The United States is by far the world’s leading seller of weapons, selling more than the next three nations combined.
It’s too easy for US weapons to fuel violence, corruption, and abuse abroad. Learn more below about why the US sells so many weapons, where these weapons are going, and what you can do to demand a more accountable US arms trade.
Why does the United States sell so many weapons?
CATO: Arms Sales Handbook for Policymakers
Inkstick Media: Of Militias and Mercedes-Benzes
Project on Middle East Democracy: Back to Business as Usual
Quincy Institute: Promoting Stability or Fueling Conflict? The Impact of US Arms Sales on National and Global Security
CIVIC & Stimson Center: ‘With Great Power’: Modifying US Arms Sales to Reduce Civilian Harm
Tom Dispatch: How the Arms Industry Scams the Taxpayer
Just Security: The “Leahy Law” Prohibiting US Assistance to Human Rights Abusers: Pulling Back the Curtain
Stimson Center: "If we don't sell them arms someone else will" is a myth
Where are these weapons going?
Security Assistance Monitor: Mapping US Security Cooperation
Council on Foreign Relations: The Cost of the Arms Trade
Forum on the Arms Trade: Major Arms Sales Tracker
Civilian Protection Podcast: Made in the USA: Arms Sales and Civilian Harm
Biden is Selling Weapons to the Majority of the World's Autocracies
Mwatana: Day of Judgement - The Role of the US & Europe in Civilians Death, Destruction, and Trauma in Yemen
CNN: US Arms Sold to Saudi Arabia & UAE End Up in Wrong Hands
LA Times: In Syria, Militias Armed by the Pentagon Fight Those Armed by the CIA
CATO Institute: Arms Sales Risk Index
What reforms are needed?
CIVIC & Stimson: Legislative Reform Agenda for US Arms Transfers
Demand Progress: Flipping the Script on US Arms Sales
CIVIC, Stimson Center & Center for International Policy: Demystifying End-Use Monitoring in U.S. Arms Exports
Just Security: How the FY23 NDAA Can Strengthen Oversight & Transparency of US Security Assistance
Lawfare: Unpacking Biden's Conventional Arms Transfer Policy
CIVIC: How Can US Congress Use Section 502B
Human Rights Watch: US Bill Seeks to "Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers"
Stimson Tracker: Child Soldiers Prevention Act Implementation Tracker
