We’re Number One in Weapons Sales, by Polly Mann

There’s no question about it.  The U.S. is the biggest seller of arms in the world.  According to the gold standard source for weapons statistics, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):

By Polly Mann  WAMM Newsletter  Vol. 39  No. 4  Fall 2021

The five largest arms exporters in 2016–20 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and China. Together, they accounted for 76 percent of all exports of major arms in 2016–20.

In 2016–20 U.S. arms exports accounted for 37 percent of the global total and were 15 percent higher than in 2011–15. Russian arms exports decreased by 22 percent between 2011–15 and 2016–20.

Between 2011–15 and 2016–20 arms exports by France and Germany increased by 44 and 21 percent, respectively, whereas those of China decreased by 7.8 percent.

The five largest arms importers in 2016–20, Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia, and China, together received 36 percent of all imports of major arms.

The main recipient region in 2016–20 was Asia and Oceania (accounting for 42 percent of global arms imports), followed by the Middle East (33 percent), Europe (12 percent), Africa (7.3 percent), and the Americas (5.4 percent).

Source: SIPRI Fact Sheet, March 2021: Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2020. tinyurl.com/3r36aebd (Italics in this article added by Women Against Military Madness Newsletter)

Polly Mann is a co-founder of Women Against Military Madness and frequent contributor to this newsletter.

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Kinderhunger, 1923, Kathe Kollwitz

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, due to cuts in funding in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation’s largest federal nutrition program, falls far short of meeting needs–and those needs have grown since the coronavirus pandemic began.

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Tags: children's hunger, Kathe Kollwitz, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), U..S. weapons sales, U.S. conventional weapons, U.S. military budget, U.S. nuclear arsenal