Preview

Arms Trade

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
285 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Arms Trade
"I have seen how easy it is for nuclear contamination to occur, and how hard it is to clean it up…. Do nations possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons because of fear of attack from some other nation, or is it because without them the strong cannot exploit the weak?" Andreas T.

The arms trade is a major cause of human rights abuses. Some governments spend more on military expenses than on social development, communications infrastructure and health combined. While every nation has the right and the need to ensure its security, in these changing times, arms requirements and procurements may need to change too.

Each year, around $45-60 billion worth of arms sales are agreed. Some two-thirds of sales are made to developing countries. The 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China), together with Germany and Italy account for over 80% of the arms sold between 2001 and 2008. Some of the arms sold go to regimes where human rights violations will occur. Corruption often accompanies arms sales due to the large sums of money involved.

World military spending had reduced since the Cold War ended, but a few nations such as the US retain high level spending. In recent years, global military expenditure has increased again and is now comparable to Cold War levels again. Recent data shows global spending at over $1.4 trillion, annually (or $1.2 trillion at constant 2005 prices). The highest military spender is the US accounting for just under half of the world’s spending, more than the rest of the G7 (most economically advanced countries) combined, and more than all its potential enemies,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    military spending is accountable for 54 percent of all federal discretionary spending, which is $598.5 billion dollars. The second largest federal discretionary spending is the government, which is only 6% of the spending with $72.9 billion dollars (2). To add on, discretionary spending represents less than one-third of the total federal budget (5). Obviously, with all this spending, the U.S. is at the top of Global Firepower (GFP) list with Russia on the second place (3). There is a total of 4,999 military bases around the world, including U.S. and the number of people working in each military base, that is a lot of money spent on military only (4). So to reduce some spending on defense, the government should reduce the number of military bases, which will result in less personal and less money spend. However, this is difficult to do because many people believe and has been the guarding country for other countries for decades now. Also, many people are employed under the defense department, so if the spending is cut the unemployment rate will…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bordeaux ,Lacy. Emma. “Loophole allows for easier purchase of high-powered weapons.” CNN Radio, May 25 2011. Web. 18 March 2013.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    "World Military Spending — Global Issues." Global Issues : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All — Global Issues. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. .…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nuclear weapons have only ever been used once in human history, and that was during World War II when The United States deployed missiles on Japanese territory, in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. At the time of bombing in 1945 only the USA had developed nuclear weapons, whilst today the pool of states consisting of nuclear weapons is still extremely small, with only nine states laying claim to nuclear technology and weaponry. This nuclear proliferation is explained by Darryl Howlett who explains this as the worldwide spread of nuclear weapons. For Howlett states are nuclear driven because of the ‘strategic, political and prestige benefits’ attached to nuclear weapons[1]. In the modern world the mass media are often critical about nuclear weapons and the threats they pose for society, but this begs the question; why have nuclear weapons not been used in conflict since 1945? To answer this question the issues of taboo and deterrence and the arrival of virtual nuclear arsenals must be called into question, as well as theoretical ideas such as rationality from proliferation optimists and proliferation pessimists. I will also look at whether we currently live in a non-proliferation regime, and look at the alternatives for peace and nuclear non-usage.…

    • 2145 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the national defense expenditures brought about by the end of the Cold War in…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gun Control Restrictions

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to the 2010 statistics presented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC,) in Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and Japan, a total of 294 people were murdered by firearms. In the United States more than 22,000 people were murdered by firearms by the end of the year. The difference that exists among these countries and The United States is that in these countries is very difficult to buy a firearm. In fact these countries have rigorous gun laws. In contrast in the United States people can buy a firearm in a pawnshop, in Wal-Mart, online, arm shows, newspapers ads, Craigslist, almost anywhere. In this essay,…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vietnam War Benefits

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Before 1940, the military budget took up two percent of the GDP. After 1940, the highest the budget has sailed was 41 percent {now dropped to seven percent in recent years}. The point being that our military is always changing, evolving and learning. Incidentally, one of the US’s first learning points was Vietnam. Clueless as to there being three different groups all fighting in the same country, the military was at a loss. Vietcong troops killed an inordinate amount of US troops because they didn’t do their homework before rushing in the save the day. Nowadays, the US has the CIA {established in 1947} or the NSA {established in 1952} to collect data before going into a war or any military conflict. Due to this intelligence and the advancement…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 9/11 attacks forced Americans to have to start worrying about their homeland being attacked at anytime. This added to military spending in the billions. That along with the war in Iraq and the numerous military bases and troops stationed around the world has sent the military spending budget well over 500 billion a year.(globalissues.org, 2009) 500 hundred is the budget but the American government spends far more. There is a hidden cost that not every American will see. 300 billion more is spent on military related fields such as foreign military aid, retirement pay, and veterans’ benefits. (globialissues.org, 2009) That sum does not even include the funding for the operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. In total the operational costs for the U.S. military has rose over a trillion dollars in 2008. (globalissues.org, 2009) Military spending has not been as high since World War II in 1945 and 1946.(Weidenbaum, 2003) Is America’s armed forces and government obsessed with war and showing off their muscle or is all this money that is being spent to protect…

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gun Control Agreements

    • 2827 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The United Nation’s Permanent Five (P5), with the addition of Germany, are the top exporters of arms. The United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom have specifically been involved in the most significant weapon agreements and relations. There are many agreements and treaties to control and regulate the mass amounts of weaponry traded and sold to states around the globe. Arm control agreements deal with two separate weapon regimes: weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and small arms and light weapons. It is harder to achieve agreements on small arms and light weapons than weapons of mass destruction because both sides get what they want—developed countries make a profit and developing nations modernize their defense—and states do not states…

    • 2827 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recent statistics have shown that the United States spends an incredulous amount of money on our military and national defense every year. How much exactly? A rough $600 BILLION dollars. That, compared to the $72 Billion spent on government, is an increase of more than 8 fold. We seem to waste too much money on this, unnecessarily. There’s not a major war occurring that calls for the spending of our hard-earned tax dollars to be spent on military weaponry, that could just…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Arms Trafficking

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although the government trades and purchases weapons legally, it becomes a problem when more money is spent on weapons than on resources for the communities. According to an article the government spends more on military expenditure then it does on communications infrastructure, health and social development combined. “The 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China), together with Germany and Italy account for around 85% of the arms sold between 2002 and 2009 “ (Shah, 2011).…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Current Affairs Analysis

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sagan, Scott D. 1996-1997. “Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons?: Three Models in Search of a Bomb”. International Security 21 (3).…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    crimea

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages

    states in the world today. Over 90 percent of these are in Russian and U.S. arsenals. But…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Arms trafficking are a major threat to nearly all countries around the globe. All countries working towards eradicating this problem employ the services of their national police, administrative and bureaucratic services.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Arms Trade

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Arms Trade is one of the world's biggest industries employing many hundreds of thousands worldwide. It involves large, rich, prosperous countries such as the United Kingdom, the USA, France and Russia selling weapons to other countries. Over 75% of the weapons sold by the UK in 1989 were sold to poor, developing countries such as South Korea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. At first, there may seem to be nothing wrong with this common practice but a closer look reveals the brutality and horror behind this industry.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays