Summary:
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With 339 million people in need of assistance in 69 countries, an increase of 65 million people from the same time last year, the United Nations and partner organisations said on December 1, 2022, that not only will the funding for humanitarian aid be insufficient, but that next year will also set a record for humanitarian relief requirements.
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The seventh year of rising arms sales wonder. According to new data issued on 5 December 2022 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, sales of weaponry and military services by the 100 most prominent businesses in the sector totalled 592 billion US dollars in 2021, a 1.9% increase compared with 2020 in real terms (SIPRI). This increase made the fifth year in a row that global armament sales have increased.
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Only North America experienced a decrease in arms sales from 2020 to 2021.
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Private equity firms are expanding their involvement in the armaments market, particularly in the United States.
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In the top 100 are Europe, Russia, and the Middle EastThere were 27 Top 100 businesses with headquarters in Europe in 2021.
International humanitarian organisations continuously make frantic requests for cash to continue saving some of the numerous lives that are in grave danger. They view receiving a few dollars—even just one million—from a wealthy nation as manna from paradise.
With 339 million people in need of assistance in 69 countries, an increase of 65 million people from the same time last year, the United Nations and partner organisations said on December 1, 2022, that not only will the funding for humanitarian aid be insufficient, but that next year will also set a record for humanitarian relief requirements.
“A 25% increase from the beginning of 2022, the expected cost of the humanitarian response is US$51.5 billion heading into 2023.
The overall sales of weapons, which totalled 592 billion US dollars just in one year (2021), are less than one-tenth of this urgently needed 51.5 billion US dollars.
Louis Charbonneau, United Nations Director at Human Rights Watch, warns that UN Members Try Defunding Budgets for Human Rights Work as if there weren’t already a lack of funding for humanitarian relief in a time when it is more critical than ever.
“United Nations member nations should revise the procedure for budgetary approval of UN human rights activity. The existing system, controlled by the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, is ineffective and unduly politicised.
Exposed human rights mechanisms
According to Charbonneau, it unnecessarily exposes UN human rights mechanisms—teams of impartial investigators intended to look into significant international crimes—to attempts by adversarial nations to cut off their funding or reduce their resources.
Russia has made many attempts to stop funding probes into its ally Syria, much like China did for Myanmar. According to him, China and Russia have also made a concerted effort to reduce the financing and staffing levels for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other human rights initiatives.
“It’s not only Russia and China. Last year, Israel attempted to have the Commission of Inquiry on Israel and Palestine defunded with the help of the United States and a few European Union nations. They could try again.
Social services are eliminated
Politicians continue to slash more money from social programmes like public health care, public education, and other initiatives that residents and taxpayers have elected to fund, even in their wealthy nations.
Said, a significant tsunami of privatisation is currently sweeping from the United States to the vast majority of other nations.
In the meantime, legislators appear to have buckled under the intense pressure of the arms industry, allocating an increasing amount of public funding to purchase weapons despite rising social unrest, protests, and strikes.
The seventh year of rising arms sales
No wonder: according to new data issued on 5 December 2022 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, sales of weaponry and military services by the 100 most prominent businesses in the sector totalled 592 billion US dollars in 2021, a 1.9% increase compared with 2020 in real terms (SIPRI).
This increase made the fifth year in a row that global armament sales have increased. It occurred even though numerous areas of the worldwide supply chains for the armaments industry were still impacted by pandemic-related disruptions in 2021, including delays in international shipping and shortages of essential components, according to SIPRI.
If chronic supply chain problems hadn’t arisen in 2021, “we may have anticipated much more increase in armament sales,” declared Dr. Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRI’s programme on military spending and arms production.
“Both bigger and smaller arms manufacturers said the year hurt their sales. Several businesses, including General Dynamics and Airbus, also cited a labour shortfall.
A resupply of weaponry deployed to Ukraine is necessary.
According to the Stockholm-based Peace Research Institute, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has increased supply chain difficulties for the industry, not least because Russia is a significant supplier of raw materials for the manufacture of weapons.
This might obstruct continuing attempts in the US and Europe to bolster their militaries and restock their supplies after providing Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of weapons and other supplies.
According to reports, the United States has already spent $100 billion on arming Ukraine.
US businesses dominate the Top 100
According to the report, the 40 US corporations listed sold 299 billion dollars worth of guns in 2021. Only North America experienced a decrease in arms sales from 2020 to 2021. The US economy’s 2021 experience of high inflation contributed to the 0.8% real-term drop.
The Top 100’s top five businesses have all been headquartered in the USA since 2018.
A recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the US armaments business continued in 2021. One of the most important purchases was Peraton’s 7.1 billion USD acquisition of Perspecta, a government IT specialist.
Private equity firms are expanding their involvement in the armaments market, particularly in the United States. Due to less stringent financial reporting standards compared to public corporations, this could have an impact on the transparency of data on arms sales, according to the paper.
Asian weaponry sales are rapidly expanding thanks to Chinese corporations
According to SIPRI, the aggregate arms sales of the 21 Asian and Oceanian businesses that made the Top 100 reached 136 billion US dollars in 2021, a 5.8% increase over the previous year. Total sales of weaponry for the eight listed Chinese corporations were 109 billion dollars, up 6.3%.
Since the middle of the decade, the Chinese arms market has seen a wave of consolidation, according to Xiao Liang, a researcher with SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. After merging two existing businesses, China’s CSSC became the most prominent military shipbuilder in the world in 2021, selling 11.1 billion US dollars worth of weaponry.
In the top 100 are Europe, Russia, and the Middle East
There were 27 Top 100 businesses with headquarters in Europe in 2021. Compared to 2020, their combined arms sales grew by 4.2%, totalling 123 billion US dollars.
Six Russian businesses are included in the Top 100 for 2021. Their armament sales reached 17.8 billion US dollars, up just 0.4% from 2020. According to SIPRI, there were indications that stagnation was pervasive throughout the Russian arms sector.
Additionally, in 2021, sales of armaments totalled 15.0 billion US dollars from five Middle Eastern Top 100 firms. The quickest growth rate out of all the regions included in the Top 100 was a 6.5% increase from 2020.
