5-year international arms trade trend. SIPRI homepage capture
A study shows that the volume of global arms trade has stagnated in the last 10 years. The new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) that swept the global village last year also affected the arms market downturn to some extent. It is noteworthy that countries in the Asia-Pacific region have expanded the introduction of weapons. It is aimed at restraining China from blatantly blatant military ambition.
Sweden’s Stockholm Institute for International Peace (SIPRI) announced on the 15th that in a report on the status of international arms trade in 2020, arms trade in 2016-2020 decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous five years (2011-2015). It can be said that the stagnation period continued for 10 years. During this period, the United States, which sold arms to 96 countries, accounted for 37% of global exports. It is the overwhelming first place, which is almost twice as high compared to the second place Russia (20%).
The’big hand’ of the global arms market was the Middle East. Over the past five years, arms imports in the Middle East jumped 25% compared to the same period last year, with Qatar and Egypt increasing by 361% and 136%, respectively. Saudi Arabia, the eldest brother in the Middle East, also saw a surge in imports by 61%, and the proportion of the total arms market reached 11%. This is interpreted as the effect of former US President Donald Trump’s hard-line policy.
The share of global weapons adoption by region. Graphic = Reporter Kim Jin-wook
China’s neighboring countries also bought a lot of weapons. During that period, the share of arms introduced in Asia and Oceania accounted for 42% of the total. Korea surged from 2.7% in 2011-2015 to 4.3% in 2016-2020, and in Japan from 1% to 2.2%. Australia, which plays a part in the US Indo-Pacific policy, also rose from 3.6% to 5.1%. It is the number 4th in the world. “The reason that countries in the Asia-Pacific region have increased their arms imports is because they perceived China as a threat,” said Peter R Bezemann, senior researcher on arms and military expenditures at SIPRI. However, the share of international weapons introduction in the four countries of the Quad, which is a security consultative for China (US, Japan, Australia, India) dropped from 21.5% to 18.9%. The impact of the drop in India’s stake from 14% in the previous quarter to 9.5% was significant.
Although the world arms trade continued to remain weak, there are observations that it is too early to interpret it as a signal of disarmament. Senior researcher Bezeman said, “Due to the economic impact of Corona 19, some countries will rethink weapon imports for several years to come.” I have to do it,” he said.
Jinwook Kim reporter [email protected]
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