Week 4: Arms (and Dual-Use) Trade I

Syllabus readings for week IV are more factual than suppositional. For class, please familiarize yourselves with the data, linking back arms trade facts with trade and security policy(-ies), global and US. What, for example, does the current pattern of arms trade tells us about the business of arms and various national security policies, both for suppliers and consumers? In this regard, also consider the materialist suppositions of the Brooksian world view as it relates to state power. In the last post, I referenced a further argument supporting the position that military production has changed profoundly, with all-encompassing implications for security policy. Of course, we've not really discussed nuclear weapons yet and their role in determining the "calculus of conflict."

Amnesty International video about the Arms Trade Treaty, complete with louche facts and figures:

Quick & dirty update:

Trends in international arms transfers, 2014
SIPRI Fact Sheet

NY Times

You may also want to read up on the recent (Summer) effort to enact a global Arms Trade Treaty. The fact that your snickering at its prospects speaks volumes. Why the cynicism?

I will ask with noted arms trade authority, Dr. Bill Keller, about saying a few words about the arms trade in either his or our class, since most of you double dip. Bill is truly one of the foremost authorities on the global arms biz. His book, Arm in Arm, is noted in the syllabus (come by CITS for loaner copies).

MORE DATA: Google recently launched a project to map out the flow of small arms, light weapons and ammunition transfers in and out of countries around the world. The result: An interactive visualization that lets the user examine the history of arms trading between 1992 and 2010.

Google Arms Trade Map

The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), a Norwegian initiative focused on the dealing of small arms, provided information for the undertaking, including "[m]ore than 1 million data points on imports and exports [...] across 250 states and territories," according to a post on the Google Blog. The project was developed by Google’s Creative Lab and the Brazil-based Igarape Institute. The tool allows the user to search by country and view where imports come from and where exports go each year; it also shows how much each country spends and receives as a result of this trade. Civilian and military purchases are displayed as well. (Note: The Google Blog defines "light weapons" as revolvers, assault rifles and light machine guns. The blog also states that "three quarters of the world’s small arms lie in the hand of civilians -- more than 650 million civilian arms.")

for a more "business analytics" treatment of economic shifts and defense spending, see SMcKinsey Global Report a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute.

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INTL8270 Fall 15