US:The United States has consolidated its position as the world's leading arms dealer to the developing world, followed by Russia and Britain, according to a new congressional report published in Washington yesterday.
The report, produced by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), found the arms trade cooled slightly in 2006, shrinking from nearly $46 billion (€32 billion) in 2005 to nearer $40 billion. Sales to developing countries accounted for 80 per cent of the market.
The CRS suggested that some buyers - squeezed by higher fuel prices - opted to upgrade weapons they already had rather than buy new gear. Furthermore, Russia appears to have held back some sales to Iran, one of its biggest customers, while sanctions on the Tehran government were debated in the UN security council.
American weapons sales accounted for 42 per cent of the global market, a total of nearly $17 billion in sales, up $3.4 billion from the previous year. The boom in US sales appears to have been partly fuelled by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have made neighbouring countries nervous. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the biggest buyers.
Russia is the world's second biggest dealer with sales of $8.7 billion in 2006, nearly 22 per cent of the market. Britain is third on the list, with $3.1 billion in sales. Those sales figures are almost certain to be boosted this year with Saudi Arabia's confirmation of a purchase of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters, worth £4.3 billion (€6.2 billion), part of a sales and maintenance package worth up to £20 billion.
In June, British prime minister Gordon Brown announced he would shut down the UK's Defence Export Sales Organisation, which helped promote British weapons systems abroad. Britain is also pushing for a treaty regulating the global arms trade that would limit sales to conflict regions and despotic regimes. The treaty is opposed by the US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.