The International Arms Trade in Foreign Policy: Arms Flows, Implications and Regulation
This project investigates the relationship between political attempts at regulating the international arms trade and actual arms transfers. Focusing on the supply-side of the arms trade, the project critically evaluates whether or not and why the major western arms traders subvert what they hope to achieve through their foreign policies. It touches upon some of the most elementary issues imprinting the foreign policies of states; the fine and difficult balance between security interests – both in territorial, economic, strategic and social terms – and the desire to embrace and work for universal human rights, peace and democracy. It asks why and under which circumstances states compromise their human rights agenda and continue transferring arms to repressive regimes, and how the prospects are of a transformation of the legal guidelines regulating the global arms trade in a binding manner. In essence, studies expanding our understanding of the role of arms transfers in the foreign policies of states have major policy implications, in that free access to arms are believed to contribute to the onset and duration of armed conflict. Parts of the project investigate the size of various arms exporters’ arms transfers to problematic regimes, focusing particularly on arms emanating from the West. The aim is to help shed light on the plausibility and legitimacy of fundamental self-images of the West as compared to other major arms exporters, such as for instance Russia and China. In addition the project studies the effectiveness of European Union and United Nations attempts at finding well-working, common regulations for the international arms trade.