“…Scholars that have examined the issue of globalization and militarization, using defence spending as a proxy, find that openness to the global trading system predicts lower militarization in general (Mehlkop and Graeff, 2003). 9 Likewise, some report that trade openness lowers the risk of civil war, which should also correlate with lower demand for small arms (Bussmann, Schneider, and Wiesehomeier, 2005;de Soysa, 2002;Krause and Suzuki, 2005). The issue is not clear-cut, however, as some very liberal states, such as the U.S. and Belgium, tend to profit from small arms exports and are seen as reluctant partners in a global prohibition regime.…”