"Russia and the Arms Trade is an excellent resource for those with an academic or professional interest in Russian economics and political science. The book provides both a clear and concise introduction to the field, as well as a series of detailed, focused articles by leading experts in the field."--International Law and Politics

In this study a group of Russian authors were commissioned to describe and assess the arms trade policies and practices of Russia under new domestic and international conditions. The authors, drawn from the government, industry, and academic communities, offer a wide-ranging assessment of the political, military, economic, and industrial implications of Russian arms transfers together with specific case studies of important bilateral arms transfer relationships.

International transfers of conventional arms and related technologies are an important feature of international security. Because few states have an independent, indigenous capacity to develop and produce arms the behaviour of arms suppliers is one factor conditioning the global distribution of military power.

During the cold war the Soviet Union and the United States used arms transfers and military assistance as one element in foreign and security policies that were primarily intended to further a political and ideological competition. With the end of the cold war the international arms trade no longer has the same politico-military underpinning.

The international market for arms and military equipment was changed by the economic impact of the end of the cold war. Apart from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the United States and their respective allies as arms suppliers, the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) and NATO were also important centres of demand for arms transfers and the main centres of arms production. After the WTO dissolved itself its former members reduced their military spending dramatically. The other alliance—NATO—also experienced a significant downturn in military spending.

The Soviet decision making process and its system for executing decisions were destroyed when the political monopoly of the Communist Party ended and the state was dissolved. The new state of Russia had to develop decision-making procedures and executive agencies that were effective and consistent with a democratic political system.

Download Russia and the Arms Trade by Ian Anthony

PDF format, 995KB, 318Pages.

Edited by Ian Anthony
ISBN 0-19-829278-3
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS/SIPRI

INTRODUCTION
I. New tendencies shaping international arms transfers
As with all other aspects of international security, the new political environment created by the end of the cold war has profoundly changed the pattern of the international arms trade. No country has been more affected by these changing conditions than the Russian Federation.

From the 1950s the arms trade was dominated from the supply side by the two superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union—which used arms transfers to support their wider foreign and security policies in the framework of the cold war. The end of the cold war and the changes that accompanied it removed this competitive ideological dimension as a factor driving arms export decisions.

The United States and the Soviet Union began to adopt a cooperative approach to the management of security both in Europe and in places such as Afghanistan, Angola and Central America. Moreover, as part of this new agenda former adversaries—including European countries—began to discuss the impact of arms transfers on international security in a serious way for the first time.

The twin catalysts for this multilateral dialogue (which is still in its early stages) were the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and the gradual relaxation of the embargo operated by members of the former Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM).

The fact that Iraq had built its conventional arsenal from imported equipment and technology brought into sharp relief the fact that arms transfers could, under some circumstances, have a negative impact on international security. Under these conditions the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the P5) held talks in 1991 and 1992 on the impact of arms transfers on the stability and security of the Middle East. ...

AboutStockholm International Peace Research Institute
SIPRI is an independent international institute for research into problems of peace and conflict, especially those of arms control and disarmament. It was established in 1966 to commemorate Sweden’s 150 years of unbroken peace.

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