Booming Arms Trade

Booming Arms Trade

By Dr Arvind Kumar

In the wake of climate change, phenomenal increase in oil prices and growing shortages in the availability of drinking water and food in many parts of the globe, military expenses are one of the heaviest burdens of any national economy. According to a recent report released by Sweden-based think-tank SIPRI, global arms sales have reached new heights. Despite the global recession, the sales, both domestic and exports, of the world's most profitable arms-producing companies increased by nearly $15 billion from 2008 to 2009, reaching a total $400 billion in arms sales throughout the world — the highest amount ever. Other estimates put that figure as high as $1 trillion. The SIPRI report shows that the arms industry is thriving despite the ongoing global economic recession. American company Lockheed Martin took first place with $33.4 billion in arms sales, followed by British BAE Systems at $33.3 billion. Even as the recession hangs on in every country, more and more is still spent on the military.

Companies in the United States make up nearly half of world sales, according to the SIPRI report, with 45 of the top 100 arms-producing companies based there. Recently Russian companies have been a close second, though its figures, like those of the seventh-largest arms producer, China, are hard to verify. In nearly every region of the world, arms-producing companies, many of them also exporters, have increased their sales year on year. The fastest-growing expenditures have been in Asia. It is high time that international community should take stringent steps to halt this expenditure on arms and persuade the nations to divert these resources for welfare activities