International and Regional Trade
Middle East
A large volume of weapons flows into the Middle East and North Africa, with both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia making SIPRI's list of top five importers of major weapons and the United States committed to Israel having a qualitative military edge over other countries in the region. In light of ongoing regional strife, including the Syrian Civil War, famine in Yemen, suppression of freedoms in Eqypt, instability in Libya, and other regional crises, many global arms suppliers are grappling with the appropriateness of military assistance, in the form of weapons and training, as well as direct military action in the region.
Experts: Seth Binder, Cole Bockenfeld, Kate Gould, William Hartung, Kate Kizer, Robert Perkins, Josh Ruebner (Israel), Patrick Wilcken.
Key resources:
Recent Expert Publications*:
*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.
A large volume of weapons flows into the Middle East and North Africa, with both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia making SIPRI's list of top five importers of major weapons and the United States committed to Israel having a qualitative military edge over other countries in the region. In light of ongoing regional strife, including the Syrian Civil War, famine in Yemen, suppression of freedoms in Eqypt, instability in Libya, and other regional crises, many global arms suppliers are grappling with the appropriateness of military assistance, in the form of weapons and training, as well as direct military action in the region.
Experts: Seth Binder, Cole Bockenfeld, Kate Gould, William Hartung, Kate Kizer, Robert Perkins, Josh Ruebner (Israel), Patrick Wilcken.
Key resources:
- SIPRI - "Trends in international arms transfers, 2017," Fact Sheet
- Security Assistance Monitor – Middle East and North Africa
Recent Expert Publications*:
- Cesar Jaramillo, "Canada and Saudi Arabia: An arms deal no matter what," Project Ploughshares, April 3, 2018.
- William Hartung, "Time To Rethink U.S. Military Aid To Egypt," LobeLog.com, March 28, 2018.
- Kate Kizer (co-author), "The Lesson the Trump Administration has Failed to Learn about Yemen," Just Security, March 12.
- William Hartung, "How the US can bring an end to the war in Yemen," CNN, March 7.
- Roy Isbister +, "The beginning of the end? European arms exports for the Yemen war," Saferworld, Mar 1.
- Jeff Abramson, Europeans Cut Saudi Arms Sales, Arms Control Today, March 2018.
- Samuel Perlo-Freeman, "Who is arming the Yemen war? (And is anyone planning to stop?)," World Peace Foundation, Feb 28.
- William Hartung, "Case Study: Saudi Arabia and the Promise of Jobs," CIVIC/Stimson, Jan 10.
- Daniel Mahanty, "With Great Power: Modifying US Arms Sales to Reduce Civilian Harm, case study: Saudi Arabia" CIVIC/Stimson Center, Jan 10.
- Jeff Abramson, "Finding Leadership Outside the White House," blog post, December 21, 2017.
- Frank Slipjer, "European arms export policy at the crossroads," blog post, December 13, 2017.
- Samuel Perlo-Freeman, "Sweden’s proposed “Democracy Criterion” for arms exports – taking the lead in export controls, or new words for old policies," blog post, December 12, 2017.
- Wim Zwijnenburg +, "Living under a black sky: Conflict pollution and environmental health concerns in Iraq," PAX, Dec 5.
- William Hartung, "Donald Trump’s Dangerous Love Affair With Saudi Arabia & Its Impacts on Mideast Security," Center for Middle East Studies, Dec 2017.
- Scott Paul, "Saudi Arabia’s stranglehold on Yemen condemns thousands to die in the coming weeks," Politics of Poverty, Nov 17.
- Cesar Jaramillo, "Yemen in the time of cholera," Reaching Critical Will's ATT Monitor, Vol. 10, No. 4, Sept 14.
- Frank Slijper, "Under the radar: arms transfers to the United Arab Emirates," Reaching Critical Will's ATT Monitor, Vol. 10, No. 4, Sept 14.
- Frank Slijper, "Under the Radar: The United Arab Emirates, arms transfers, and regional conflict," PAX, Sept 11.
*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.