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. 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.
Congressional Arms Trade MeasuresUPDATE - Bipartisan National Security Powers Act introduced July 20 that includes provisions that "flip the script" to require Congressional approval on certain arms sales. On July 27, Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act.
During the 117th U.S. Congress session (2021-2022) members of the House and Senate have and will propose a range of legislation addressing the arms trade, security assistance, and military support. This resource page will be updated frequently. 
U.S. Landmine PolicyOn June 22, a bipartisan bicameral letter was sent to President Biden encouraging him to reverse Trump landmine policy and put "the United States on a definitive path to accede to the [Mine Ban] treaty."
On April 6, 2021, Department of Defense spokesperson Mike Howard stated that U.S. landmine policy remained unchanged and that antipersonnel landmines remain vital to the country. Follow up messages indicated that review was ongoing. See updated resource page for responses. 
U.S. Arms Sales to IsraelNEW - On July 30, a new notification of a possible $3.4 billion foreign military sale was notified to Congress, including 18 heavy lift helicopters and other equipment. --
On May 5, the Biden administration notified Congress of a possible direct commercial sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, which became controversial as fighting in Israel intensified and the notification became more broadly public around May 17. Members of Congress introduced resolutions of disapproval. On May 21, the licenses were approved. On June 8, more than 120 organizations sent a letter to the President encouraging him to block delivery. See resource page. 
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.
Lauren Woods, "The Top US Diplomat on Arms Control Commits to `Values-Based Security Partnerships’ — Here’s How to Do That," Just Security, July 30, 2021.
Brian Castner and Rohini Haar, "Research and Regulation of Less-Lethal Projectiles Critically Needed," Bill of Health blog, Harvard Law, July 30, 2021. Daniel R. Mahanty, "Even a Short War Over Taiwan or the Baltics Would Be Devastating," Foreign Policy, July 29, 2021. Emma Soubrier, "Eye to the Horizon: The UAE’s Maritime Ambitions," The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, July 28, 2021. Kate Kizer, "'American Exceptionalism' for the 21st Century," Foreign Exchanges, July 26, 2021. Allison Pytlak, "More of the Same, or Can Things Change? Prospects For BMS7," in Small Arms Monitor Vol. 11 Issue 1, Reaching Critical Will, July 25, 2021. Annie Shiel, "Reference Guide: Tracking Protection of Civilians Through the NDAA," CIVIC, July 21, 2021. William Hartung, "If Biden can’t stand up to Saudi Arabia, then Congress should, and now," Responsible Statecraft, July 21, 2021. Sarah Leah Whitson, "A Hard Look at America's Embrace of Jordan's King," Democracy in Exile, DAWN, July 21, 2021. Rachel Stohl and Ryan Fletcher (emerging expert), "Will Biden have courage on child soldiers?," The Hill, July 20, 2021. Wim Zwijnenburg, Noor Nahas, and Roberto Jaramillo Vasquez, "War, waste and polluted pastures," PAX, July 19, 2021. William Hartung, "How Much Is Enough? Pentagon Spending and the Quest for Security," Medium, July 14, 2021. Sam Perlo-Freeman, "Open? The UK’s secret arms sales," Campaign Against Arms Trade, July 14, 2021. Eugenio Weigend Vargas and Carlos Pérez Ricart, "¿Quiénes y por qué adquieren armas en México?," Chronica, July 14, 2021. Ray Acheson, Allison Pytlak, and Jillian Rafferty, "CCW Report," including "Editorial: The imperative of preventing autonomous violence," Reaching Critical Will, July 13, 2021. Sarah Leah Whitson, "Opinion: New Khashoggi revelations show we don’t have the full story about his killing. The Biden administration must disclose what it knows," The Washington Post, July 6, 2021. Emma Soubrier, "Introduction: new trends in Gulf international relations and transnational politics," International Affairs, July 5, 2021. Doug Weir, "Report: Protected area conservation in Yemen’s conflict," Conflict and Environment Observatory, July 2021. Bruno Langeani and Natália Pollachi, "Violência armada, violência policial e comércio de armas," Sou da Paz, July 2021. Lauren Woods, "Factsheet: U.S. Foreign Military Training to Saudi Arabia," Security Assistance Monitor Center for International Policy, July 2021. Jeff Abramson, "UN Adopts Nonbinding Arms Embargo On Myanmar," Arms Control Today, July 2021. Gugu Dube, Lauriane Héau , Emmanuelle Maitre, and Noël Stott, "African states and The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation," Institute for Security Studies, June 30, 2021. Bonnie Docherty, "Statement on the 'Emergence of Convergence' to the CCW informal meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems," Human Rights Watch, June 30, 2021. William Hartung and Mandy Smithberger, "What Price 'Defense'? America's Nearly $1.3 Trillion National Security Budget Isn't Making Us Any Safer," Tom Dispatch, June 29, 2021. Wanda Muñoz, "Addressing gender-based violence in the context of assistance to victims of mines/ERW: recommendations for a way forward," SEHLAC, June 2021. William Hartung, "End Military Aid to Saudi Arabia," The New York Times, June 24, 2021. Guy Lamb, "Licensed to kill: Does owning a firearm in South Africa make you more or less safe? Well, it depends," Daily Maverick, June 23, 2021. View the full list of recent and past publications featuring Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts.
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NEW - Conventional Arms Transfer PolicyThe Biden administration is revising U.S. conventional arms transfer (CAT) policy, with media reporting a possible release in September and greater emphasis on human rights. This new resource includes past policies, general policy recommendations from Forum-listed experts, and other relevant material. It will be updated as information about the new CAT policy becomes available.
Find experts who speak...Latest "This Week in Arms Trade Publications"
Click image above for the latest collection of publications by Forum-listed experts, and other updates on arms trade, security assistance and weapons use. Sign up to receive directly via email and check archived editions here.
Notification TrackerRecent FMS notifications: August 4 - Taiwan $750 million for forty (40) medium self-propelled Howitzers; Japan $134 million for Aegis support and $61.5 million for forty-four (44) RAM missiles August 3 - Greece $270 million for F-16 sustainment; Georgia $30 million for eighty-two (82) Javelin missiles August 2 - India $82 million for Harpoon test set July 30 - Israel $3.4 billion for 18 heavy lift helicopters and other equipment; Thailand - $83.5 million for 300 Javelin missiles; July 1 - Kuwait $445 million for heavy tactical vehicles June 24 - Philippines $2.430 billion for twelve (12) F-16s; $120 million for Harpoon missiles; $42.4 million for Sidewinder missiles June 3 - Australia $3.5 billion for AH-64E Apache Helicopters and related equipment May 24 - Spain $110 million for MQ-9A (Reaper) support May 19 - Greece $165 million for supply and support services for air forces May 10 - Canada $1.7 billion for four (4) Shipsets of the AEGIS Combat System April 30 - India $2.420 billion for six (6) P-8I Patrol aircraft Annual total for 2021 is now more than $20 billion. --- In 2020, the annual global total of nearly $135 billion in these notifications was the highest amount this century (2000-2020) see resource
Meet the Emerging ExpertsEmerging experts have expressed an interest in addressing the humanitarian, economic and other implications of arms transfers, security assistance, and weapons use...and are at an early stage in their career. Our latest cohort was announced June 15. Meet them here.
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.
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Experts
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The Forum is based at the Arms Control Association. 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.
partnership indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.