. Thus, controlling conventional weapons is often more difficult than controlling other classes of weapons.
Main findings
This book describes the international conventional arms trade and examines the impact of conventional weapons throughout the world. These are weapons that range from guns to sophisticated fighter aircraft and naval ships – in other words, the conventional weapons of war. The book provides a basic understanding of the myriad aspects of the international arms trade and illustrates why people should be concerned with its details. It also explores how the conventional weapons trade is relevant to any study of war and modern conflict, and describes how the international arms trade affects the lives and deaths of billions of people around the world.
The book provides historical and current perspectives on the arms trade. We highlight the role of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China – the five largest arms exporters in the world. These five countries are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and are responsible for nearly 80 per cent of the entire international arms trade. Thus, their role in the international arms trade is central to any larger discussion of the nature and consequences of the conventional arms trade, as well as efforts to control them. From their export policies, or lack thereof, to the size of their trade, the five largest arms exporters frame our examination of the global arms trade. The largest arms recipients are also examined, as supply alone does not drive the weapons trade. The demand for weapons is driven by a variety of factors and any analysis of international arms transfers must take the wants and needs of importing states and non-state actors into account. Major arms purchasers have seen weapons affect their overall economies, their national and regional stability, and their military and political relationships.
This book provides a historical and conceptual context for the arms trade and draws five main conclusions.
First, the supply of, and demand for, weapons, both legal and illegal, have ebbed and flowed as new international crises emerge and are resolved. Throughout history, the conventional arms trade has been driven by conflicts – both hot and cold – from their conception to their resolution. In fact, significant shifts in the conventional arms trade are marked by major world events, such as World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the 1991 Gulf War, and the War on Terror. Moreover, national and international political and economic issues more generally affect the international trade in arms. Numerous factors, therefore, influence weapons supply and demand.
Second, the control of, and trade in, conventional weapons are more complicated than those of other weapons systems. Unlike weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms are legitimate tools of governments, militaries, police forces and civilians. Indeed, Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations recognizes the inherent right of all states to individual or collective self-defence and the right to manufacture, import, export, transfer and retain conventional arms toward that end. Thus, regulating and controlling the trade in conventional arms pose additional challenges for states and the international community.
Third, conventional arms are profitable. Conventional arms transfer agreements worldwide were worth approximately $60 billion in 2007.2 This total only accounts for the legal trade in arms. There is a thriving black market trade in arms, as well as a robust grey market – those sales that fall in the blurry category between the legal and illicit markets. Smaller, however, than the international trade in oil and gas, valued at $1.7 trillion, or agricultural products, valued at $852 billion, the international arms trade is worth only half a percentage of all global trade.3 Nonetheless, the arms trade has a significant influence on national and global economies.
Fourth, in many cases, national security trumps human security and arms transfers go unchecked. The resulting unrestrained trade of conventional weapons leads to significant consequences. From deaths and injuries, to the undermining of human security, the uncontrolled conventional arms trade has put peacekeepers in danger, diminished national and multinational business opportunities, impeded the ability of humanitarian and relief organizations to conduct their efforts, hampered sustainable development and, overall, negatively affected global peace and security.
Fifth and finally, conventional arms controls are underdeveloped and face significant challenges. One of the most immediate challenges is that some of the primary exporters have not supported or participated in proposed and existing controls. Controlling conventional arms involves multiple solutions with multiple actors in multiple forums. Conventional weapons transfers occur simultaneously at individual, national, regional and global levels and, therefore, require simultaneous responses at various levels.
Content and structure
Each chapter of this book highlights an aspect of the conventional arms trade – from historical changes in the international arms trade to its consequences and control options at a variety of levels.
Chapter 2 examines the arms trade throughout history. Beginning the arms trade narrative at the dawn of western civilization, the chapter links early weapons development, procurement and trade to diplomatic efforts, imperial activities, domestic politics and private business. The chapter also discusses the role of the arms trade in the post-World War II and Cold War eras, which clearly reflected the global stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union. The end of the Cold War is examined at length, as well as the post-Cold War period, which has led to a dynamic conventional arms market capable of altering itself in response to changing world events. The chapter highlights the increased importance of dual-use technology – and that of the commercial sector and the globalization of the defence industry, including joint ventures and mergers, which have also complicated the relationships between companies and countries. The chapter reminds readers that the post-Cold War world has seen the emergence of intra-state, rather than inter-state wars, which has resulted in increased competition among arms exporters and new markets becoming available to historical rivals. The chapter also examines the 1991 Gulf War, which was a watershed event leading to global efforts to rein in the international arms trade, and yet led to increasing global weapons purchases, particularly in the Middle East. Finally, the chapter describes the economic conditions and international security concerns resulting from the attacks of 11 September 2001, which have created new trends in the international arms market, whereby the major arms importers have shifted away from traditional Middle East customers toward Asian customers, notably India and Pakistan.
Chapter 3 examines the big business of the international arms trade, particularly through the legal supply and transfer of arms, including five short case studies. It focuses on the politics and economics associated with the arms trade and on the actual mechanics of this global trade. The chapter reveals the various issues related to the global transfer of arms, including production of new weapons and stockpiling of weapons (and what happens when those weapons become obsolete), and discusses the impact of some arms transfer trends and technologies. The chapter also examines how market trends influence competition and cooperation between companies, countries and regions, and the symbiotic relationship between technology development and the trade in arms, as exemplified in national procurement strategies. The chapter also focuses on the purchasers of weapons, examining changing trends among arms recipients. The chapter includes a description of the bizarre world of arms shows, explains what makes a sale legal or illicit, and looks at the peculiarities of the legal small arms trade.
After a comprehensive look at the legal trade, chapter 4 focuses on what we can and do know about the illicit arms trade. The chapter highlights the highly profitable illicit trade in arms – both heavy conventional weapons and their spare parts – as well as the significant small arms black market. It examines trends in the illicit trade, and the variety of actors involved. The chapter also describes the multiple ways weapons move from the legal to the illicit market and explores issues related to the supply and demand of weapons, using examples from recent international events. It covers the shadowy world of arms brokers – the individuals or companies that act as intermediaries to facilitate the trade in weapons. Additionally, the chapter surveys the changes in arms brokering since the end of the Cold War and the ways in which arms brokers have had to adapt to the new paradigms of conflict and weapons demand. Finally, the chapter explains how arms brokers are able to manipulate legal networks for illegal purposes and how governments often use the same networks and routes to transport grey market arms.
Chapter 5 turns its attention to the effect these weapons have on countries and societies and unpacks the varied consequences of the arms trade utilizing the human security framework, including the impacts on international peace, security and development. The chapter demonstrates that, although the world remains focused on the threat of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms are responsible for the majority of deaths and suffering in today’s conflicts. Small arms, in particular, have played an important role in the world’s bloodiest conflicts. The chapter discusses the direct, indirect and consequential impact of the weapons trade, using examples from every region of the world. The chapter describes how the conventional arms trade – both legal and illicit – has significant negative consequences, and highlights how these weapons are used to kill people in countries experiencing conflict and in countries at peace, and how conventional weapons contribute to cycles of violence, trapping communities in endless fighting and bloodshed. The chapter concludes with an analysis of conventional arms and terrorism.
Chapter 6 examines the various strategies for controlling the arms trade. The chapter highlights the numerous efforts to control the global trade in arms that have emerged over the years. The chapter points out historical arms control efforts, such as the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, which focused largely on limiting the numbers and types of weapons a state could possess, as well as where they could be deployed. The chapter then describes the evolution of current conventional arms control strategies, which grew out of greater concerns about civil conflict, genocide and other human rights abuses in the post-Cold War era. In this section, the chapter examines a number of instruments that have emerged to control the spread, circulation and misuse of conventional weapons. The chapter describes the various global, regional and national control measures that focus specifically on conventional weaponry, paying particular attention to small arms strategies, such as the UN Conventional Arms Register, the Wassenaar Arrangement, and the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. The chapter also highlights the important role of nongovernmental organizations and their efforts to facilitate stronger and more comprehensive measures for the control of the international arms trade.
Finally, chapter 7 concludes the book with a more in-depth discussion of the major findings. We also argue that, although we now know more about the international arms trade, there is still more work to do, more awareness to raise, and more attention to focus on the issue.
Sources
This book draws heavily on news sources, United Nations documents, analyses and data compiled by nongovernmental organizations, author interviews and, when available, primary source government data. However, a significant amount of information on the conventional arms trade is not available to the public in open sources. Governments often prefer to keep information on their arms exports and imports classified, in order to protect their proprietary, political and strategic interests. As a result, analyses of the international arms trade are often limited, particularly in countries without a tradition of transparency and democracy. We have tried to provide a comprehensive and international picture of the arms trade, but ask the reader to take the data limitations into consideration.
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The international arms trade in historical perspective
From past to present
On 25 July 1969, US President Richard Nixon decided to make a few remarks for reporters while on a refuelling layover in Guam. Those remarks became known as the ‘Nixon Doctrine’ and ushered in a new era in US foreign policy. Specifically, Nixon’s comments suggested that internal security problems in Asia and elsewhere should be handled internally, but the United States would provide military and economic assistance to friendly regimes in order to support them. With this statement, Nixon elevated arms transfers to a prominent foreign policy position, promising to send arms instead of troops as a way to wield force and exert influence in third world countries without assuming the risks and costs associated with intervening directly. Little consideration was given at the time to the fact that once weapons were transferred, the United States would lose all control over how they were used or to whom they would flow next. Although it has been suggested that Nixon did not intend to make such a sweeping announcement on that day in Guam, the new policy was born nonetheless. Soon thereafter, the United States went on a supply spree, sending billions of dollars of weapons around the world, even into the hands of despots and dictators.1
Indeed, the history of the global arms trade goes much further back, before 1969 and the Nixon Doctrine. The international arms trade, in fact, has a long and storied past. Politics, power, economics and technology, among other things, have all affected the ways in which, and the extent to which, governments, private enterprises and various actors have engaged in the producti...
