The Arms Trade with the Third World

Countries profess moral scruples about selling arms which evaporate when the price is right, as with Britain, or when the politics are right, as with Russia. But meanwhile, in spite of argument, the huge build-up of weapons in the Third World continues.

This book is a reduced version of a report prepared at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It shows that the richer countries—America, Russia, Britain and France—are responsible for 86 per cent of arms going into the Third World. It also describes the political and commercial bargains that are struck, and illustrates the ways in which the recipient countries are either tied to the policies of the supplier or manage to get out of it. Finally, the report examines the possible methods of controlling the arms trade.