Well, I have blogged several times before this post, how & why developed countries export arms & weapons to the developing countries. Developed countries need wars & conflicts in the developing world to drive up their production, exports, & GDP. Best private sector jobs in the developed world are in military-related industry.
So, don't just assume that people in the developing world are "barbarians" who love to fight all the time. They are being provided the WMDs (all weapons are weapons of mass destruction) by the developed world, & (as one of the opinion pieces in Independent from April 2015 stated) when a civil war or terrorist-related activities happen in those developing world, the developed world looks in horror.
People in the developed world so naively want "peace in the world" but then close their eyes & ears, when their own governments sell weapons, by the billions, to the developing world, which in turn, destroys any chance of peace ever taking place.
"The institute estimated the value of the world’s arms trade in 2007 at more than $50 billion, with the US selling $12.8 billion of weapons, making it the leading global exporter. Russia ranked second, with $7.4 billion in arms sales, followed by France with $6.2 billion, Israel with $4.4 billion & the UK with $4.1 billion."
And countries in the developing world can never actually develop & hence, compete at the same level as the countries in the developed world, when they are spending billions on arms & weaponry.
"India imported the most arms between 2010 & 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE & Pakistan. These 5 countries accounted for 33% of all arms imports over the period, Sipri said."
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The global arms trade has grown by 16% over the past decade, with military hardware including tanks, missiles & artillery flowing to African countries faster than to any other region, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
African governments & rebel groups imported 45% more weapons in 2014 than in 2005, Sipri reported in its latest arms transfers database. Weapons sales to the Asia & Oceania region grew by 37% over the same period, while the Middle East bought 25% more weapons.
Sipri’s data, which accounts for purchases of military hardware including tanks, aircraft, radar, artillery, rockets, missiles & ships, is measured over five-year periods because weapons orders can fluctuate significantly from year to year.
Violence & destruction associated with rising arms imports into Africa costs the continent an estimated $18 billion (£12.1 billion) a year as infrastructure is destroyed, businesses are closed & children are kept out of school, said Martin Butcher, arms policy adviser at Oxfam. “Burundi spends an average of $5 a year on healthcare for each citizen, but the cost of treating a victim of armed violence in Burundi averages $165 a year,” Butcher explained.
The leading African importers of military hardware were Algeria, Morocco & Sudan. Many countries used soaring oil revenues to buy weapons, but a sharp drop in the price of oil has cast doubts on their ability to continue heightened defence spending.
Driving arms purchases in the continent is Algeria’s long-standing rivalry with Morocco & Uganda’s involvement in South Sudan’s civil war, according to Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at Sipri. Cameroon & Nigeria showed “urgent demand” for weapons in their fight against Islamist rebel group Boko Haram, Sipri said. The involvement of Uganda, Ghana & Kenya in military operations mandated by the African Union & the UN also contributed to a rise in arms imports.
“Competitive acquisition plays some role in [rising arms sales to Africa], but concerns over domestic insurgencies are becoming increasingly important in shaping what the military buys,” said Malcolm Chalmers, director of UK defence policy at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies.
But Sipri is not able to include imports of small arms – widely used in civil wars such as those in South Sudan, Central African Republic & Somalia – in its data. “We do recognise the importance of small arms imports, especially in a region like Africa, where major arms are not so widely available. Alas, we cannot record them in the way we would like to,” Wezeman said, noting the limited transparency of military spending as another impediment to the accuracy of Sipri’s data.
Russia sold the most arms to African countries, mainly to Algeria, while France’s sales to Morocco made it the second-largest arms dealer to the continent.
Worldwide, the biggest arms exporters were the US & Russia, which accounted for more than half of all weapons sales between 2010 & 2014, the data showed. China’s arms sales have soared by 143% since 2005, making it the world’s third largest arms dealer. In contrast, Europe’s arms exports fell by 16%.
Wezeman played down the link between rising African arms imports & China’s soaring arms exports. “Chinese arms exports are still very much going to a small number of states – mainly Pakistan followed by [Burma] & Bangladesh,” he said.
The biggest importers of US arms were South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Australia. Russia sent the bulk of its arms shipments to India, China & Algeria.
India imported the most arms between 2010 & 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE & Pakistan. These 5 countries accounted for 33% of all arms imports over the period, Sipri said.
Sipri takes the production costs of a set of commonly used weapons & analyses arms deals to calculate the “transfer of military capability”, Wezeman said. “We do not look at the financial value that has been agreed between the recipient & the supplier … because quite often weapons are transferred for no price at all.”
The institute estimated the value of the world’s arms trade in 2007 at more than $50 billion, with the US selling $12.8 billion of weapons, making it the leading global exporter. Russia ranked second, with $7.4 billion in arms sales, followed by France with $6.2 billion, Israel with $4.4 billion & the UK with $4.1 billion.
“The US has long seen arms exports as a major foreign policy & security tool, but in recent years exports are increasingly needed to help the US arms industry maintain production levels at a time of decreasing US military expenditure,” said Aude Fleurant, director of Sipri’s arms & military expenditure programme.
So, don't just assume that people in the developing world are "barbarians" who love to fight all the time. They are being provided the WMDs (all weapons are weapons of mass destruction) by the developed world, & (as one of the opinion pieces in Independent from April 2015 stated) when a civil war or terrorist-related activities happen in those developing world, the developed world looks in horror.
People in the developed world so naively want "peace in the world" but then close their eyes & ears, when their own governments sell weapons, by the billions, to the developing world, which in turn, destroys any chance of peace ever taking place.
"The institute estimated the value of the world’s arms trade in 2007 at more than $50 billion, with the US selling $12.8 billion of weapons, making it the leading global exporter. Russia ranked second, with $7.4 billion in arms sales, followed by France with $6.2 billion, Israel with $4.4 billion & the UK with $4.1 billion."
And countries in the developing world can never actually develop & hence, compete at the same level as the countries in the developed world, when they are spending billions on arms & weaponry.
"India imported the most arms between 2010 & 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE & Pakistan. These 5 countries accounted for 33% of all arms imports over the period, Sipri said."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The global arms trade has grown by 16% over the past decade, with military hardware including tanks, missiles & artillery flowing to African countries faster than to any other region, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
African governments & rebel groups imported 45% more weapons in 2014 than in 2005, Sipri reported in its latest arms transfers database. Weapons sales to the Asia & Oceania region grew by 37% over the same period, while the Middle East bought 25% more weapons.
Sipri’s data, which accounts for purchases of military hardware including tanks, aircraft, radar, artillery, rockets, missiles & ships, is measured over five-year periods because weapons orders can fluctuate significantly from year to year.
Violence & destruction associated with rising arms imports into Africa costs the continent an estimated $18 billion (£12.1 billion) a year as infrastructure is destroyed, businesses are closed & children are kept out of school, said Martin Butcher, arms policy adviser at Oxfam. “Burundi spends an average of $5 a year on healthcare for each citizen, but the cost of treating a victim of armed violence in Burundi averages $165 a year,” Butcher explained.
The leading African importers of military hardware were Algeria, Morocco & Sudan. Many countries used soaring oil revenues to buy weapons, but a sharp drop in the price of oil has cast doubts on their ability to continue heightened defence spending.
Driving arms purchases in the continent is Algeria’s long-standing rivalry with Morocco & Uganda’s involvement in South Sudan’s civil war, according to Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher at Sipri. Cameroon & Nigeria showed “urgent demand” for weapons in their fight against Islamist rebel group Boko Haram, Sipri said. The involvement of Uganda, Ghana & Kenya in military operations mandated by the African Union & the UN also contributed to a rise in arms imports.
“Competitive acquisition plays some role in [rising arms sales to Africa], but concerns over domestic insurgencies are becoming increasingly important in shaping what the military buys,” said Malcolm Chalmers, director of UK defence policy at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies.
But Sipri is not able to include imports of small arms – widely used in civil wars such as those in South Sudan, Central African Republic & Somalia – in its data. “We do recognise the importance of small arms imports, especially in a region like Africa, where major arms are not so widely available. Alas, we cannot record them in the way we would like to,” Wezeman said, noting the limited transparency of military spending as another impediment to the accuracy of Sipri’s data.
Russia sold the most arms to African countries, mainly to Algeria, while France’s sales to Morocco made it the second-largest arms dealer to the continent.
Worldwide, the biggest arms exporters were the US & Russia, which accounted for more than half of all weapons sales between 2010 & 2014, the data showed. China’s arms sales have soared by 143% since 2005, making it the world’s third largest arms dealer. In contrast, Europe’s arms exports fell by 16%.
Wezeman played down the link between rising African arms imports & China’s soaring arms exports. “Chinese arms exports are still very much going to a small number of states – mainly Pakistan followed by [Burma] & Bangladesh,” he said.
The biggest importers of US arms were South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Australia. Russia sent the bulk of its arms shipments to India, China & Algeria.
India imported the most arms between 2010 & 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE & Pakistan. These 5 countries accounted for 33% of all arms imports over the period, Sipri said.
Sipri takes the production costs of a set of commonly used weapons & analyses arms deals to calculate the “transfer of military capability”, Wezeman said. “We do not look at the financial value that has been agreed between the recipient & the supplier … because quite often weapons are transferred for no price at all.”
The institute estimated the value of the world’s arms trade in 2007 at more than $50 billion, with the US selling $12.8 billion of weapons, making it the leading global exporter. Russia ranked second, with $7.4 billion in arms sales, followed by France with $6.2 billion, Israel with $4.4 billion & the UK with $4.1 billion.
“The US has long seen arms exports as a major foreign policy & security tool, but in recent years exports are increasingly needed to help the US arms industry maintain production levels at a time of decreasing US military expenditure,” said Aude Fleurant, director of Sipri’s arms & military expenditure programme.
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