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.

Biden Administration Arms Sales Review - 2021

On November 4, the State Department notified Congress of a possible $650 million foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia for two hundred eighty (280) AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) (rationale offered in this tweet thread). On November 10, a number of Democratic members of the House issued a statement on the sale, calling for a halt to logistical support and spare parts to Saudi Arabia. On November 12, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced a resolution of disapproval in the House (H.J.Res.63). On November 18, Senators Paul (R-Kentucky), Lee (R-Utah) and Sanders (I-Vermont) introduced the resolution of disapproval in the Senate (S.J.Res 31).

Congressional Arms Trade Measures

House version of Safeguards Act introduced on October 20.
Bipartisan National Security Reforms and Accountability Act of 2021 (NSRAA) introduced September 30 in the House and National Security Powers Act  introduced July 20 in the Senate that includes provision that "flip the script" to require Congressional approval on certain arms sales. House passed the National Defense Authoization Act (NDAA) on September 23 with many relevant amendments. 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.

Conventional Arms Transfer Policy

The 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.

Experts Publications

​Highlighting 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.
Wim Zwijnenburg, "Ethiopia now confirmed to fly Chinese armed drones," PAX, November 18, 2021.

Jordan Cohen (emerging expert)+, "Don't give Turkey an F-16 consolation price," Defense News, November 18, 2021.

Tom Watts (emerging expert), co-editor of "Remote Warfare and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century," and co-author of articles "Revisiting the remoteness of remote warfare: US military intervention in Libya" and "Remote warfare – Buzzword or Buzzkill?" in Defense Studies, Volume 21, 2021 - Issue 4, December, 2021.

Nicholas Marsh+, "Arms Trafficking," in Routledge Handbook of Smuggling, December 22, 2021.

Wim Zwijnenburg+, "Increasing Situational Awareness of Conflict Linked Oil Pollution with VHR Satellite Imagery," European Space Imaging, November 11, 2021.

Mandy Smithberger and William Hartung, "Reining in the Pentagon," TomDispatch, November 9, 2021.

William Hartung, "Congress Should Cut Off U.S. Military Support for Saudi Arabia," Forbes, November 8, 2021.

Ray Acheson, Allison Pytlak, Matthew Breay Bolton+, "First Committee Monitor: Volume 19, No. 5," Reaching Critical Will, November 5, 2021.

Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan+, "Landmine Monitor 2021," International Campaign to Ban Landmines, November 10, 2021.

Ari Tolany (emerging expert)+, "Build back better or more of the same? New arms deal to Saudis announced," Responsible Statecraft, November 5, 2021. 

A. Trevor Thrall and Jordan Cohen (emerging expert),
"Afghanistan and the Danger of Small Arms Transfers," Inkstick, November 2, 2021.

Jeff Abramson and William Ostermeyer (Forum Intern), "U.S. Continues Controversial Arms Assistance," Arms Control Today, November 1, 2021.

Diana Ohlbaum, "No, Mr. President, we haven't turned the page on war," The Hill, October 30, 2021.

N.R. Jenzen-Jones, "Special Report 4 - Munitions Employing Sensor-fuzed Submunitions: Do they Comply with the Convention on Cluster Munitions?" Armament Research Services (ARES), October 29, 2021.
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William Hartung, "The Heritage Foundation's Index of Military Distortions," Forbes, October 28, 2021.

Rachel Stohl, Ryan Fletcher (emerging expert), and Shannon Dick, "2020 ATT Annual Reports: Examining Trends and Enduring Challenges," Stimson Center, October 27, 2021.

Ray Acheson, Allison Pytlak, Matthew Breay Bolton +, "First Committee Monitor," Volume 19, No. 4, Reaching Critical Will, October 22, 2021.

Montserrat Martínez +, "Violencia de género con armas de fuego en México," Intersecta Organización para la Igualdad, Data Cívica,, EQUIS Justicia para las Mujeres, Centro de Estudios Ecuménicos, October 2021.

Annie Shiel +, "Insight Into Biden’s Counterterrorism Thinking Suggests More of the Same" Just Security, October 18, 2021.

Ray Acheson, Allison Pytlak, Matthew Breay Bolton +, "First Committee Monitor," Volume 19, No. 3, Reaching Critical Will, October 16, 2021.

Jordan Cohen (emerging expert), "The War in Afghanistan Has Not Ended If 'Over the Horizon' Operations Continue," CATO Institute, October 13, 2021.

Jordan Cohen (emerging expert), "Heidi Grants Resignation and the Future of U.S. Weapons Sales Policy," CATO Institute, October 13, 2021.

William Hartung, "Three Years After His Murder, the Biden Administration Should Do More to Bring Justice for Jamal Khashoggi," Forbes, October 11, 2021.

Ray Acheson, Allison Pytlak, Matthew Breay Bolton +, "First Committee Monitor," Volume 19, No. 2, Reaching Critical Will, October 9, 2021.

Diana Ohlbaum, "What have we learned from 20 years of war?" Stars and Stripes, October 7, 2021.

Ray Acheson and Allison Pytlak +, "CCW Report," Volume 9, No. 7, Reaching Critical Will, October 4, 2021.

Ray Acheson and Allison Pytlak +, "First Committee Monitor," Volume 19, No. 1, Reaching Critical Will, October 3, 2021.

Jeff Abramson, "ATT Members Highlight Small Arms, Light Weapons," Arms Control Today, October, 2021.

Jeff Abramson and William Ostermeyer (Forum intern), "New Action Plan Adopted on Cluster Munitions," Arms Control Today, October, 2021.

A. Trevor Thrall and Jordan Cohen (emerging expert), "Business as Usual: U.S. Arms Sales and Civilian Casualties in Nigeria," CATO Institute, September 30, 2021.

Iain Overton +, "The targeting of high-rises in Gaza: an analysis of Israel’s air strikes on tall buildings in 2021," Action on Armed Violence, September 30, 2021.



View the full list of recent and past publications featuring Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts.

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U.S. Arms Exports Under Congressional Notification Thresholds

Under U.S. law, Congress must be notified of certain potential arms exports when their value reaches a minimum threshold. There are, however, arms exports that fail to meet that threshold, and it is very difficult to assess the number and amount of such "under threshold" transfers. There is evidence, however, that the value of U.S. weapons delivered internationally that were not notified to Congress beforehand is in the tens of billions, creating a transparency and public knowledge challenge in understanding U.S. arms trade practice and its impact.

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. 

U.S. Arms Sales to Israel

In late September and early October, the House and Senate considered various measures to fund Iron Dome supplies.
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.

Notification Tracker

Recent FMS notifications: October 8 - Australia $985 million for twelve (12) MH-60R multi-mission helicopters September 30 - Australia $125 million for one Growler aircraft and services September 16 - Saudi Arabia $500 million for maintenance support (helicopters) August 25 - South Korea $258 million for thousands of precision guided munitions; Australia $350 million for services for future standard missiles 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 $24 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 Experts

Emerging 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.
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Experts

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partnership indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.