Deception in High Places

Gilby, Nicholas

doi:10.2307/j.ctt183h10r

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“…The Al Yamamah agreements of 1985 and 1993, and the follow‐up Al Salam deal concluded in 2003, are government‐to‐government agreements in which British Aerospace, now BAE Systems, is contracted to supply weapons and engineering support to the Saudi military on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The agreements constitute the UK's biggest ever arms deal and have been consistently accused of corruption (Gilby, 2014; World Peace Foundation, 2022). In the years leading up to and during the war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has accounted for 40%–50% of all UK arms exports and in the period 2017–2021 was the world's largest arms importer, alongside India (SIPRI, 2022b).…”

Section: Uk Involvement In the Arms Trade And Its Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debunking the myth of the “robust control regime”: UK arms export controls during war and armed conflict

Stavrianakis

2023

Global Policy

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The UK's commitments to conflict prevention and the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law in its arms export controls are now over 20 years old. However, the outbreak of war or conflict has had little or no restraining effect on UK arms exports. This article explores the function of the UK's arms export control regime given that its primary effect is not to restrict arms transfers. I argue that the mantra that the UK has one of the most robust control regimes in the world is not a plausible description of the realities of UK export policy – rather, it is a myth that needs to be debunked. Export controls are primarily mobilised by the state to manage controversy once criticism emerges from civil society and Parliament and thus primarily serve a legitimating function. I illustrate this argument with examples of arms exports in relation to the conflicts in Kashmir, Sri Lanka, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Yemen, demonstrating three ways in which UK export controls are missing in action: the routine misuse of UK‐supplied weapons; the narrow interpretation of risk in licensing policy; and self‐serving reviews to manage reputation once controversy breaks out.

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Section: Uk Involvement In the Arms Trade And Its Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debunking the myth of the “robust control regime”: UK arms export controls during war and armed conflict

Stavrianakis

2023

Global Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Deception in High Places

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

Debunking the myth of the “robust control regime”: UK arms export controls during war and armed conflict

Debunking the myth of the “robust control regime”: UK arms export controls during war and armed conflict

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