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Article Excerpt
[The following is an excerpt from the full report for Congress Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2000-2007, October 23, 2008. The full report can be viewed at: http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/112020.pdf.]
Introduction and Overview
This report provides Congress with official, unclassified, background data from U.S. government sources on transfers of conventional arms to developing nations by major suppliers for the period 2000 through 2007. It also includes some data on worldwide supplier transactions. It updates and revises Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report RL34187, Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1999-2006.
The data in this report provide a means for Congress to identify existing supplier-purchaser relationships in conventional weapons acquisitions. Use of these data can assist Congress in its oversight role of assessing whether the current nature of the international weapons trade affects U.S. national interests. For most of recent American history, maintaining regional stability and ensuring the security of U.S. allies and friendly nations throughout the world have been important elements of U.S. foreign policy. Knowing the degree to which individual arms suppliers are making arms transfers to individual nations or regions provides Congress with a context for evaluating policy questions it may confront. Such policy questions may include, for example, whether or not to support specific U.S. arms sales to given countries or regions or to support or oppose such arms transfers by other nations. The data in this report may also assist Congress in evaluating whether multilateral arms control arrangements or other U.S. foreign policy initiatives are being supported or undermined by the actions of arms suppliers.
The principal focus of this report is the level of arms transfers by major weapons suppliers to nations in the developing world--where most of the potential for the outbreak of regional military conflicts currently exists. For decades, during the height of the Cold War, providing conventional weapons to friendly states was an instrument of foreign policy utilized by the United States and its allies. This was equally true for the Soviet Union and its allies. The underlying rationale for U.S. arms transfer policy then was to help ensure that friendly states were not placed at risk through a military disadvantage created by arms transfers by the Soviet Union or its allies. Following the Cold War's end, U.S. arms transfer policy has been based on assisting friendly and allied nations in developing and maintaining their ability to deal with regional security threats and concerns.
The data in this report illustrate how global patterns of conventional arms transfers have changed in the post-Cold War and post-Persian Gulf War years. Relationships between arms suppliers and recipients continue to evolve in response to changing political, military, and economic circumstances. Where before the principal motivation for arms sales by foreign suppliers might have been to support a foreign policy objective, today that motivation may be based as much on economic considerations as those of foreign or national security policy.
The developing world continues to be the primary focus of foreign arms sales activity by conventional weapons suppliers. During the period of this report, 2000-2007, conventional arms transfer agreements (which represent orders for future delivery) to developing nations comprised 66.6 percent of the value of all international arms transfer agreements. The portion of agreements with developing countries constituted 67.7 percent of all agreements globally from 2004-2007. In 2007, arms transfer agreements with developing countries accounted for 70.5 percent of the value of all such agreements globally. Deliveries of conventional arms to developing nations, from 2004-2007, constituted 64.7 percent of all international arms deliveries. In 2007, arms deliveries to developing nations constituted 55.6 percent of the value of all such arms deliveries worldwide.
The data in this new report supersede all data published in previous editions. Since these new data for 2000-2007 reflect potentially significant updates to and revisions in the underlying databases utilized for this report, only the data in this most recent edition should be used. The data are expressed in U.S. dollars for the calendar years indicated and adjusted for inflation (see the next few sub-titled sections of this article for more detail). U.S. commercially licensed arms export delivery values are excluded (see the section of this article sub-titled "United States Commercial Arms Exports"). Also excluded are arms transfers by any supplier to sub-national groups. The definition of developing nations, as used in this report, and the specific classes of items included in its values totals are found in the section of this article sub-titled "Definition of Developing Nations and Regions."
Calendar Year Data Used
All arms transfer and arms delivery data in this report are for the calendar year or calendar year period given. This applies to U.S. and foreign data alike. The U.S. government departments and agencies publish data on U.S. arms transfers and deliveries but generally use the U.S. fiscal year as the computational time period for these data. As a consequence, there are likely to be distinct differences noted in those published totals using a fiscal year basis and those provided in this report which use a calendar year basis.
Arms Transfer Values
The values of arms transfer agreements (or deliveries) in this report refer to the total values of conventional arms orders (or deliveries as the case may be) which include all categories of weapons and ammunition, military spare parts, military construction, military assistance and training programs, and all associated services.
Definition of Developing Nations Regions
As used in this report, the developing nation's category includes all countries except the
* United States
* Russia
* European nations
* Canada
* Japan, Australia
* New Zealand
A listing of countries located in the regions defined for the purpose of this analysis, Asia, Near East, Latin America, and Africa is provided in the full report (available at htt://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/112020.pdf.)
Constant 2007 Dollars
Throughout this report values of arms transfer agreements and values of arms deliveries for all suppliers are expressed in U.S. dollars. Values for any given year generally reflect the exchange rates that prevailed during that specific year. The report converts these dollar amounts (current dollars) into constant 2007 dollars. Although this helps to eliminate the distorting effects of U.S. inflation to permit a more accurate comparison of various dollar levels over time, the effects of fluctuating exchange rates are not neutralized. The deflators used for the constant dollar calculations in this report are those provided by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Unless otherwise noted in the report, all dollar values are stated in constant terms.
Major Findings
General Trends in Arms Transfers Worldwide
The value of all arms transfer agreements worldwide (to both developed and developing nations) in 2007 was nearly $60 billion. This was an increase in arms agreements values over 2006 of 9.2 percent.
In 2007, the U.S. led in arms transfer agreements worldwide, making agreements valued at over $24.8 billion (41.5 percent of all such agreements), up significantly from $16.7 billion in 2006. Russia ranked second with $10.4 billion in agreements (17.3 percent of these agreements globally), down from $14.3 billion in 2006. The United Kingdom ranked third; its arms transfer agreements worldwide were $9.8 billion in 2007, up from $4.1 billion in 2006. The U.S., Russia, and the United Kingdom collectively made agreements in 2007 valued at over $45 billion, 75.2 percent of all international arms transfer agreements made by all suppliers.
For the period 2004-2007, the total value of all international arms transfer agreements ($208.3 billion) was substantially higher than the worldwide value during 2000-2003 ($147.6 billion), an increase of 29.2 percent. During the period 2000-2003, developing world nations accounted for 67.7 percent of the value of all arms transfer agreements made worldwide. During 2004-2007, developing world nations accounted for 67.7 percent of all arms transfer agreements made globally. In 2007, developing nations accounted for 70.5 percent of all arms transfer agreements made worldwide.
In 2007, the U.S. ranked first in the value of all arms deliveries worldwide, making nearly $12.8 billion in such deliveries or 41.3 percent. This is the eighth year in a row that the U.S. has led in global arms deliveries. Russia ranked second in worldwide arms deliveries in 2007, making $4.7 billion in such deliveries. The United Kingdom ranked third in 2007, making $2.6 billion in such deliveries. These top three suppliers of arms in 2007 collectively delivered nearly $20.1 billion, 64.8 percent of all arms delivered worldwide by all suppliers in that year. The value of all international arms deliveries in 2007 was $31 billion. This is a decrease in...
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