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Dr Paul Holtom

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Born: 1975
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Position at SIPRI: Head, SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme
Subject expertise: International arms transfers; international arms embargoes; transparency in international arms transfers; international SALW transfers.
Regional expertise: Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia
Languages: English, Russian
Education: BA in Politics and Philosophy, University of Liverpool
MA and PhD in Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham
Contact: holtom@sipri.org; Phone: +46 8 655 97 72

Dr Paul Holtom is a Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme and has led the programme since 2009. His area of research is monitoring and measuring international arms transfers, with a focus on the role of arms transfers in interstate relations. He has also carried out research projects on the effects of UN arms embargoes and reporting to the UN Register of Conventional Arms on international transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW). He has authored or co-authored numerous publications on the arms trade and peace and security, with a particular focus on Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Current activities
  • SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme
  • Monitoring arms flows to Africa
Former positions
  • Research Fellow at the Centre for Border Studies at the University of Glamorgan (UK)
  • Research Fellow at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald (Germany)
  • Consultant for the Council of Europe and Saferworld
Recent Publications
  • Holtom, P. and Bromley, M., 'The International Arms Trade: Difficult to Define, Measure, and Control', Arms Control Today, July/August 2010.
  • Holtom, P., ‘Nothing to report: The lost promise of the UN Register of Conventional Arms’, Contemporary Security Policy, vol. 31, no. 1, April 2010, pp. 61-87.
  • Holtom, P., ‘Arms transfers to Europe and Central Asia’, Stockholm: SIPRI Background Paper, February 2010.
  • Holtom, P., Constructing Kaliningrad’s Identity: A Litmus Test for Russia-EU Relations? (Lambert Academic Publishing: 2010)
  • Holtom, P., Implementation of the EU Common Position on the Control of Arms Brokering (Belgrade: SEESAC, 2009)
  • Holtom, P., ‘Reporting transfers of small arms and light weapons to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, 2007’, SIPRI Background Paper, Feb. 2009.
  • Holtom, P., ‘Ukrainian exports of small arms and light weapons, 2004-2007’, SIPRI Background Paper, Oct. 2008.
  • Holtom, P., Transparency in Transfers of Small Arms and Light Weapons: Reports to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, 2003–2006, SIPRI Policy Paper no. 22, (SIPRI: July 2008).
  • Berger, S. and Holtom, P., ‘Locating Kaliningrad and Königsberg in Russian and German collective identity discourses and political symbolism in the 750th anniversary celebrations of 2005’, Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. 39, no. 1 (Mar. 2008).
  • Holtom, P., Small Arms Production in Russia (Saferworld, 2007).
  • Fruchart, D., Holtom, P., Wezeman, S., Strandow, D. and Wallensteen, P., United Nations Arms Embargoes: Their Impact on Arms Flows and Target Behaviour (SIPRI and SPITS, 2007).
  • Bromley, M. and Holtom, P., ‘From scandals to scrutiny? The role of public transparency in improving Ukraine’s image as a responsible arms exporter’, Security and Nonproliferation, no 21 (2007), pp. 28–32.
  • Holtom, P., ‘An assessment of the Baltic states’ contribution to EU efforts to prevent proliferation and combat illicit arms trafficking’, eds D. Brown and A. Shepherd, The Security Dimensions of EU Enlargement: Challenges for the 21st Century (Manchester University Press, 2007).
  • Holtom, P. and Wezeman, S. T., ‘Towards an arms trade treaty’, SIPRI Yearbook 2007: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford University Press, 2007).