The SIPRI Update for March 2013 is out now—read it online, or subscribe to receive the SIPRI Update in your inbox each month.
In the latest SIPRI Essay, Tilman Brück, SIPRI Director and Paul Holtom, SIPRI Senior Reseacher and programme director, argue that arms trade cannot be monitored without regularly questioning your method of observation. Are you still looking for the right things in the right places, and using the right tools? The arms trade has changed radically in recent decades, and continues to evolve at a rapid pace.
These changes have an important bearing on international arms transfers and efforts to prevent human suffering and the illicit arms trade.
As the ATT negotiating conference in New York approaches its conclusion, the authors worry that the reference points for the latest draft treaty text remain rooted in the past.
To avoid this, the authors recommend greater clarity on an obligation to prevent diversion, an anti-circumvention clause, and a mandatory review mechanism to be incorporated into the final text.