EU to fund SIPRI's work on controlling arms trafficking

The Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO) is funding SIPRI's EthicalCargo, a conflict-sensitive logistics clearinghouse, for an 18-month period. ECHO's funding decision follows a number of ECHO-commissioned air transportation studies which identify the role that air cargo companies named in arms trafficking-related reports have played in humanitarian aid logistics chains. Links between humanitarian aid and arms trafficking were first identified in SIPRI Policy Paper no. 24. EthicalCargo is a response to this problem. EthicalCargo, which is funded by the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA) with the support of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is part of the Countering Illicit Trafficking - Mechanism Assessment Project (CIT-MAP) at SIPRI. Read more here and contact the project’s outreach manager Caroline Säfström for further information.

New project on communicating the Lisbon Treaty

SIPRI is part of a large group of institutes whose project application LISBOAN has just been awarded funding by the European Commission. LISBOAN (Linking Interdisciplinary Integration Studies by Broadening the European Network) seeks to spread innovative approaches and establish best practices in teaching the Lisbon Treaty. The University of Cologne (Professor Wolfgang Wessels) will be coordinating the project, and Dr Gunilla Herolf of SIPRI will be part of the steering group. Contact Gunilla Herolf for further information.

New project on post-conflict stability in Kyrgyzstan

SIPRI will prepare a report on the violence that took place during the early summer of 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan. It will focus on understanding the sources and nature of the violence---in particular its ethno-political elements---and developing recommendations for national, regional and international actors to promote post-conflict stability and inter-ethnic integration in Kyrgystan. The report is funded by the Open Society Institute of New York. Contact Dr Neil Melvin, Director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme, for further information.

The 2010 SIPRI Yearbook: digital and online now!

SIPRI, in cooperation with Oxford University Press, offers for the first time a complete digital version of the SIPRI Yearbook. Online access to the yearbook at www.sipriyearbook.org, makes SIPRI's authoritative data and information immediately available from any online portal in the world. Integrated with a simple but powerful search tool, the digital version also links to external web resources and references. An online subscription is automatically included in the purchase of a SIPRI Yearbook in hard copy. You can now take the SIPRI Yearbook with you everywhere you go!

Upcoming SIPRI events and activities

Recent SIPRI events and activities

SIPRI Fact Sheets
Multilateral peace operations: Africa, Asia, Europe, personnel, 2009
Kirsten Soder
These SIPRI Fact Sheets present data from the SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database to illuminate some of the most significant developments in peace operations around the world in 2009 as well as trends over the decade since 2000. They include statistical data on numbers and type of peacekeeping personnel, the organizations and countries mounting operations and deploying personnel, along with maps of peace operations that were active in Africa, Asia and Europe during 2009. To download the Fact Sheets, click here.

SIPRI Policy Brief
Controlling conflict resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ruben de Koning
The political economy of mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is central to sustaining the conflict in the east of the country. In an attempt to ensure that conflict minerals do not enter the legal supply chain, industrial actors, the Congolese Government and outside donors have established schemes to trace minerals such as cassiterite and coltan back to the mines of origin. However, there are still a number of problems that must be overcome before mineral traceability schemes can have an effect on a larger scale.
To download the Policy Brief, click here. 

SIPRI Yearbook 2010: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security
The 41st edition of the SIPRI Yearbook includes coverage of developments during 2009 in major armed conflicts, multilateral peace operations, military expenditure, arms production, international arms transfers, world nuclear forces and fissile material stocks, nuclear arms control and non-proliferation, reduction of security threats from chemical and biological materials, conventional arms control, controls on security-related international transfers and multilateral arms embargoes. Read more here. To order a copy, click here.

SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security no. 2010/4
China and nuclear arms control: current positions and future policies
Bates Gill
As the global nuclear arms control and non-proliferation agenda reaches a critical turning point, expectations will rise for China to take on a more proactive and constructive role. As an emerging global power, it will be more difficult for China to lay low or merely repeat longstanding declarations of principle. Moreover, the advent of more advanced conventional weapons, including missile defences and space-based weapons, places further pressures on China to revisit its policies and practices on the role of nuclear weapons.
To download the Insights paper, click here.

SIPRI Fact Sheet
The SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing companies, 2008
Susan T. Jackson
The Fact Sheet lists the world's 100 largest arms-producing companies - the SIPRI Top 100 - including arms sales, total sales, total profit and total employment figures.
To download the Fact Sheet, click here.

SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security no. 2010/3
End-user certificates: improving standards to prevent diversion
Mark Bromley and Hugh Griffiths
Improving standards in the issuing and inspection of end-user certificates (EUCs) and related documents would significantly contribute to preventing the diversion of small arms and light weapons (SALW) to the illicit market. This would limit the chances of SALW reaching conflict zones or embargoed destinations. To download the Insights paper, click here.

SIPRI Fact Sheet
Trends in international arms transfers, 2009
Paul Holtom, Mark Bromley, Pieter D. Wezeman and Siemon D. Wezeman
The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database now contains information on all international transfers of major conventional weapons from 1950 to the end of 2009. It is the only publicly available resource providing consistent data on international arms transfers for this length of time. This Fact Sheet describes the trends that are revealed by the new data. To download the Fact Sheet, click here.

SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security no. 2010/2
China prepares for an ice-free Arctic
Linda Jakobson
The prospect of the Arctic being navigable during summer months as a result of climate change has impelled the Chinese Government to allocate more resources to research in the High North. Several Chinese academics have encouraged their government to be aware of the political, economic and military implications of shorter shipping routes and untapped energy resources. However, Chinese officials advocate cautious Arctic policies for fear of causing alarm and provoking countermeasures among the Arctic states. To download the Insights paper, click here.

SIPRI Background Paper
Arms transfers to Europe and Central Asia
Paul Holtom
Military expenditure and arms imports in Europe and Central Asia have increased during the past decade. Military reform and modernization have been offered as justifications for the significant increase in military spending and arms procurement in Eastern Europe, but other factors such as unresolved border disputes, territorial claims and separatism also play a role.
To download the Background paper, click here.

SIPRI Fact Sheet
Chronology of armaments, disarmament and international security 2009
Nenne Bodell
This chronology lists the significant events in 2009 related to armaments, disarmament and international security. In addition to the headline-grabbing events, such as the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka and North Korea's nuclear test, it also records the less publicized, but no less important, advances and setbacks in arms controls and international security. To download the Fact Sheet, click here.