Arms Trade Campaign: An Introduction

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."[1]

SPEAK's main campaign currently focusses upon the arms trade, and is called "Counting the Cost". The campaign slogan is: "End government support and promotion of the arms trade." As part of the campaign we are collecting signatures for a petition. Also, as part of this campaign, we had a demonstration during Soundcheck outside the offices of the Defence export Services Organisation in February 2004.

For most of the 20th Century, arms companies manufactured weapons and equipment to meet domestic need. They were involved in defence ambitions of the host country, were usually state-owned, and were connected to the country's international goals and those of their allies. The end of the Cold War in the late 1980s and the collapse of the USSR led to a dramatic change in the arms markets, mainly a huge reduction in the global demand for military equipment. Military spending declined. To survive the decline in demand, arms companies had to become better businesses. They merged to form large transnational companies that operate in many countries, looking for high government subsidies and tax incentives. Among the largest of these companies are Lockheed Martin (US), BAE Systems (UK), and Boeing (US). BAE systems were in 1999 the second largest military exporter.[2]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the vast majority of all conventional weapons movements come from just five western countries (US, Russia, France, UK and Germany).[2] Of more concern is the finding by the Congressional Research Service, that developing world countries account for 66% of the value of all international arms deliveries.[3] According to the SIPRI report mentioned above, among the 20 top arms-purchasing countries include human rights-abusing states such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and China, and countries in military tensions such as South Korea, India, Greece, Israel and Pakistan.

SPEAK is concerned that the UK is wasting taxpayers' money on a trade that furthers human suffering: military exports aid human rights abuses, fuel conflict and hinder development.

References:
1: Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953.
2: SIPRI Yearbook 2001, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (for the 1996-2000 period).
3: Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1993-2000, August 2001, Richard Grimmett, Congressional Research Service Report.