The multi-billion dollar business of the international conventional arms trade involves virtually every country in the world. Around the globe, people's lives are being irrevocably changed by the effects of guns, tanks, and missiles. These weapons have the potential to cause a deadly and current threat - one responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths a year. This succinct and accessible new book explores the complexities and realities of the global conventional weapons trade. The first book on the subject in nearly a decade, The International Arms Trade provides an engaging introduction to the trade, the effects, and the consequences of these weapons. The authors trace the history of the arms trade and examine how it has evolved since the end of the Cold War. In particular, they assess the role of the largest arms exporters and importers, the business of selling conventional arms around the world, and shed new light on the illicit arms trade and the shadowy dealers who profit from their deadly commerce. The book also looks closely at the devastating effect the business can have on countries, societies, and individuals and concludes with an evaluation of the various existing control strategies and the potential for future control opportunities. The International Arms Trade will be invaluable for students and scholars of international relations and security studies, and for policymakers and anyone interested in understanding more about the conventional arms trade.

The events of 1991 in the Persian Gulf, which saw Iraq import enough armaments to defy the major powers, have brought the questions of arms trading to the head of the international agenda. In this text, international relations theory is applied to the transfer of military capability for the purpose of fortifying the national security of sovereign states. The author examines past patterns of arms transfer and the influences of international factors on policymakers. International relations theory is applied to the transfer of military capability for the purpose of fortifying the national security of sovereign states. The author examines past patterns of arms transfer and the influences of international factors on policymakers, in order to show that the arms trade has gone far beyond the control of individual nation states.

Focusing on conventional weapons, rather than nuclear, biological and chemical ones, this book draws attention to important differences, within the EU, between the trade in finished weapons and the technology used to make them. It examines West European efforts since 1945 to manage both sides of conventional defence-related trade, and the political, industrial, technological and conceptual obstacles to effective mulitlateral co-ordination and regulation. The book argues that, in current European and international circumstances, recent EU initiatives have limited prospects and may prove to be counterproductive.>

Selected papers presented at a Workshop on "Defence and Development in Southeast Asia: Arms Procurement Policies and Their Implications", 29 Sept. - 1 Oct. 1988, Singapore.

This report documents the government submissions to the United Nations on the transfer of arms in seven weapons categories in 1992 and compares this data with information published by SIPRI in its arms trade register. It assesses the results of the United Nations register and the prospects for improving it in 1994. It is a unique source of information that will be of special interest to political scientists and policymakers interested in arms control.

This book offers new and updated information on small arms production, stockpiles, transfers, and measures, including a review of the International Tracing Instrument. This year's thematic chapters examine issues such as the demand for weapons, small arms and security sector reform and the economic cost of small arms use. This edition also features case studies on small arms violence in Papua New Guinea and Colombia, armed groups in West Africa, and the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda.