Refugees, UN Register, Rules of the Road and more

Refugees: links in the chain of disaster and response

By Dan Smith
Refugees’ humanitarian needs have generated toxic politics in the EU, with yesterday’s uncertain summit the most recent evidence of that, and a response that is widely deemed inadequate. But the critics have not been able to offer a better alternative.

Read SIPRI Director Dan Smith's essay on this issue and make sure to bookmark the newly established SIPRI blog WritePeace for timely commentary.

The 2015 UN Register on Conventional Arms: still room for improvement

On 16 September 2015 the United Nations Secretary-General publicly released its annual report on the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA). According to SIPRI arms trade experts Pieter Wezeman and Siemon Wezeman, the report’s long-standing problems continue to undermine the usefulness of UNROCA as the confidence-building and stability-promoting measure it was designed to be.

From low reporting to reports of varying quality, read their assessment of the report’s findings and check out SIPRI's QuickFacts on the UN Register.

‘Rules of the Road' for the Arms Trade Treaty agreed in Cancun but tougher tests lie ahead

The first Conference of States Parties (CSP1) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) drew to a close in Cancun, Mexico, in late September. While the CSP1 made serious headway in resolving some of the critical ATT-related issues, a number of key issues, some of them hotly contested, remain outstanding.

SIPRI’s Dr Sibylle Bauer and Mark Bromley comment on the outcome of this first meeting.

Out now: 2015 Yearbook summaries in Swedish, French, Spanish and Catalan

SIPRI continues its long tradition of making key findings of the SIPRI Yearbook available to as many individuals as possible. Made possible through cooperation with its translation partners, the summary of SIPRI Yearbook 2015 is now available in Swedish, French, Spanish and Catalan. Flemish, German and Italian will be available soon.

Access the summaries.

Agreement to establish low-enriched uranium (LEU) bank in Kazakhstan reached

Tariq Rauf, Director of SIPRI’s Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme, and Ambassador Rolf Ekéus, SIPRI Distinguished Associate Fellow and former SIPRI Chair, were present for the signing of an agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that will establish an LEU Bank in Kazakhstan. Rauf, who briefed event participants on various political and policy elements of the agreement, noted that the Kazakh LEU bank represents a key step towards nuclear non-proliferation. Dastan Yeleukenov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Sweden, and Hans Blix, former IAEA Director General and former SIPRI Chair, were also present at the Stockholm event.

Read the media outlet and contact Tariq Rauf for further information.

Ruth Sivard 1915-2015: The ‘First Lady’ of Military Data Analysis

The SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme noted with sadness the death last month of Ruth Sivard, at the age of 99, an economist who scrutinized world military expenditure for over three decades.
With the world facing complex challenges, the type of data and analysis provided by Ruth Sivard remains as essential as ever, comments SIPRI's Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman.

Read more.

The New Nuclear Forensics

The New Nuclear Forensics provides a survey and an analysis of the scientific discipline of nuclear forensic analysis, and the way it is applied to specific issues of international peace and security, from the 1940s to the present day. This book describes the various methods used in nuclear forensics, giving first a general introduction to the process followed by details of relevant measurement techniques and procedures. In each case, the advantages and limitations are outlined. It uses a language and methodology that opens the issue of nuclear forensics and its potential applications to a non-specialist readership.

Read more.

SIPRI Yearbook 2015

The 46th edition of the SIPRI Yearbook is a compendium of data and analysis in the areas of security and conflicts; military spending and armaments; and non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. It covers developments during 2014, including:

• aspects of the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine;
• regional military-security trends in East Asia;
• military spending in the USA;
• the continued negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear programme; and
• the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty.

Download a Summary of SIPRI Yearbook 2015.

Browse the contents page.

Trends in world military expenditure, 2014

Trends in international arms transfers, 2014

The SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies, 2013