The Forum on the Arms Trade is a network of civil society experts and a point of contact for strengthening public efforts to address the humanitarian, economic and other implications of arms transfers, security assistance, and weapons use. Managed from Washington DC, the Forum provides a venue for bringing its community's wide-ranging expertise together to amplify and strengthen its work, while also offering government and media members a one-stop resource for the latest information, analysis, and best contacts. Forum-listed experts are located around the world and work on diverse topics including human rights, development, arms control, humanitarian disarmament, cybersecurity, arms and the environment, anti-corruption, and related fields.
Biden Arms Sales ReviewOn February 4, President Biden announced that he was ending “all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales." This followed a week after Secretary of State Blinken said that the United States was reviewing “pending [arms] sales, to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives and advances our foreign policy.” See resource page for more details on this review.
Notification TrackerRecent FMS notifications: February 17 - Finland $91.2 million for twenty-five (25) guided multiple launch rocket systems February 16 - Egypt $197 million for one hundred sixty-eight (168) rolling airframe missiles (RAM) February 11 - Jordan $60 million for F-16 training February 5- Chile $85.0 million for sixteen (16) Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA missiles NATO - $65 million for five hundred seventeen (517) AN/PRC-158 Manpack UHF SATCOM radio systems.
--- In 2020, the annual global total of nearly $135 billion in these notifications was the highest amount this century (2000-2020) see resource 
Video - Humanitarian Disarmament & COVID-19Many Forum-listed experts are active on humanitarian disarmament campaigns. New video with voices from Afghanistan, Colombia and UN/NYC explains the importance of the humanitarian disarmament approach. For more resources, click here. (Video produced by Humanity & Inclusion, watch below.)
U.S. Presidential ElectionOur tracker of positions taken by Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden on four key issues: stopping arms supplies to Saudi Arabia, support for the Arms Trade Treaty, how oversight should be led on firearms exports, and the Mine Ban Treaty.
Resource Page - Int'l Trade of Firearms & Ammunition: Move to Commerce ControlControversial changes that move export oversight on select firearms, including some assault weapons and sniper rifles, to the Commerce Department went into effect in March 2020..See resource page for concerns expressed and more information.
Experts PublicationsHighlighting publications in which Forum-listed experts were involved. Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others.
Stephen Miles, "Biden’s Syria strikes: A perpetual cycle of endless war," Responsible Statecraft, February 26, 2021.
"Childhood Under Attack: A timeline of harm following an explosive blast," by Verity Hubbard, edited by Iain Overton, Action on Armed Violence, February 25, 2021 Laura Boillot, "Protecting civilians from the reverberating effects of explosive weapons in populated areas," Article 36, February 23, 2021. William Hartung, "Will Biden Really End Our Endless Wars?" The Nation, February 23, 2021. Mandy Smithberger, William Hartung, and Mackenzie Eaglen, "After the Apocalypse: Defense Spending," Inkstick, February 25, 2021. Dan Mahanty, "A US Return to Human Rights Requires Consistency and Self-Restraint in National Security," Just Security, February 18, 2021. Wim Zwijnenburg, "Nature-based Solutions Vital to Mitigating Conflict-linked Environmental Damage," NewSecurityBeat, February 18, 2021. Allison Pytlak, "Programming Action: Observations From Small Arms Control For Cyber Peace," Reaching Critical Will, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, February 2021. William Hartung, "Don’t stop with Saudis — Biden must cut off weapons to UAE, too," Responsible Statecraft, February 17, 2021. Magda Coss Nogueda, "El control de armas y violencia de género" Cuestione, Febrero 17, 2021. William Hartung,"Three Reasons To Reduce Pentagon Spending -- Now," Forbes, February 16, 2021. Lode Dewaegheneire, "Why (ex-) military should express their concerns on fully autonomous weapon systems," self-published on LinkedIn, February 16, 2021 Ara Marcen Naval, "Defence companies are not doing enough to stop corruption. Only a commitment to transparency will turn things around," Transparency International Defence & Security, February 9, 2021 Dan Mahanty and Elena Crespo, "Give Local Civil Society a Say in U.S. Security Assistance," Just Security, February 9, 2021. Anna Stavrianakis, "Biden's announcement on Yemen is a hopeful sign – now the UK must follow suit," The Guardian, February 8, 2020. William Hartung, "Biden Outlines a Post-Trump Foreign Policy," The Baraza, Center for International Policy, February 5, 2021. Dan Mahanty, "They have names: Accounting for harm to civilians in Iraq in Syria," The Hill, February 3, 2021. Kate Kizer with others, "After the Apocalypse: US Grand Strategy," Inkstick, February 3, 2021. Emma Soubrier, "The United States is Ready for Teamwork in the Gulf," Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, January 29, 2021. Mandy Smithberger and William Hartung, "Demilitarizing Our Democracy," Tom Dispatch, January 28, 2021. William Hartung, "Fueling Conflict: U.S. Arms Sales to the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.-UAE Military Alliance," Center for International Policy, January 27, 2021. Seth Binder, Insiya Raja, and Ayah Abdelwahab, "For the Record: The New Secretary of State on Democracy, MENA," Project on Middle East Democracy, January 26, 2021. Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, "COVID-19 As An Opportunity For European Armament Cooperation?" IRSEM, January 25, 2021. Matthew Breay Bolton, Matilda Byrne, Ryan Gariepy, Emilia Javorsky, Volker Lehmann, and Laura Nolan, "Addressing The Threat Of Autonomous Weapons," Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, January 2021. Rachel Stohl, "Policy Recommendations for the New Administration: Improving U.S. Conventional Arms Policies," Arms Control Today, Jan/Feb 2021. Jeff Abramson and Alex Bertschi Wrigley (emerging expert), "UAE Arms Sales Survive Senate Vote," Arms Control Today, Jan/Feb 2021. Nina Lesikhina and Doug Weir, "Report finds that Russia securitises the environment - but on its terms," Conflict and Environment Observatory, January 20, 2021. Annie Shiel, Seth Binder, Jeff Abramson, William Hartung, Rachel Stohl, Diana Ohlbaum, Adam Isacson, Brittany Benowitz and Dan Mahanty, "Toward A More Responsible US Arms Trade Policy: Recommendations for the Biden-Harris Administration," Just Security, January 19, 2021. Andrew Feinstein and Paul Holden, "The Failure Of The Regulation Of The Global Arms Trade As A Consequence Of High-Level Conflicts Of Interest," Brown Journal of World Affairs, Fall/Winter 2020. William Hartung and Elias Yousif, "Biden should reverse Trump's bombs sales to Saudi Arabia," The Hill, January 17, 2021. John Lindsay Poland and Arnie Alpert, "Opinion: Rochester and the state are now partners in gun violence," Seacoast Online (New Hampshire), January 17, 2021. View the full list of recent and past publications featuring Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts.
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EVENT: MARCH 3
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Experts
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Partners are not responsible for the work of the Forum nor does partnership indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of
other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.
other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.