Intellectual leadership for peace
The report by Polina Beliakova and Sam Perlo-Freeman discusses information on corruption in the Russian defense sector, especially the arms industry, identifying key cases of corruption that have become visible in recent years, in particular since 2008, when Russia’s current set of military reforms, and major rearmament drive, began.
Read moreCreated as part of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Student Council series of “101” lectures called Fletcher “CliffsNotes”,
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Drawing on program manager Sam Perlo-Freeman’s research and expertise, and case study research conducted as part of the Compendium of
Read moreSix reasons why the global arms makers love Pres. Trump: 1) His eagerness to increase Pentagon spending by $54 billion,
Read moreThe global arms trade is suffused with corruption, imperils the vulnerable, and makes us all less safe. Yet arms merchants
Read moreThe ‘conventional’ understanding of corruption in arms procurement is that it takes the form of bribes or kickbacks. In return
Read moreWe are pleased to draw to your attention a new report by Sam Perlo-Freeman, project manager for our program on the Global Arms Business and Corruption. The report, “Special Treatment: UK Government support for the arms trade and industry,” was authored by Perlo-Freeman while he was at SIPRI, who describes it thus: “The arms industry and market, in the UK as in most other significant western arms-producing countries, has a unique status. Although its production capabilities are privately owned, it has the national government as its primary customer. Unlike other industries, especially in the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ economies, it is the subject of active government industrial policy.”
Read moreLast week, a bombing raid in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition seeking to restore the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, struck a funeral, killing 140 civilians. This is the latest in a series of outrages, well-documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and others, whereby Saudi and allied forces have struck hospitals, schools, market-places and other civilian targets. Saudi-led bombing is believed to be responsible for the majority of civilian deaths in Yemen’s bloody civil war.
Read moreBeyond these individual examples of failure, there may be an inherent mismatch in seeking to instill values of professionalism, civic service, and democratic control of security sectors through private (and perhaps mercenary) contractors. In countries where SSR is struggling to confront marketplaces that commodify violence, PMCs represent exactly that—the commoditization of military skills.
Read moreA triumph for transparency in defense spending came earlier this week when the Pentagon reversed its decision to classify information
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