High School Q&A: Small Arms (1)

This blog post is one of a series asked by U.S. high school debate participants (and their coaches) in the 2019-2020 season. See more resources here.

Question:

When it comes to Foreign Military Sales, I fully understand why a nation might decide to trade with the US in lieu of another nation from a foreign policy perspective. But I don't understand what political advantage exists when it comes to dealing with the US when it comes to direct commercial sales. So, here's my question:

Why do foreign nations chose to trade with the US when it comes to DCS? 
If the US stopped selling X nation small arms, what would stop them from buying those arms from a third party (i.e. Russia/China)?

Maybe there are some resources you can point me to? 

Answer(s):

Jeff Abramson, Senior Fellow, Arms Control Association (July 18, 2019)

I want to make sure you are familiar with the resources at the Forum on the Arms Trade: https://www.forumarmstrade.org/hspolicydebate.html. 

Here are  some quick responses

Why do foreign nations chose to trade with the US when it comes to DCS? 

For pretty much all the same reasons as for FMS... DCS deals are ultimately approved by the federal government, so purchasers typically expect the same quality, support and notional partnering with the US.
 
If the US stopped selling X nation small arms, what would stop them from buying those arms from a third party (i.e. Russia/China)?

This is a version of a question we get all the time. See https://www.forumarmstrade.org/faqvideos.html for some experts responses as well as the section on the core HS resource page we've made. There are certain differences in each arms market, and if you are asking about "small arms" in particular, the Small Arms Survey is a good resource on that market writ large. This is somewhat a hot topic right now (the admin's effort to make it easier to sell firearms.) Resource page on that at https://www.forumarmstrade.org/catitoiii.html
 
Maybe there are some resources you can point me to?  

See above for starters