| SIPRI Update: Global Security & Arms Control | February 2008 |
Welcome to the February issue of SIPRI Update: Global Security & Arms Control. This monthly newsletter will be your source for the latest developments in international security, arms control, non-proliferation and regional conflict, including recent activities and publications at SIPRI.
In this issue:
| A look ahead to strategic relations with Russia | Back to top |
Andrew C. Kuchins, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
One year ago in Munich at the annual Wehrkunde security conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin stunned the audience with his very sharp critique of US foreign policy. At the core of Putin’s ire was his view of the United States dangerously intervening into the sovereign affairs of others. This speech and subsequent remarks by Putin and other Russian leaders later in 2007 sparked a furore in Western policy circles and endless commentary about an alleged ‘new cold war’. Policy differences over European security issues mounted in 2007, including ballistic missile defence deployments in the Czech Republic and Poland, independence for Kosovo, the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and others.
Jumping to conclusions about the imminence of a new cold war, however, is at best premature and is most likely misguided. First, the structure of today’s international system differs fundamentally from the bipolar confrontation of the second half of the 20th century. Today, arguably, the world is multipolar economically and unipolar militarily, although there are serious questions about the fungibility of military power.
| Former SIPRI director recognized for contributions to Sweden | Back to top |
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Alyson J. K. Bailes, former director of SIPRI, was awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star of Sweden on 13 February. Madeleine Ströje-Wilkens, Swedish ambassador to Iceland and former deputy director of SIPRI, presented the award at a ceremony held at the Swedish ambassador’s residence in Reykjavik. The Royal Order of the Polar Star is conferred on members of the Swedish Royal Family and on foreign nationals in recognition of personal services to Sweden or for the promotion of Swedish interests. Bailes is a former British diplomat and director at SIPRI from 2002 to 2007. She is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Iceland. |
| Upcoming SIPRI events | Back to top |
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20 February |
Winter Symposium of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The theme for the SIPRI-affiliated symposium is ‘Together—but with whom and for what? Security and defence of the European small state in a new era’. Experts and specialists at the symposium include Professor Steven Miller, Admiral Jean Dufourcq, Professor Clive Archer and Professor Mathias Jopp, among many others. For more on this event, contact the coordinator of the project, Gunilla Herolf |
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28 February |
UN Arms Embargoes: Their Impact on Arms Flows and Target Behaviour The seminar at Chatham House will disseminate the main findings of a recently published report on the impact of UN arms embargoes by SIPRI and the Uppsala University Special Program on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions. Contact the co-author of the report, Paul Holtom, for more information. |
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28 February |
Sergio Duarte, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Ambassador Duarte will lecture on ‘The United Nations and Disarmament: Challenges and Opportunities’ at an event jointly organized by SIPRI and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. Contact the organizer, Evamaria Loose-Weintraub, for more information. |
| Recent SIPRI events | Back to top |
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5 February |
Russia and Arms Control Andrew C. Kuchins, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), visited SIPRI and spoke on ‘The Future of Arms Control in a Post-President Putin Russia ’. Kuchins’ remarks draw in part from a recent CSIS report entitled Alternative Futures for Russia to 2017. |
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24–25 January |
Interagency Seminar on Investigating Suspected Dual-Use Export Control Violations This interagency meeting on investigating suspected export control violations was co-organized by SIPRI and the German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) and was hosted by the Croatian Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship. Speakers included specialists from the German Customs Criminological Office (ZKA) who presented the German enforcement system and lessons learnt from past cases. BAFA is currently implementing an EU Pilot Project to strengthen export controls in third countries. For more information, see the website of the SIPRI Non-proliferation and Export Control Project. |
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| SIPRI in the media | Back to top |
The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, which itemizes all major arms transfers since 1950, was featured in Corriere Della Sera .
SIPRI Researcher Shannon Kile spoke to the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times regarding US sanctions on Iran and Iran’s space programme.
Figures from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database informed articles in the Washington Post and the American Chronicle, among many others. The SIPRI Top 100 list of arms-producing companies was cited by Frontier India Defence and Strategy News .
The SIPRI FIRST Database, which contains integrated data and indices on international politics, is recognized as one of the top research sites ‘to help you think’ by Sources and Methods.
| SIPRI fact of the month | Back to top |
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The Russian military expenditure budget is planned to increase by 44 per cent in nominal terms in 2008–10 |
Russian military expenditure increased by 41 per cent in real terms over the period 2003–2007, and in 2007 amounted to roughly the same dollar amount as German military expenditure, converted at market exchange rates. This increase reflects President Vladimir Putin’s resolve to raise the status of the Russian armed forces and Russia’s international standing. During the same period, the Russian state defence order increased by 81 per cent in real terms, injecting funds into the struggling Russian arms industry which has been strongly export dependent since the end of the cold war. The three-year federal budget for 2008–10, introduced by Putin for the last year of his presidency, included increases in military expenditure by 16, 11 and 12 per cent in nominal terms for these three years. Analysis of global trends and developments in military expenditure and arms production can be obtained from the SIPRI Projects on Military Expenditure and Arms Production. |
| SIPRI’s latest publications | Back to top |
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The Effectiveness of Foreign Military Assets in Natural Disaster Response
A Report by SIPRI Supported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Forthcoming February 2008 ISBN 978-91-85114-57-3 Download from books.sipri.org |
This study examines the advantages, limitations and implications of involving foreign military assets—personnel, equipment and expertise—in the relief operations that follow major natural disasters. Foreign military assets have made large contributions to several recent natural disaster relief operations, yet their use in such operations remains controversial. The questions asked range from matters of principle—is it appropriate for foreign forces to take part in humanitarian work?—to more practical considerations such as cost, how effectively foreign military assets can participate in civilian-led humanitarian operations and how the presence of foreign military assets affects the ability of civilian humanitarian organizations to act independently and safely. This study provides an overview of the current use of foreign military assets in natural disaster response, including how and why they are deployed. It also analyses the role played by foreign military assets in several major disaster relief operations: in Mozambique following the floods in 2000, in Haiti following floods and tropical storm Jeanne in 2004, in Aceh province, Indonesia, following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir following the South Asia earthquake of 2005.
The report will be launched in late February 2008 at an event at the UN Headquarters, New York.
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Reforming Nuclear Export Controls The Future of the Nuclear Suppliers Group SIPRI Research Report no. 22 Ian Anthony, Christer Ahlström and Vitaly Fedchenko Published by Oxford University Press for Stockholm International Peace Research Institute December 2007 ISBN 978-0-19-929085-7 hardback £35/$70 ISBN 978-0-19-929086-4 paperback £12.99/$24.95 Buy from the OUP website (UK or USA) or download from books.sipri.org |
The diversion to military programmes of materials and technologies originally obtained from foreign suppliers for peaceful purposes has played a prominent role in the known cases of nuclear proliferation. All of these cases represent export control failures. The need to strengthen nuclear export controls has been identified by the G8 as well as by the European Union. This study examines the structure and activities of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of 45 states committed to applying effective controls on exports of an agreed set of items as part of a wider effort to prevent nuclear weapon proliferation. Looking to the future, the report analyses the place of the NSG within the overall effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.
For information on SIPRI’s other recent and forthcoming books, visit the SIPRI Publications website, books.sipri.org
Other recent publications by SIPRI researchers
Xiaoqing Lu and Bates Gill, ‘Assessing China’s response to the challenge of environmental health’, China Environment Series, Issue 9. Read this article
Zdzislaw Lachowski, ‘Dyplomacja polska a proces KBWE w okresie zimnej wojny‘ [Polish diplomacy and the CSCE process in the cold war period], Polski Przeglad Dyplomatyczny [Polish Diplomatic Review], December 2007.
Ekatarina Stepanova, ‘Culture of solidarity and national interest: Russia’s conflict management policies’, National Interest and International Solidarity: Particular and Universal Ethics in International Life (United Nations University Press: Tokyo, Japan, 2008). Buy this book (from UNU Press)
Robert Sutter and Chin-hao Huang, ‘China–Southeast Asia relations: Singapore summits, harmony, and challenges’, Pacific Forum Comparative Connections, January 2008. Read this article