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The Arms Trade
CSPE.tv
The United Nations
By CSPE.tv
CSPE.tv
•Certain materials in this presentation are included under the Fair Use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and/or under the Fair Dealing exemption of the Ireland Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000
•Materials are included in accordance with the [U.S.] multimedia fair use guidelines; and
•Materials are restricted from further use.
•© EDMAN YOST, J. (1999), Copyright Chaos - An Educator's Guide to Copyright Law and “Fair Use”, Intel Teach to the Future CD
Notice of Use Restrictions
•Certain materials in this presentation are included under the Fair Use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and/or under the Fair Dealing exemption of the Ireland Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000
•Materials are included in accordance with the [U.S.] multimedia fair use guidelines; and
•Materials are restricted from further use.
•© EDMAN YOST, J. (1999), Copyright Chaos - An Educator's Guide to Copyright Law and “Fair Use”, Intel Teach to the Future CD
Notice of Use Restrictions
The arms trade: money well spent?
• Worldwide spending is nearly $1,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo a year
• Some countries spend more on the military than on education or health
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...
— Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953
Is the arms trade ethical trade?
“The arms industry is unlike any other. It operates without regulation. It suffers from widespread corruption and bribes. And it makes its profits on the back of machines designed to kill and maim human beings.” The Control Arms Campaign
•2,ooo people are killed every day with weapons sold in the arms trade •Many arms companies have been involved in bribery and corruption
Who buys the weapons
• Many weapons are sold to dictatorships and corrupt governments in the developing world
• 20 out of the top 25 countries that buy American weapons are undemocratic or human rights abusers
• Questions: who is allowed to have access to guns in Ireland?• What happens when guns get into the wrong hands in Ireland?• In Ireland firearms are very tightly controlled but for
international arms companies there are very little controls
Who makes the weapons?
• The USA, UK, France, Russia, and China are responsible for nearly 90% of arms sales
• While people in the developed world benefit from the money and jobs from the arms trade people in the developing world pay the price.
What can be done?
• The UN working on an Arms Trade Treaty that will stop arms sales that lead to conflict or human rights abuses.
• Corrupt governments that abuse human rights would no longer be allowed to buy arms legally
• “Every day we are documenting gross human rights abuses and war crimes perpetrated as a result of the irresponsible trade in conventional arms, including small arms. This Treaty is urgent...” Amnesty International
A new Arms Trade Treaty
• In October 2008 147 states at the UN voted to begin work on an Arms Trade Treaty. Only the US and Zimbabwe voted against it.
• “We can’t have it both ways. We can’t be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of arms.” Former US President Jimmy Carter, presidential campaign, 1976
Anti-personnel mines were used by soldiers and rebels in wars all over the world.
More than three-quarters of those killed are civilians. Every year more than 10,000 civilians stand on landmines and are killed or seriously injured. Most are killed in countries now at peace.
•What is happening in this picture?• Where do you think this is?• What do you think would happen if this mine was not found?
•There are more than 50 million landmines in the ground around the world •It costs as little as $3 to make a mine but can cost $1,000 each to remove them
• What problems do you think mines cause for people in the developing world?
The land mine treaty • In 1997 people started a petition to have them banned• Now most countries have agreed not to make or use them
– 156 countries have signed the treaty– 42 million landmines destroyed– The trade in mines has ended
What is happening in this picture?
•There are 300,000 child soldier taking part in wars around the world. Some of them are as young as 9 years old.
•Hundreds of thousands more children are members of armed forces and could be sent into conflict at any time
•Some children “volunteer” to join armed groups in war-torn regions due to poverty or fear, but many others are kidnapped and forced to join at gunpoint
