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This timely study offers a concise, yet thorough, introduction to the illicit arms trade. The main theme of the book confronts the complex reality, that while it is proper to think of two separate trades in arms--legal and illegal--in practice there is a considerable overlap between the two. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, Phythian argues that the lessons of the most important and extensive cases of the last 20 years suggest that a significant element of the illicit trade in arms has in fact been sanctioned at some level of government in the pursuit of broader security or geopolitical ends.
List of contents
Part 1: Principles 1. Introduction and Definitions 2. Control Regimes and Illicit Arms Trade Environment 3. The Illicit Arms Market 4. Anatomy of the Illicit Arms Trade (1) 5. Anatomy of the Illicit Arms Trade (2) Part 2: Cases 6. The Iran-contra Affair and the Illicit Arms Trade 7. Bofors and the Illicit European Trade with Iran during the 1980s 8. Arms Trafficking, Mercenaries and Drug Cartels: The Case of Antigua and Colombia 9. Recent Developments 10. Conclusion: Prospects for Controlling the Illicit Arms Trade
About the author
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Summary
Offering a concise, yet thorough, introduction to the illicit arms trade, the main theme of this significant volume confronts the complex reality that while it is proper to think of two separate trades in arms, legal and illegal, in practice there is a considerable overlap between the two. Although this overlap is sometimes distinguished by referring to 'black' (wholly illegal) and 'grey' (semi-legal) markets, this book situates all of these transactions along a continuum under the banner of the 'illicit arms trade'.
Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, Mark Phythian argues that the lessons of the most important and extensive cases of the last fifteen to twenty years suggest that a significant element of the illicit trade in arms has in fact been sanctioned at some level of government, in the pursuit of broader security or geopolitical ends.
