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21. National reports on arms exports

Author:
Mark Bromley and Henning Weber
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Since the early 1990s an increasing number of governments have chosen to publish national reports on their arms exports (see figure 1 and table 1). The initial push to publish national reports on arms exports came from various national parliaments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) demanding greater oversight of government implementation of arms export policies. Such demands gained particular traction following a spate of arms exportrelated scandals in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Law, and Law Enforcement

22. Ukrainian arms supplies to sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Ukraine has consistently been among the 10 largest arms exporters in the world during the past two decades. An estimated 18 per cent of Ukrainian arms exports during 2005–2009 were for recipients in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically to Kenya (or Southern Sudan), Chad, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ukraine has supplied surplus aircraft, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, SALW and ammunition to armed forces in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, Ukrainian companies and individuals have supplied other services related to arms transfers and participated in combat missions for African armed forces.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, and South Sudan

23. Arms Flows to Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Siemon T. Wezeman, Pieter D. Wezeman, and Lucie béraud-Sudreau
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Concerns regarding arms transfers to sub-Saharan Africa are widespread and have motivated worldwide efforts to control arms flows. Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) accounted for 1.5 per cent of the volume of world imports of major arms in 2006–10. Although this is low by global standards, with little indigenous arms-production capacity in the region, most countries are fully dependent on arms imports.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Africa

24. The limitations of European Union reports on arms exports: the case of Central Asia

Author:
Mark Bromley and Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
All European Union (EU) member states are required to submit information on arms export licences and arms exports for inclusion in the EU annual reports on arms exports. The example of Central Asia— Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—shows that the data in these EU annual reports has only a limited utility for monitoring exports of arms and military equipment. The specific case of Uzbekistan, which was subject to an EU arms embargo between 2005 and 2009, shows that certain transfers of apparent concern have been reported but not investigated, while other transfers have not appeared in the annual reports.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Trade and Finance, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan

25. Transparency in transfers of small arms and light weapons

Author:
Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Intergovernmental and public transparency in international transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW) lags behind transparency levels for other conventional weapons. In recent years, intergovernmental organizations, export control regimes and states have worked to provide more information to other states and the public on SALW transfers. In December 2003 the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to provide information on SALW transfers to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War

26. The Impact on Domestic Policy of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Spain

Author:
Mark Bromley
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
In the 17 years since the European Union (EU) first formulated common standards to be applied in arms export decision making, there has been a rapid expansion in the EU's role as a coordinator and generator of policy in an area that was previously the exclusive domain of national governments. Most relevant to this change has been the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (EU Code of Conduct), which was adopted by the Council of the EU in June 1998 and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in June 2008. The Code takes the form of a Council declaration— it contains political commitments but is not legally binding. Under the Code, EU member states commit themselves to set 'high common standards which should be regarded as the minimum for the management of, and restraint in, conventional arms transfers' and 'to reinforce cooperation and to promote convergence in the field of conventional arms exports' within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It lists eight criteria that member states agree to take into account when assessing applications for arms export licences. More importantly, the Code outlines reporting procedures and consultation mechanisms intended to ensure consistent interpretation of the criteria.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Netherlands

27. Countering Bio-threats: EU Instruments for Managing Biological Materials, Technology and Knowledge

Author:
Frida Kuhlau
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The urgency of fighting terrorism has been heightened by the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States and subsequent attacks around the world. The use of anthrax to attack targets in the USA in September–November 2001, reinforced the need to include various potential biological threats—such as the deliberate use of disease as a weapon—on the anti-terrorism agenda. This paper identifies the instruments available to the European Community and examines how they are employed as part of the wider effort to reduce the potential threat posed by biological agents. However, it is important to recognize that these instruments and their use are only one aspect of European Union (EU) activity towards that end and that Community actions are set within the wider EU context.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

28. The European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports: Improving the Annual Report

Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The 1998 European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports is a political agreement designed to set common standards across the EU for the export of military equipment. Under its provisions, all EU member states have agreed to apply a standard set of criteria to assess applications for licences for the export of military equipment. Member states have also agreed to share information, and in certain cases consult in advance, on their arms export licensing decisions. One of the main tools for assessing how states interpret and apply the EU Code of Conduct is the Annual Report according to Operative Provision 8 of the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, which has been published in the autumn of each year since 1999. The aim of the Annual Report is to enable member governments, parliaments and civil society to understand how the EU Code is being interpreted at the national level by each EU member state. The report describes how the EU Code has been implemented, discusses future measures to improve implementation and provides statistical data for the previous calendar year on licences granted for the export of military equipment, actual arms exports and denials of export licences.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, International Trade and Finance, and Terrorism

29. Non–Compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention: Lessons from and for Iraq

Author:
Jean Pascal Zanders, John Hart, Frida Kulah, and Richard Guthrie
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Since the end of military action in Iraq and the formation of the Coalition Provisional Authority in May 2003, most debate on the future of Iraq has focused on the short-term problems of governance, internal security and economic reconstruction in that country. In addition to the immediate problems, there is also a need to address long-term issues, such as what role Iraq will play in multilateral bodies. Although some issues can only be resolved in the long term, others will require initial decisions to be taken in the near future. In the very long term (measured in terms of decades) there is no option other than for Iraq to be involved in multilateral controls on chemical weapons (CW). However, in the medium term (measured in years) it is unclear what the best method would be to take Iraq from its current situation—as an occupied state with, at the very least, a past CW programme of which knowledge is incomplete—to a new situation where an Iraqi Government commits Iraq to membership of and adherence to multilateral disarmament regimes.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Welfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Iraq and Arabia

30. The Future of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms

Author:
Siemon T. Wezeman
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
In December 1991, in Resolution 46/36 L, the United Nations General Assembly established the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA), a 'universal and non-discriminatory Register of Conventional Arms' to which nations were invited to report annually, on a voluntary basis, their imports and exports of certain types of conventional weapons during the previous calendar year. The main purpose of the Register was stated as being 'to prevent excessive and destabilizing accumulations of arms'. Resolution 46/36 L also mentioned as goals: (a) implementing new confidence-building measures, (b) the reduction of arms transfers (which by the mid-1980s had reached their highest level since 1950), (c) addressing the problem of the illicit and covert arms trade, including its effects on human rights, (d) reducing the burden placed by arms acquisitions on countries' economies, and (e) the reduction of military expenditures. In practical terms, nations were to start reporting in 1992 on weapons delivered in 1991, and the process was to be reviewed periodically by a group of government experts to consider the need for improvement.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Welfare, and United Nations