Arms Trade News

March 2015

Welcome to the new Arms Trade News, the Forum on the Arms Trade's monthly newsletter.

Featured in this edition:

Upcoming Event: Global Arms Trade - Recent Trends & Looking Ahead - March 16
Spotlight: Colby Goodman
Experts in Action

The Forum on the Arms Trade is an information clearing-house, forum, and point of contact for strengthening efforts to address the economic, humanitarian and security implications of legal, illicit, and illegal arms transfers, as well as related topics of security assistance and weapons use.

GLOBAL ARMS TRADE: RECENT TRENDS & LOOKING AHEAD - March 16, 10:00-11:30AM

Location: The Stimson Center, 1211 Connecticut Ave NW, 8th Floor, Washington DC, 20036

On March 16, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) will release "Trends in international arms transfers, 2014," identifying top exporters and importers of major conventional weapons as well as key regional arms transfer trends from 2010-2014. Dr. Aude Fleurant, Director of the Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, will present the report's major findings. Panelists Jeff Abramson (Forum on the Arms Trade) and Rachel Stohl (Stimson Center) will look ahead to discuss the prospects for greater responsibility and transparency in the global arms trade. RSVP now.

Expert Spotlight: Colby Goodman

Colby Goodman is the Senior Research Associate for the Security Assistance Monitor where he leads research and analysis on U.S. security assistance around the world. His most recent writings have examined increases in U.S. military aid to the Magreb and Sahel, export reform and potential arms transfers to China, and whether military aid is effective to extremely fragile countries.

In March, Goodman reports that the Security Assistance Monitor will be adding new data to its military aid and arms sales databases, as well as publishing a country profile on U.S. security assistance to Tunisia, a fact sheet on the State Department budget request for fiscal year 2016, and a fact sheet on the importance of having transparency in U.S. security assistance, including arms exports. Sign up for daily and weekly updates from the project.

Experts in Action

"Experts in Action" features recent writings and media citations, as well as upcoming public presentations, by individuals listed as experts* by the Forum on the Arms Trade.

Rachel Stohl (Stimson Center) has recently written about security assistance and child soldiers (ISN with Shannon Dick), understanding the new U.S. drone export policy (Breaking Defense with Peter Lichtenbaum) and recent Arms Trade Treaty meetings in Trinidad (Stimson Spotlight). In March, she is moderating the Forum's featured event "Global Arms Trade, Recent Trends & Looking Ahead" (March 16) and will later be speaking at "Behind the Scenes: A Closer Look at the Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations" (March 31 at Georgetown University).

Adam Isacson (Washington Office on Latin America) examined the billion dollar aid request for Central America in the latest U.S. budget (WOLA commentary).

Willing Hartung (Center for International Policy) explained how slowing F-35 production would help Pentagon reform (DefenseOne).

Nicholas Marsh (Peace Research Institute Oslo) released a report on public reporting and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT Monitor, Control Arms) and detailed the likely effect of U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine (PRIO blog).

Theo Sitther (Friends Committee on National Legislation) argued for using tools other than lethal aid to address the Ukraine-Russia crisis (US News and World Report opinion, with David Culp).

Cole Bockenfeld (Project on Middle East Democracy) commented that there has been a relative lack of debate about U.S. military assistance to Egypt (Al-Monitor).

* Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others. Institutional affiliation is indicated for identification purposes only. To learn more about being listed as an expert, see this FAQ.