Making a Killing: The Scourge of the Global Arms Trade

Book excerpt: Each year billions of dollars’ worth of arms are procured between various nations, despite the fact that many millions of people live in desperate poverty, many will die from hunger and hunger related diseases. Weapons of increasing firepower and the missiles to deliver them accurately are becoming acquired, mainly through the Global Arms Trade. This means that we must expect wars in the world to become increasingly violent and destructive. This book focuses on what the arms trade is and its impact on the world, the wars which have resulted or were sustained by this trade. It is necessary to know which countries sell arms and which ones buy. Also it is important to have some idea of how large the trade is. The international trade in arms has considerably increased since World War 2. Major weapons (aircraft, missiles, tanks and ships) probably account for about one-half of the total trade in weapons and equipment. Many countries and their respective Military-Industrial Complex are ‘making a killing’ in the world’s largest trade in the buying and selling of military technology (weapons).