Global Arms Trade

Since the past few decades, all economic activities of the world are being concentrated through different multinational organizations. Multinational companies and the racket or alliance of the international wheeler -- dealer businessmen use the 'black hole' or black market to increase their profit.
A big chunk of this treacherous capital is invested in different prefixed centers of black hole or black market. Among these are: narcotics trade, pornographic movie industry, flesh trade, expansion of sex tourism in some fixed regions, and money market.
Terrorism, which is an inevitable part of globalization, strengthens further the link of these gradually centralized lawful economy and black economy. One of the major characteristics or features of Europe or the United States is to build a military structure along with the general economic system in the state structure, which would ultimately be helpful for selling arms in the former colonies. Military economies of these states are expanded along with the general economies through development of suitable engineering and undercover researches. In the same mechanism, the money from the sale of arms in the former colonies fortifies or revs up the national economies. This military economy is still prevailing. Side by side with the Western countries, China, North Korea, and Russia are expert in this respect. However, intelligence agencies are created to protect the interest of those who have their own military economy, black economy, technological development and research system, and dualistic approach. In this way, the military authority and the companies that are created by that country are expanded through the help of diplomatic efforts. Such as
1. In the United States, a secret organization has been created or developed in combination with the CIA, Pentagon, and secret service, which has created another powerful state within the state, which Michael Parenty has identified as Alpha 84 in his book entitled the Against Emperor.
2. In 1990s, a Sinhalese officer noticed while taking command training in Israel that a group of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam embers are taking training manipulating their name which was not unknown to the Israeli intelligence agency Mosad. These intelligence agencies give training both to the pro-government and anti-government elements of the former colonies and in the Third World countries at the same time. And this is their dualistic approach. And there is a beckoning of profit of huge black money behind this. Military economy is expanded through the sale of arms after the creation of wars. Developed intelligence agencies strengthen this economy after giving birth to terrorism. Terrorism has now become a profitable business in the world. The leaders of terrorism are made heroes. Such as Usama Bin Ladin. This Usama Bin Ladin has been created by the United States. Terrorists are given publicity to increase their market price in black economy. For, it is profitable for all in the globalization. The more the terrorism would flourish within a state and against a state, the more the capital of the capitalists would grow and there would be surplus of the capital. The incident of 11 September in the United States and the war in Afghanistan -- all has emerged from the desire of expansion of capitalism. The more there would be such types of war and terrorism, the more the globalization would benefit. After the attack of 11 September, George W. Bush had stated the 'war on terror.' According to the US Administration, a huge quantity of arms is sold in 90 percent of the terror-infested countries. The US Administration announces that the US has the right to wage war against any country; the United States can silence anyone who would stand in the way of their building of 'American Century.' The United States has the capability of accumulating the huge amount of money needed for this war; the US Administration meets the costs or expenditure of war from the tax of the people. At present, the defense budget of the US is about $500 billion.
The joint defense budget of the states that are 'Satan states' is very meager compared to the US budget -- only $15 billion. The military budgets of all the states in the Middle East, nations under NATO as well as Russia and China are accumulated, it will come nowhere near the defense budget of the United States. The part of the US in the military expenditure of the world is gradually increasing or on the rise. The military expenditure of the world from 1895 to 1898 dropped to $809 billion from $1.2 trillion. But the US military expenditure is going up gradually. In 1985, the part of military expenditure was 31 percent of the total military expenditure of the world which rose to 36 percent in 1998. At present, the part or portion of military expenditure further went up as the US defense budget had increased by 70 percent in 2003 in comparison to 1998. According to statistics of a World Bank economist, Joseph Stigliz, the US expenditure in the second war in Iraq until 2006 stood at $3 billion.
The United States is spending money in war several times more than other superpowers. Today's US-centric economy is surviving or sustaining as the savings of the whole world is providing money for its random expenditure after being transformed into dollar. And this is the reason behind America's war preparation or readiness. All will spend in dollar as the number one superpower US is behind it. And to make it understand, the United States takes an attacking stand very often. The United States invests a huge amount of money for manufacturing arms whose market is created on politics. The expenditure of Iraq war was $3 trillion. A big chunk of this huge budget is invested or spent in creating demand for arms. Before the Iraq war, the profit rate or margin of all the arms and fighter plane manufacturing organizations was declining or dropping. Just with the start of the Iraq war, the profit rate of these organizations quickly shot up. The share prices of the crisis-ridden oil companies had gone up. The more the destruction in Iraq goes up or escalates, the more the manufacturing organizations make profit or trade. Canadian writer researcher Naomi Clane said about US policy, 'First destroy; if you do not destroy then how you would build?' The US Government spent $11 trillion for its military force from 1948 to 1994. This amount is more than the price of all the wealth created by the people in the United States. According to the Centre for Defense Information data, in 1990 the military expenditure of the United States was $2.9 trillion. After the United States, on the list were Japan -- $40 billion, France -- $36 billion, the United States -- $35 billion, Germany -- $31 billion, Russia -- $29 billion, and China -- $22 billion. The military expenditure of the United States of any year is more than the military expenditure of the next 15 countries. Several million poor children could be provided food for ten years with the cost of manufacturing a plane-carrying war ship. Several times more money has been spent for manufacturing a salvage vessel for sunken or submerged submarines of the navy than the cost of protection to save people from accidents at workplaces, maintaining mass libraries or public libraries and daycare centers for the children of the service-holder parents. The price of the spare parts of the military force and the arms and ammunition of the arsenal of Pentagon is several times more than the accumulated expenditure for checking environmental degradation or pollution, and protecting the environment, social development, housing and mass transport by the US Government. General Motors, General Dynamics, Genial Electric and for other generals to help keep the world safe and the money spent for arms is totally provided by the government. And the US Government is provided with the money by the US citizens.
Arms Sales Agreements of World's Top Small Arms Selling Countries [2002-09]
Country amount of sales in US dollar [billion] Percentage of total sales:
The United States: 166.276 40 percent
Russia: 73.965 18 percent
France: 35.175 8 percent
The United Kingdom: 29.379 7 percent
China: 13.652 3 percent
Germany: 9.742 5 percent
Italy: 12.531 3 percent
European countries: 43.752 10 percent
Other countries: 22.559 5 percent
Source: Conventional Arms Transfer to Developing Nations 2002-09
Top Arms Exporting Countries of 2010 [statistics in percentage of total global export]
1. The United States: 30 percent
2. Russia: 19.7 percent
3. Germany: 10.9 percent
4. France: 8.2 percent
5. The United Kingdom: 4.5 percent
Source: SIPRI, Year Book 2010
Top Arms Manufacturing and Selling Companies of 2008
1. BAE System, UK: $32,420 million
2. Lockheed American, US: $29,880 million
3. Boeing, US: $29200 million
4. Northrop Grueman, US: $24,600 million
5. General Dynamics, US: $22,780 million
6. Rethion, US: $21,900 million
7. UADS, the Netherlands: $17,900 million
8. Finmekkanika, Italy: $13,020 million
9. L and Communication, US: $12,160 million
10. Thales Group, France: $10,760 million
Top 10 Arms Importing Countries of 2009
1. India: $2,116 million
2. Singapore: $1,729 million
3. Malaysia: $1,494 million
4. Greece: $1269 million
5. South Korea: $1,172 million
6. Pakistan: $1,146 million
7. Algeria: $942 million
8. The United States: $831 million
9. Australia: $757 million
10. Turkey: $675 million
Top Five Arms Exporting Countries of 2009:
1. The United States: $6795 million
2. Russia: $4469 million
3. Germany: $2,473 million
4. France: $1,851 million
5. The United Kingdom: $1,024 million
From 2006 to 2009, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and North African countries bought mentionable arms from the top arms producing countries of the world. It may be mentioned that arms are sold most in this region. The details of mentionable arms purchase.
The United States
Three hundred thirty-one The Tank and self-propelled guns
Five hundred fifty-six APC and armed cars
Six mine surface combatants
Sixty-two supersonic combat aircraft
Three hundred sixty-three surface to air missiles
Russia
Two hundred seventy tank and self-propelled guns
One hundred sixty APC and armed cars
Fifty supersonic combat aircraft
Five thousand four hundred thirty surface to air missiles
Ten surface to surface missiles
Twenty anti-ship missiles
China
One hundred and fifty APC and armed cars
Thirty anti-ship missiles
Europe
Thirty-two mine surface combatants
One thousand three hundred sixty APC and armed cars
Thirty tank and self-propelled guns
Nine hundred twenty surface to air missiles
One hundred ten anti-ship missiles
Fifty supersonic combat aircraft
Source: Conventional Arms Transfer to Developing Nations 2002 to 2009
No country in the Third World would be found which is not equipped from head to toe or completely by the arms and ammunition of the US defense contractors. These arms traders work closely with Pentagon to keep their several thousand dollars trade in different countries undisturbed or intact. The US arms makers are selling arms manufacturing technology side by side with selling arms. Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore are manufacturing various types of modern arms for the help of US arms manufacturers. Many of these countries have themselves become arms exporting countries.
According to a document of 'Next Step in Strategic Partnership,' India would be able to buy US war materials or equipment freely or without any hassle or hindrance and in exchange for that India would follow such a military or war strategies with the neighboring countries so that the strategies at the end keep or protect the interest of the United States. After the announcement in 2005, India and the United States have conducted 15 joint military .
The military expenditure is one of the major internal or domestic capital accumulations. It is such a necessary expenditure which is loved or endeared by the commercial interests or establishments. When the government spends money for postal system, state-run railway, low-cost housing and government hospitals not for profit, then the people can create commodities, services, and employment and can flourish the sources of taxes. Such sorts of public expenditure compete with the private market.
However, missiles and manufacturing warplane carrying ships are such an expenditure which does not compete with the private market. Military contractorship is more profitable than any trade contractorship. The taxpayers bear all the risks of productions. A refrigerator maker has to think to sell his commodities but an arms maker does not have to think to sell his arms. An arms maker has a concrete and genuine document or agreement with assurance of selling his arms including their extra production cost. Moreover, in the case of arms manufacturing, the government spends research expenditure and most of the development field expenditure. The expenditure in the defense sector creates a field of unlimited demand. The propensity of arms industry is to declare its own commodities obsolete and outdated at intervals. Because of technological development many arms of millions of dollars have become of old model. And then there develops a need for development of those arms or new arms instead of those arms or old arms. In addition, without inviting any competitive tenders, most of the military contracts are given. As a result, the arms makers more or less get the price they demand. And that is why an allurement is created for manufacturing costly and expensive arms for getting more benefits. The manufactured arms always do not become effective and suitable. In many cases their effectiveness does become negative. There is a profitable side in effectiveness of these arms, because for this extra allocation could be obtained so that these arms could be desirably made effectively.
It could be said in a nut shell that manufacturing arms is many times profitable than producing public commodities. That is why owners of the big corporations get busy to increase defense budget. The military sector is the sector with fewer risks for the corporations for making millions of dollars of profit. The expenditure for arms provides strength for capitalistic system, and at the same time it makes the government or nationalized sector pauper or destitute, which is meant not for profit. There are two fundamental reasons for the United States keeping itself as a superb arms power, although the United States does not have to face any superpowers. First, to keep the global capital accumulation safe and secure, there is a need for military installations. Second, the colossal military force itself is a direct source of earning or garnering huge capital.
Nuclear Arms
Many complexities had been created centering nuclear bombs in the field of international politics after the Second World War. The matter of restrictions on nuclear bombs is especially linked with the problems of world security and disarmament. On 5 August 1963, restrictions on nuclear arms were imposed and an international agreement was signed at the initiatives of the nuclear power countries. Then in June of 1968, an agreement against the proliferation of nuclear arms got approval in the United Nations, which is known as NPT.
In 1980s, two superpowers -- the United States and then Soviet Union -- had developed an understanding for limiting nuclear arms and contracting missiles. On 10 December 1987, the INF agreement was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union at a top summit for reduction and abolition of deadly atomic arms. The rivalry and competition between the two superpowers was reduced following the abolition or breakaway of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Later on 11 September in 1996 in the changed situation, the agreement regarding overall restrictions on testing of nuclear arms, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty [CTBT] was adopted in the General Assembly of the United Nations. The meaning of this treaty is that none could explode nuclear arms in air or water or land or underground. In fact, the nuclear power states got legal recognition in favor of their nuclear arms arsenal or amour after getting the CTBT passed in the UN General Assembly. Our neighboring country India did not sign this treaty. The major flaw in the treaty is that it prohibited only traditional nuclear explosion. That is why India termed the treaty Partial Test Ban Treaty. Director of Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis Baljit Singh thinks that the treaty in reality or in fact is Explosive Test Ban Treaty or ETBT, not more than this because the treaty took no initiative to stop non- explosive testing. As a result, the nuclear power or capable states could continue conducting test on nuclear arms in future in an alternative system through more modern technology. In talks in Geneva, the nuclear capable countries had totally rejected the demand for stopping any test by extending the area or purview or jurisdiction of the CTBT. The main proponents of the CTBT would be able take initiatives freely for development of nuclear weapons due to might in their developed technology. For conducting such tests, America, Russia, China and Britain have appropriate technology in their control. In addition, the United States has taken a decision to spend 94 million dollars for manufacturing new nuclear arms and super computers for test of those arms. The CTBT also did not reject the possibility of transfer of nuclear technology. In the past, China had transferred missile technology to Pakistan by totally flouting or violating the NPT.
In the field of nuclear arms, the United States is the first country that manufactured atomic bombs and it is also the first nation to use the bombs. The US force in 1945 dropped these bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan. In 1954 in Dienbienfu of Vietnam, the US Administration of President Eisenhower proposed France, on the eve or in the wake of defeat, to use atomic bomb. But Paris rejected the proposal. The US policymakers in the sixties and seventies in Vietnam and in Cuba in 1962 during missile crisis hinted to use nuclear arms in then Soviet Union. The United States from 1945 to 1990 exploded at least 950 nuclear bombs. This number is more than the total number explosion of nuclear bombs all over the world. The US military force has the biggest fleet of nuclear bomb carrying long distance warplanes including B-52, FB-111 and B-1. As they are a nuclear power, they are keeping Iran and North Korea under constant threat. As Cuba announced plan for building a nuclear power project, Washington made uproar centering probable nuclear capability of Cuba. The US activities of halting proliferation of nuclear arms have continued against some countries in a special political manner. Among these countries are Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Libya. Among them, the United States has kept Iraq under direct occupation by killing thousands of Iraqi people. In the recent past, the Western force under the US leadership has launched attacks on Libya in a special political situation. The US Administration has wanted to create instability in these countries. The United States was never seen worried and fickle over the arsenals of Great Britain, France, and Pakistan, and South Africa in the period before 1994, as the global US imperialism has no conflicts with the policies of these countries. When North Korea was shown as a nuclear threat, the matter of Japan's accumulation of plutonium by violating international treaty or agreement was overlooked or ignored by the Clinton administration. When Israel and North Africa were manufacturing hydrogen bombs, America was helping them by supplying different ingredients. Warren Christopher told before the international Relations Committee of the US Congress, 'The US is not now fully ready for total nuclear disarmament.' In fact, 'nuclear deterrence' was an inevitable element of the United States during the Cold War too. Had the US leaders been really willing to destroy nuclear arms from the world they could have reduced their own arms store or arsenal massively and would have followed disarmament policy strongly for all countries.
Although our neighboring country India had not signed the CTBT, it, in the field of non-military or private and transfer of technology, struck treaty with 45 countries to be in the nuclear supply group in September 2008. On the matter, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a statement with then US President George W. Bush [July 2005]. In the joint statement, Bush said: 'The United States will work with friends and allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India. 'Because of this treaty, India had been given permission to buy uranium from the nuclear supply group although India did not sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. According to analysts, India would become a big market of selling of the US nuclear reactor and technology.
Selling Arms to Developing Countries
In 2009, agreements for selling of arms worth $57.5 billion in the world were signed. The agreements in 2009 were 8.5 percent less than those in 2009. Since 2005, the arms of the least amount were sold in 2009.
In 2009, the United States was on the top of the list of arms sale agreements. They made agreements worth $22.6 billion that year. Russia was in the second position with $10.4 billion and France with $7.4 billion was in the third position. In 2006-09, globally, arms worth $244.5 billion were sold which was 29.5 percent higher than the sales of $172.4 billion in 2002-05. In 2009, the price of international arms supply was $35.1 billion and in 2008 it was $35.9 billion. The reason behind fall in arms sales in 2009 was global economic meltdown; the arms purchasing countries had been compelled to cut their budget spending for arms.
The arms producing countries made arms sales agreements of $45.1 billion with the developing countries in 2009, whereas it was $48. 8 billion in 2008. In 2009, the price of supplied arms to developing countries was $17 billion, whereas it was $20.5 billion in 2008. The United States and Russian are at the top of selling arms to developing countries while the United Kingdom is in the third position. Russia currently is trying to expand its arms market to Latin America. During the Cold War, Russia used to sell arms to Cuba. Venezuela is his new buyer in this region.
In 2002-09, France and the United Kingdom also sold arms to developing countries. Germany sold naval war materials to developing countries. The amount of arms sales in 2002 and 2003 was close or almost equal. But the arms sales started to increase from 2004 to 2008 to these countries. In 2008, the arms sales agreements were the highest 48.8 billion dollars. These days China has started selling arms to developing countries.
In 2009, the United States struck arms sales agreements of $17.4 billion with developing countries.
Among the US arms sales agreements with developing countries in 2009 was $1.7 billion agreement with Egypt of supplying 24 F-16 airplanes and 50 t0 52 fighter aircraft. The agreements included a deal with Taiwan for supplying Patriot air missile defense system of $3.2 billion, a deal with Kuwait of $1.1 billion for Ke-130 J aircraft, an agreement or pact with the United Arab Emirates of $745 million for UH-60M Black Hawk Chopper, and an agreement with Saudi Arabia of $540 million for supplying AH-64D Apache Helicopter and another deal of $400 million for armed vehicles.
Russia
In 2009, Russia made agreements of $10.4 billion with developing countries. Mentionable among these are an agreement of $1.8 billion with Vietnam for diesel submarines and a deal of $500 million for eight Su-MKL war airplanes, an agreement of 570 million dollars with Myanmar for 20 MiG-29 fighter airplanes and a deal with China of 500 million dollars for J-10 war airplanes. In addition, Russia gave Venezuela a loan of $2.2 billion by which Venezuela would buy from Russia 92 T-72 main battle tanks, 300 BMP-3 armed cars and different kinds of missiles.
China
During 2006-09, China made arms sales agreements on an average of $1.9 billion with the Third World in 2009. China struck a deal with Pakistan of $1.4 billion for selling 30 J-10 fighter airplanes. China's arms are still not of Western standard in terms of technology. That is why China is selling small arms to South Africa and developing Asian countries. The four main arm s selling countries are France, Germany, United Kingdom, and Italy. The United States and allies countries sell arms to the countries in NATO where US arms are not sold. These four countries together controlled 23.5 percent arms sales agreements with developing countries in 2009. These four countries had established them as major arms sellers for the developing world during the period 2002-09. In 2009, France made arms agreements of $7.1 billion with these countries. The United States has global arms sales competition with these European countries.
At present, some Asian countries have become arms sellers. For a decade from 1990, Russia was the main arms supplier to China. At present, India is purchasing a huge quantity of arms from Russia. Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Indonesia have become new buyers from Russian arms sales market. In the yardstick of developing countries, Asia has become the second largest arms market in the world. During the period 2006-09, Russia was the highest sellers of arms of $17.7 billion to Asia followed by America with the sales of $16.8 billion.
Arms Buyers in Developing World
Saudi Arabia was the largest arms buyers among the developing countries during 2002-09. During the period they bought arms of $39.9 billion, which was 15.2 per cent of the total arms sales agreements in the developing world. In 2009, Brazil was the largest arms purchasing country with an agreement of $7.2 billion, whereas Venezuela was the second with a deal of $6.4 billion followed by Saudi Arabia with $4.3 billion. Among the top arms buying countries were five previous countries, three Asian and two Latin American countries.
Arms Smuggling and Terrorist Organizations
In 2002, arms smugglers gathered 5,000 AK-47 rifles from the Army stock of Yugoslavia and smuggled those to Liberia from Siberia in the guise of exchange with Nigeria. An aircraft brought from Ukraine was used in this work which was refueled in Libya on the way to its destination. In the same year, arms smugglers of West Africa in the guise of arms traders bought three thousand assault rifles and 2.5 million round bullets from the Nicaraguan government. The smugglers befooled the Nicaraguan government by saying that they are buying the arms for the Panamanian national police force. The smugglers sold the arms to the South America's black market instead of supplying those to the Panamanian police and the arms ultimately went to the hands of different terrorist organizations.
Such types of thousand incidents or events give birth to a billion dollar trade of small arms smugglers. And the huge profit from trade of theirs is putting the security of the world people at risk. In the present world, five million people lose lives every year to the use of $ 639 million small arms. Small arms are the first choice of all the armed forces -- from the government army to rebel force to terrorist outfit. The reason behind this choice is the easy availability of small arms worldwide, their dangerous power or strength and easy transportation.
The black market arms supply fuel to different regional conflicts in the world. In many cases, although the conflicts fade or end, the arms remain intact and those arms spread to the nearby countries. These arms go to the hands of terrorists if conflicts do not resurface or reemerge. The efforts to control small arms have not been that much successful. According to analysts, the network of small arms smugglers is spread across the world and is being nurtured under the shadow of globalization. Arms smuggling has now become a part of the global economy.
Most of the black market arms are first supplied legally, which later enter the black market. One of the main features of this system is supplying legal arms to different poor countries. The United Nations authority has ensured violation of ban on supplying arms to Angola and Liberia. The dishonest or wheeler-dealer government officials of arms producing and exporting countries are involved in this incident. The government officials of these countries gave license for importing these arms in exchange for a huge amount of money. After import, these arms go to the black market. Dishonest members of security forces of poor countries sometimes sell government arms to terrorist organizations.
Arms are looted sometimes during instable situation inside the country and go to the hands of or possession of the black market. In 1997, 500,000 arms were stolen from the national arsenal in Albania. These arms go to different terrorist organizations in the Balkan region. Many government arms go to other places by accident while being supplied from the United States to the Philippines. In this way, one million small arms are either stolen or gone missing every year. After buying many arms in one name from the countries where rules are slack in keeping arms individually, the arms runners sell those to other countries. These sorts of incidents happen among the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Going beyond black market, arms these days have become a commodity of global shadow economy. The major commodities of this economy are narcotics, wood, diamond, rare animals and human beings. Such as; the illegal diamond trade has linked or engaged the Liberian and Togolese governments with arms smugglers or runners of Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia and the dealers of precious stones of Tel Aviv. Many terrorist organizations are linked with this trade network. They used to buy arms from the profit of other commodities.
People of different professions in various countries are engaged in the arms smugglers network. Such as; pilots of Belgium, Ukraine, and South Africa transport or ship illegal arms of East Europe to Africa and Afghanistan.
During the Cold War, different governments used individuals and arms traders in secret buying and selling of arms. Even after the end of the Cold War, this network remained intact, and the pipeline of the current smugglers is the outcome of that network.
At present, the Middle Eastern and African countries are the main market of illegal arms. The arms traders sell these arms by using forged documents or papers in the guise of legal trade. Civil wars and conflicts in different African countries are a big opportunity or advantage for arms smugglers. They supply arms to armed groups of different African countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Congo. Many terrorist organizations of the world sometimes get arms directly from different countries. As there are allegations that Sudan, Syria and Iran provide arms help to different organizations, including Al-Qa'ida, Taliban, Hizballah, and HAMAS.
Worldwide Spread of Arms in Last Century
Basically the spread of military power is the inevitable result of social and economic progress in the global arena. In the last decade of the twentieth century, many non-Western countries collected or gathered modern and sophisticated arms and ammunition from the West. China and Israel themselves manufactured modern arms by their own ability. The United States in some areas or fields can show its military supremacy unilaterally in any place of the world with the help of Britain and France. In the post-Cold War period, the unparallel position of the United States in the field of military power in the world expedited the quest for attaining of nuclear power of the enemy or rival countries. In the post-Cold War world, Russia bought missiles and bombs after realizing the importance of nuclear arms in its defense system. The nuclear arms of Russia and China are capable of launching attacks on North America. North Korea, Pakistan and India are making their missiles modern to more modern and in some cases or areas; those missiles have already attained the capability of hitting targets. Terrorist activities are historically limited or confined with the week arms. But in the post-Second World war period, the use of sophisticated arms had started in terrorist activities. In the post-Cold War world, massive mass destructive arms had started to be amassed or gathered in the Islamic and Confucian states. China has been continuing transferring conventional and nonconventional arms to Muslim countries. In a secret place of Algerian desert, a powerful nuclear reactor has been established. Selling chemical arms to Libya, transferring or handing over high-powered missiles to Saudi Arabia through CSS-2, giving nuclear technology and materials to Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea as well as giving a huge quantity of conventional arms to Iraq. Keeping compatibility with the activities of China, North Korea is also supplying arms directly and indirectly to Middle Eastern countries.
From 1980 to 2011, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq were the main buyers of Chinese manufactured arms. In 1989, a 10-yaer term agreement of mutual understanding between China and Pakistan was signed. In the agreement there were conditions for buying arms, production of arms, and joint research for development of arms, joint production of arms, transfer of technology and for selling arms to other countries on the basis of mutual consent of the two countries. In 1993, another arms agreement was signed between Pakistan and China. Within 1990, the horizon of military relations between Iran and China was broadened. In the eighties during the Iran-Iraq war, Iran got about 22 percent of its total arms supply from China and in 1989 China became Iran's largest arm supplying country.
In the 1980s, China supplied silkworm missiles to Iraq through North Korea. In 1993, North Korea supplied the Nordong missiles that could cross 600 miles to Iran. In 1992, China and Pakistan together started work of a nuclear related project. In 1991 after the fall of the then Soviet Union, the longest phase of the US economic progress had started. Clinton maintained an inflated US military budget. If it is converted to dollar it would be equivalent to the budget of the Cold War period which is one-third of the total military expenditure of the world. At present, the United States is the source of approximately half of the arms sales of the world. Russia and China had advanced toward the political and military path burying the conflicts during the Cold War. A number of agreements signed in 2001 gave a hint to that advancement of the two countries. From 1990s, China started to become the main arms buyer of Russia. At present, China gets some such sophisticated materials related to arms that were prohibited to be acquired for three decades.
Present Economics of Arms Sales
After the breakdown of then Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, most of the countries tried to bring about radical changes to the defense departments. Although the flourish of the defense departments increased or geared up in the later part of the eighties, it was on a declining curve till the beginning of 1991. The trend of revving up militarization started in 1991 during the 'Operation Desert Storm' in Iraq. Then, the military expenditure of the United States declined in 1998. The same situation remained in the United Kingdom too. Except a slight increase in 1991, the military expenditure of the United Kingdom dropped to 23. 2 billion pounds from 30.8 billion pounds. Then the arms sales started to rise at the state level as well as individual level which is still prevailing. Almost the same situation exists in Russia and China too. These days, the military expenditure is increasing massively every year. If no changes happen to this current situation, the United States will spend $650 billion in the defense sector which would be 45 per cent of the total global military expenditure. After the United States, China is the next to spend in military sector followed by France, the United Kingdom, and Russia.
According to the statistics of Stockholm International Peace Research organization, prior to 2009, the military expenditure of the world was below $1.5 trillion, which was 2.4 per cent of the global average Gross Domestic Product. It means the military expenditure had gone up 45 per cent in the past 10 years. The military expenditure of the world had reached a stable situation after the end of the Cold War. Then, it again started to rise and currently the total military expenditure of the world is again going towards the Cold War period expenditure.
There are some commercial organizations in the United States that get directly benefited because of this increase in military expenditure. Simultaneously, 44 US arms manufacturers control more than 60 per cent arms sales of the world's top arms selling organizations. Among the arms and military materials or appliances, the demand for ambush protected arms equipped vehicles was the highest for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. After the Second World War, the US budget in the military sector has reached the highest level.